NCJ Number
238376
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 54 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2012 Pages: 45-65
Date Published
January 2012
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article tests linkages between internal and external attributions of crime and the public's goals of sentencing.
Abstract
This article tests linkages between internal and external attributions of crime and the public's goals of sentencing (i.e., deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation). Responses from 1,006 Canadians were obtained from telephone interviews. As expected, respondents who made internal attributions rated deterrence as more important and rehabilitation as less important, while respondents who made external attributions did the opposite. Also as hypothesized, null associations between retribution and external attributions as well as between incapacitation and external attributions were found. However, contrary to expectations, respondents who endorsed internal attributions also rated incapacitation and retribution as more important. (Published Abstract)