Religion, punitive justice, and support for the death penalty

The increased punitiveness in the criminal justice system, stimulated at least to some extent by public opinion, has coincided with the revival of Protestant evangelicalism and fundamentalism and with their followers' active involvement in politics and policy debates. Previous research on the determinants of preferred justice policies in the public either ignored religion or relied on a simple distinction among Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. The present study argues that evangelical/fundamentalist Protestants are more inclined to attribute crime to offenders' dispositional characteristics than to situational factors. Consequently they are expected to be more punitive than members of other groups. Survey data from a sample of adults in a southwestern city reveal greater punitiveness among evangelical/fundamentalist Protestants on four of five policy issues, including support for the death penalty both for adults and for juveniles.