racial divide death penalty.pdf

7/28/2019 racial divide death penalty.pdf

1/22

Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press

The Racial Divide in Support for the Death Penalty: Does White Racism Matter?Author(s): James D. Unnever and Francis T. CullenReviewed work(s):Source: Social Forces, Vol. 85, No. 3 (Mar., 2007), pp. 1281-1301

Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4494973 .

Accessed: 31/10/2012 20:19

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Oxford University Press and Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press are collaborating with JSTOR

to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Forces.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ouphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4494973?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4494973?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=oup


2/22

TheRacialDividein Support or theDeathPenalty:DoesWhiteRacismMatter?JamesD. Unnever,MississippiState UniversityFrancisT.Cullen, Universityof Cincinnati

Using data from the 2000 National Election Study, this researchinvestigates he sourcesof the racial divide in supportfor capitalpunishmentwith a specificocus on white racism.Afterdelineatingameasureof whiteracism,we explorewhether t canaccountfor whyamajority of AfricanAmericansopposethe deathpenalty while mostwhitessupport t. Theresultsndicate hat one-thirdoftheracialdividein support or the deathpenaltycan be attributed o the influenceofour measureof white racism. The analysesalso revealed hat whenotherfactors are controlled, upport or capitalpunishmentamongnonracistwhites is similarto that ofAfricanAmericans.Weexaminetheimplications f thesefindings or usingpublicopiniontojustifythedeathpenalty.Thepoliticsof the deathpenaltyprovidea lens forstudyingracerelationswithinthe UnitedStates. Becausethe deathpenalty s the ultimate xpressionof statepower, it is symbolically mportant or both the AfricanAmericanand whitecommunities(Garland 001; Hacker1995).The applicationof lethal sanctionsraisesquestionsof equaljusticebeforethe lawand,inturn,of the legitimacyofthe criminalusticeprocess.Capital unishments thusa policy hatmayprovidean opportunityor racial onsensus orthatmayexacerbateracial onflict.It is salient hatpublicopinionpollsrevealan extensiveracialdivide nsupportforthe deathpenalty.Forexample, he 2002 GeneralSocialSurvey GSS) howsthat73 percentof whitesand 44 percentof AfricanAmericans upport he deathpenaltyorconvictedmurders agapof 29 percentagepoints Unnever ndCullen2007).Researchon whythis cleavageexists has not been very illuminating:hegap persistsevenwhencontrolsareintroducedora rangeof knowncorrelates fdeathpenaltyattitudes, ncluding olitical iews, religion, lass, genderandothersociodemographicariablesAguirrendBaker1993;Cochran ndChamlin006;Unnever ndCullen2005; Unnever ndCullen 007).Onepotential ource of the racialdivide s white racism.Analysesof nationalpolls,such as the GSSandthe NationalElectionStudy NES), how thatamongwhites,racial nimus sastrongpredictor f supportorthedeathpenalty Aguirreand Baker1993; Barkanand Cohn 1994; Soss, Langbeinand Metelko2003;see also, Bobo and Johnson 2004). Evenso, largelydue to a methodologicalartifact, he extant researchhas not directly exploredwhether white racismis responsiblefor the racialdivide:the studies in this area have limitedtheirsamples to white respondents.By contrast,in the currentresearch,we havedevelopedanalternativetrategy orassessing racistattitudes hatallows fortheDirectcorrespondenceo JamesD. Unnever,Departmentof Sociology,MississippiStateUniversity,Mississippi tate,MS39762.E-mail:[email protected].? The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, Volume 85, Number 3, March 2007


3/22

1282*SocialForcesVolume 5,Number * March 007retentionof AfricanAmericans nthe analysis.Inturn, his approachopens upthe possibility f assessing the degreeto whichracialprejudice ccounts forthegap between blacksand whites insupportof capitalpunishment.The 2000 NESis used because it containsmeasures not onlyof racismbut also of prominentcorrelatesof deathpenaltyattitudes.Itcould be arguedthatwhite racism s no longera relevant ssue at the turnof the 21st centuryand therefore s immaterialorexplaininghe racialdivide nsupport orcapitalpunishment.However, ohnson,RushandFeagin 2000)andFeaginandO'Brien2003)contend that the systemic practicesof white racismhave diminished little and that racist ideologies, prejudicesand stereotypesabout AfricanAmericans continue to underliethe "everydayknowledge andsocial realityamong manywhites." Such racismis often "renderednvisible"because it is so deeplyembedded in social institutionsand the consciousnessof individualsFeagin,Veraand Batur2001).Feagin(2001:2)conceptualizeswhite racism"instructural nd institutionalas well as individualerms." emphasis in the original)Feagin 2001:6)definesracismas the "complexarray f antiblackpractices, he unjustly ainedpolitical-economic power of whites, the continuingeconomic and other resourceinequalitiesalong raciallines, and the white racist ideologies and attitudescreated to maintainand rationalizewhite privilegeand power."Importantorourpurposes,scholars now commonlydistinguish wo distinctmanifestationsof racism: "JimCrow"racism and symbolic racism. Research reveals that"JimCrow"racism- equating biological nferiorityo AfricanAmericans hasdeclinedsteadilysince the 1940s (Boboand Kluegel1993; Bonilla-Silva997;Sears and Henry2003; Sears,VanLaar,Carrillond Kosterman1997;VirtanenandHuddy1998).However,tis instructivehatthe racialdivide npublic upportforcapitalpunishmenthas persistedeven thoughwhites no longertenaciouslybelieve in the racial nferiority f AfricanAmericans.Scholarshave discernedthat a new form of racismhas emergedthatmayformthe basis of support or"conservative"rime-related oliciessuch as the deathpenalty.

Kinder and Sanders (1996) define this new form of racism as "racialresentment."They argue that this new form of racism emerged just asovert racialbarriers, uch as poll taxes and segregated schools, were beingdismantled.Inthe absence of these impediments,raciallynsensitivewhiteswere now redirecting heir animosityto whether AfricanAmericanswouldtake advantageof being in what they perceivedto be a color-blind ociety.Otherscholars have labeled this new formof racismas "symbolic" r as the"cultural-deficiencyerspective"and characterizet as being moresubtle thanthe older,moreexplicit ormsof racism(Bobo1997; FeaginandO'Brien 003;Sears et al. 1997).Regardlessof the label,researchersagree that this formofracism s manifestedinthe belief that AfricanAmericansare"unwillingo helpthemselves" and therefore are undeserving of government assistance (Searsand Henry 2003; Virtanen and Huddy 1998). In short, racial resentment is a"combination of racialanger and indignation, on the one hand, and secularizedversions of the Protestant ethic, on the other."(Kinderand Sanders 1996:294)


4/22

Does White Racism Matter?*1283In the present analysis,we createdtwo scales that measure new and oldforms of racism and investigate whether they predictpublicopinion aboutsupport for the death penalty.The analysis includes a racial resentmentscale similar o the one proposed by Kinder nd Sanders(1996)and a racial

stereotypescale (Barkan ndCohn1994;Borg1997)that measuresthe degreeto whichAmericansperceiveAfricanAmericansas being unintelligent,azyanduntrustworthy.hislatter cale measures oldfashioned,traditional rJimCrowracism Bobo1997;Bobo andKluegel1993;Sears et al. 1997).Borg(1997)andBarkan nd Cohn(1994),using GSSdata,found that a racialstereotype scalepredictedwhitesupport orthe deathpenalty;however, ts effect was less thana scale measuringracial ntolerance.Inthis context,the currentprojectemploysthe followingresearchstrategy.First xplored swhetherAfricanAmericans re less likelyhanwhitesto stronglysupport he death penalty.Second, afterestablishinga directeffect of raceonattitudes,we examinewhetherthe independentvariablesmediatethe directeffect of raceon publicsupport or capitalpunishment.Third,aftercontrollingforthe independent ariables,he relationship etweenpublic upport orcapitalpunishmentandJimCrowandsymbolicracism s tested. Fourth,he degreetowhich white racismaccounts for the racialdividein publicsupportfor capitalpunishment s considered.Todo so, we constructeda new measureof whiteracismand included t in the regression equationthat predictssupport or thedeath penaltywhile holdingconstant the effects of our independentvariables.Todetermine he degree to which this measureaccounts for the racialdividein supportfor capitalpunishment, he decrease in the size of the direct effectof race on publicsupportfor the death penalty s assessed. The last analysis,whichis exploratory,nvestigateswhether he relationship etween our measureof whiteracismandsupport orthe deathpenaltyvariesacross the independentvariables.Theintentof this latteranalysis s to revealpossibleexplanationsorwhy racistwhites maybe morelikelyo support he deathpenalty.White Racismand Supportfor the Death PenaltyThere is no systematictheoryof why white racism fosters supportfor capitalpunishment.However,heexisting iteratureuggests that hree actors- whetheralone or in interaction are likely mplicatedn this firmlinkage.These includeracialhreat,racial tereotypesand racial esentment.First, onflict heoryandthe racialhreathypothesisproposethatthe criminaljusticesystem is used bywhites to subordinateminorities roups(JacobsandCarmichael002;Wacquant 001)andthatwhites haveconstructedanideologythat justifies this injustice(Hagan,Shedd and Payne2005). In this context,prejudicedwhites mightsee the deathpenaltyas a much-needed anctionthatthe criminalustice system can use to suppress the behaviorof "dangerous"minorities (see also, Bobo and Johnson 2004). Second and related, prejudicedwhites are likelyto hold distorted stereotypes that lead them to assume thatmost violent criminals, includingthose on death row, are AfricanAmerican (seeChiricos,Welch and Getz2004; Feaginand O'Brien2003; Young1985).Thus, racistwhites may assume that, in practice, lethal penalties are applied overwhelminglyto AfricanAmericans, not whites.


