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Racial Bias And The Death Penalty In Nebraska (2005-2019), Natalie Bielenberg
Racial Bias And The Death Penalty In Nebraska (2005-2019), Natalie Bielenberg
Honors Theses
Ample evidence exists to suggest that the death penalty in the United States is affected by racial bias. Nebraska has a complex history with the death penalty, and in this study I investigate whether or not that racial bias is present in Nebraska’s capital punishment. Using a list of every Nebraska Department of Correctional Services inmate since 1982, I test for a relationship between race of inmate and sentencing outcome and a relationship between race of victim and sentencing outcome. No significant relationship was found between either race of inmate and receiving the death penalty nor race of victim and …
Capital And Punishment: Resource Scarcity Increases Endorsement Of The Death Penalty, Keelah E. G. Williams, Ashley M. Votruba, Steven L. Neuberg, Michael J. Saks
Capital And Punishment: Resource Scarcity Increases Endorsement Of The Death Penalty, Keelah E. G. Williams, Ashley M. Votruba, Steven L. Neuberg, Michael J. Saks
Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications
Faced with punishing severe offenders, why do some prefer imprisonment whereas others impose death? Previous research exploring death penalty attitudes has primarily focused on individual and cultural factors. Adopting a functional perspective, we propose that environmental features may also shape our punishment strategies. Individuals are attuned to the availability of resources within their environments. Due to heightened concerns with the costliness of repeated offending, we hypothesize that individuals tend toward elimination-focused punishments during times of perceived scarcity. Using global and United States data sets (studies 1 and 2), we find that indicators of resource scarcity predict the presence of capital …
Public Support For The Death Penalty In A Red State: The Distrustful, The Angry, And The Unsure, Lisa Kort-Butler, Colleen M. Ray
Public Support For The Death Penalty In A Red State: The Distrustful, The Angry, And The Unsure, Lisa Kort-Butler, Colleen M. Ray
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Set against the backdrop of Nebraska’s 2015 legislative repeal of the death penalty and the 2016 electoral reinstatement, we examined public support for capital punishment. Using two years of statewide survey data, we compared respondents who preferred the death penalty for murder, those who preferred other penalties, and those who were unsure, a respondent group often excluded from research. To understand what distinguishes among these groups, we examined media consumption, instrumental and expressive feelings about crime, and confidence and trust in the government regarding criminal justice. Results revealed that those who preferred the death penalty expressed more anger about crime …
Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear Of Crime, And Attitudes About The Criminal Justice System, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn
Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear Of Crime, And Attitudes About The Criminal Justice System, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Research demonstrates a complex relationship between television viewing and fear of crime. Social critics assert that media depictions perpetuate the dominant cultural ideology about crime and criminal justice. This article examines whether program type differentially affects fear of crime and perceptions of the crime rate. Next, it tests whether such programming differentially affects viewers’ attitudes about the criminal justice system, and if these relationships are mediated by fear. Results indicated that fear mediated the relationship between viewing nonfictional shows and lack of support for the justice system. Viewing crime dramas predicted support for the death penalty, but this relationship was …
The Use Of Religion In Death Penalty Sentencing Trials, Monica Miller, Brian H. Bornstein
The Use Of Religion In Death Penalty Sentencing Trials, Monica Miller, Brian H. Bornstein
Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testimony about a defendant’s religious activities in order to influence capital jurors’ sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly influence jurors’ decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggravators and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed …