Attitudes to crime, punishment, and rehabilitation: a New Zealand study

Abstract

The present study examined attitudes concerning the perceived seriousness of criminal offenses, appropriate sanctions, and punitive and rehabilitative sentiment toward offenders. Participants were 181 residents from the six biggest cities and four rural electorate districts around New Zealand. The results indicate that punitive sentiment is positively related to offense seriousness, but that rehabilitative sentiment is not related to offense seriousness. In addition, participants believed that more serious offenders should receive custodial sanctions and less serious offenders should receive non custodial sanctions. Lack of guidance was thought to be the main "cause" of crime and psychological treatment was thought to be the most useful tool for rehabilitating offenders. The implications of these findings are discussed.