5/22

1284* SocialForcesVolume 5,Number * March 007Third,whiteracistsmaybelieve hatAfricanAmericans recriminallyangerousdespite being given special advantagesnot available o whites. The resultingracialangerand the attributionhat blackcrime s "theirault" ndnot"society'sfault"mayfurther ustifythe view that puttingAfricanAmericanmurdererso

death is both richlydeserved and needed for communityprotection.Notably,Feaginand O'Brien2003)sketch a white elite explanation f crimecausation.Ingeneral, heyarguethatprejudicedwhiteelites attributehe disproportionaterate of crime among AfricanAmericansto culturaldeficiencies while eitherignoring rdiscountinghe systemicmanifestations ndconsequences of whiteracism.It s instructivehatFeaginand O'Brien2003)showthatwhitesno longerincluderacialnferiorityntheirexplanations f AfricanAmerican rimebutfocuson variouscultural eficienciessuch as disorganizedamiliesandcommunities.These beliefs may persistand be influential ecause they have,typically na more maskedform, been espoused for politicaladvantageby conservativepolitical lites. These elites have bothidentified rimewith raceandvigorouslysupportedget-toughcrimecontrolpolicies, ncludingapitalpunishmentBeckettandSasson 2000; Miller 996;Tonry 995).TheNESdataset limitsanalysisof white racismo racial esentment rsymbolicracism(and Jim Crow racism).We would predict,however,that race-basedresentment,sentiments of threatand stereotypesare interrelatedomponentsof the constructof white racism.Ifthis thesis is correct, hen ourfindingswillprovidegroundsfor furtherelaborationsand tests of how the dimensionsofwhite racism nfluence upport orcapitalpunishment.MethodsSampleThe 2000 NES uses probabilityamples of the American oting-agepopulationresiding n housingunits in the coterminous48 states. The NESentaileda 68-minute pre-electionand 64-minutepost-electionre-interview.The dependentvariablewas onlyasked on the post-electionstudy.Altogether,1,555 personsprovidedpost-election nterviews.Theweightedsamplewas used.Dependent VariablesThedependentvariablemeasuresthe degree to whichrespondentssupportedthe death penalty.Itwas constructed froma summarymeasure. Respondentswere first asked the followingquestion. "Doyou favoror oppose the deathpenalty for persons convicted of murder?"Two responses were offered,"favor" r "oppose."Respondentswere then probedbased on theirresponseto the first question. Specifically, hey were either asked "Doyou favorthedeath penalty for persons convicted of murder strongly or not strongly?" or"Do you oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder stronglyor not strongly?" The responses to these questions were used to constructa summary measure (V000752). Respondents who answered "don't know"were deleted from the summary measure.


6/22

Does White Racism Matter?* 1285IndependentVariablesIndependentvariablescontrolfor factors that could possiblyaccount for therelationshipbetween race, racism and publicsupportfor the death penalty.AppendixA presents the items used to constructthe scales includedin theanalysesand theiralphacoefficients.JimCrowA scale was constructed similar o previousresearchto measure what hasbeen referred o as Jim Crowracismby summing across the responses tothree questions with highervalues indicatinggreater racialanimosity(e.g.,Borg1997; Searsand Henry2003).SymbolicRacismThe NEScontainsquestionsthatallowforthe formulation f a symbolicracismscale similar o those developed by previousresearchers(Bobo and Kluegel1993; Borg 1997; Kinderand Sanders 1996; Kinderand Winter2001; Searsand Henry2003; Young2004).This scale was constructedby summingacrossthe responses to four questions. Responses to these questions included"agreestrongly,""agreesomewhat,""neitheragree nordisagree,""disagreesomewhat"or "disagreestrongly."The responses were coded so that highervalues indicategreaterracialanimus.WhiteRacismThe issue of how to measurewhite racism s complexand one thathas, to ourknowledge,not been settled by previous cholars see Barkan nd Cohn2005b).We consideredusing multiplemeasures of white racismand exploredthesealternativemeasuresandtheir nfluenceon the racialdivide see footnotes5 and6). However,t is ourposition hatthe issue of whiteracism houldbe "seen"romthe perspectiveof AfricanAmericans.Thus, t is reasonableo use anAfrocentricdefinition f whiteracism.Ourmeasuredefineswhite racistsas those whites whoscoredabove heAfrican mericanmeanon thesymbolic acist cale.Whiteracistswere so designated ftheyviewed AfricanAmericanswith more racialanimositythanthe averageAfricanAmerican eldfor hisorherown race.It could be arguedthat we should use anothermean, such as the whitemean,orthat we should use a standarddeviation corethat is above the AfricanAmericanmean. Italso could be arguedthat we shoulddelete anywhite whogave a prejudiced esponse on any of the items used to measure racism- amethodused byBarkannd Cohn 2005b).Thesealternativemeasures,however,are problematic.Deletingeverywhite who gave a prejudicedresponse is toorestrictivend gnores herealityhat here svariationmongwhites in hedegreeto whichtheyholdracistattitudes.Further,singotherempirical efinitions,uchas the white mean, inherently condones a certain level of racism that exceedshow average AfricanAmericans view their own race.The AfricanAmerican mean on the symbolic racism scale is 10.81 (s.d. = 3.3).Twenty-eight percent of the respondents scored below the African American


7/22

1286e SocialForcesVolume 5,Number * March 007mean on the symbolic racism scale. In comparison,the populationmean(includingAfricanAmericansandwhites)was 13.67(s.d. = 3.85) and the whitemeanwas 14.05(s.d. = 3.76).Thescores for the scale rangefrom 4 to 20. Werecognize hatthe intensityof white racismvariesamongwhiteswho exceededthebaseline- theAfricanAmericanmean.Therefore,he measureof whiteracismutilized ncludesa baseline,whichis set to zero,and 10 intervalsndicatinghelevel of racismamongwhites that exceeded the AfricanAmericanmean on thesymbolicracismscale. Thezerocategory ncludesAfricanAmericans ndwhiteswho scoredbelow theAfricanAmericanmeanon the symbolicracism cale. Themeasureis conservativenthe sense thatit most likelyunderestimateshe truelevel of racismamongwhite Americans.Feaginand O'Brien2003)arguethatracist beliefs are morelikely o be expressed in private ettings and,therefore,thatsurveys- whicharegenerally onducted npublicplaces- willunderestimatethe whiterespondents' rue levelof racistbeliefs.Thismeasurement trategymeans that some AfricanAmerican espondentsare categorizedas racist because they express racialanimustowardtheirownrace.1,2ndeed, ociologicalminoritiesxpressinganimus oward heirowngroupis an emergingresearchinterest.Forexample,althoughscholars have foundthat,on average,women haveless sexist attitudes hanmen, membersof bothsexes may harborambivalenceand hostility owardwomen (e.g., Russell andTrig 004).3 However, s mightbe recalled, o avoidanypossibilityof conflatingthissentimentwith whiteracism,AfricanAmericanswho harbored acial nimustowardtheir own racewere placedin the zero category.This is a conservativeapproachbecause,as withwhiterespondents nourdataset, AfricanAmericanswho expressedsuch animusaremorelikelyo support he deathpenalty.EgalitarianismKinder nd Winter 2001)arguethatnationalpoliciesaresupportedoropposedbased on the degree to which they enhance or violate valued principles.Accordingly,we investigatewhether egalitarianism a matterof principlepredictspublicopinionaboutthe deathpenalty.Toconstructa scale measuringegalitarianism, ix questions included in the 2000 NES were used, similarto those employed by previous researchers (Brewer2003; Feldman1988;FeldmanandSteenbergen2001; Kinder nd Winter2001).Afterrecoding hreeof the questions,we summedacross the responses (stronglyagreeto stronglydisagree) to create a scale, Egalitarianism,with highervalues indicatingastrongerendorsementof egalitarianbeliefs.ReligiosityScholars have made a considerableeffort to understandwhether theologicalbeliefs and practicesinfluencepunitivemeasures (Unneverand Cullen2006;Unnever, Cullen and Bartkowski 2006; Unnever, Cullen and Fisher 2005). Ingeneral, the extant research has generated inconsistent findings, with someresearch showing that conservative theological beliefs influence punitivenessand other research showing no effect. (Fora review of this literature,see Unneverand Cullen 2006.) To control for the potential effect that religiosity may have on


8/22

DoesWhiteRacismMatter? 1287ouranalysis,a scale ofReligiositywas createdbysummingacrossthe responsesto threequestionswithhighervaluesindicating reaterreligiosity.PoliticalOrientationAsingleitemmeasurespoliticaldeology,PoliticalConservativescaleof 1-7,withthe maximum ategorydenoting"strong onservatives"), hichis similaro oneextensivelyused inprior eathpenalty esearch.Theextantresearch nsupportorcapitalpunishmenthasconsistently ound hat individuals ho holdconservativepolitical iews aremorelikelyo endorsecapitalpunishment Applegate,Cullen,Fisherand VanderVen 2000; Borg 1997; Jacobs and Carmichael 004; Nice1992; Stack2000, 2003; Unneverand Cullen2005; Unnever,Cullenand Fisher2005; Unnever,CullenandRoberts2005;Young1992,2004).AuthoritarianismSears et al. (1997)and Stack(2003)have arguedthat authoritarianismhapespublic support for nationalpolicies. Therefore,to isolate the effect of themeasure of white racismon supportfor capital punishment, ndividualevelsof authoritarianismrecontrolledusingthe authoritarianismcale constructedby Sears et al. (1997).This scale includes four questions with highervaluesindicatinggreaterauthoritarianism.

Trust n GovernmentResearchershaveargued hatpolitical istrust s deeplyembeddedinthe currentpoliticalclimate,andthat it has causalprimacyn explainingAmerican upportfor racialpolicy preferences (Hetheringtonand Globetti2002). In addition,scholarshavearguedthatdistrustof government s an integralcomponentforunderstandingublic upport orcrime-relatedssues, includinghe deathpenalty(Messner,Baumer ndRosenfeld2006;Tonry 999;Zimring003).Tocontrol orits possible influence, his researchutilizes he scale used by HetheringtonndGlobetti 2002),GovernmentTrust.Higher alueson the GovernmentTrust caleindicate hatrespondentswere moretrustfulof the government.ClassTwomeasuresof class are included n the analysis:the respondent's ncome,Income,andwhether he respondentwas working,Working.TraditionalFamilyTiesTyler ndBoeckmann1997) nvestigatedpublic upport orthe 1994-1995"three-strikes-and-ou're-out"nitiativenCaliforniand foundthatpublicpunitivenesswas related o a generalsense that the moralandsocial consensus that holdssocietytogetherwas declining.Based ontheirresearch,we includea singleitemto measure the degree to which respondents believe in traditionalfamily ties.The Family Ties measure is taken from responses to the following statement:"Thiscountry would have many fewer problems if there were more emphasison traditional amily ties." Responses ranged from "agree strongly"to "disagreestrongly."We reverse coded the responses so that closer familyties indicate that


9/22

1288* SocialForcesVolume 5,Number * March 007the respondentsbelievethat, if therewere moreemphasison traditionalamilyties, there would be fewer problems.Perceptionsf CrimeRatesSprott(1999)foundthat adultswho believedthat crimewas increasingweremorelikelyo believethatadultcourtsentences weretoo lenient.Thus,a singleitem, CrimeRates, is included o controlfor a respondent'sperceptionof thecrime ratebased on the followingquestion."Would ou say thatcomparedto1992 the nation'scrimeratehas gotten better,gotten worse, or stayed aboutthe same?"Highervalues indicatethat respondents believed that the crimerate had gotten "muchworse." Itis noteworthy hat 30 percentof Americansbelievedthat the crime rate from1992 to 2000 was either somewhat or muchworse, even though the crime rate had actuallyfallen to near record lows(Blumsteinand Wallman 000; Tonry, 999).MediaInfluenceResearch ndicates hat the mediahas a significant oleincreatingperceptionsof crime,the fear of victimization nd a punitive deology(e.g., ChiricosandEschholz 2002; Chiricos, Padgett and Gertz 2000). Thus, a scale, MediaInfluence, s included,based on fourquestionsmeasuring he degree to whichthe respondentswatched andpaidattention o localandnationalnews.

Standarddemographicmeasures are also recorded:the respondent'sage(Age),Race(AfricanAmerican= 1, white = 0) (respondentsotherthan blacksand whites were deleted),Sex (Male= 1), educationalattainment Education),whether he respondent esided nthesouth(South), ndwhether he respondentlived nan urbanarea(Urban).Analytical StrategyWeusedordinaryeastsquares o presentourresults.4Missingdataon the incomemeasure were assigned the mean value. Inthe following ables, standardizedregressioncoefficients(Betas)and unstandardizedegressioncoefficients(B), nparenthesesarepresented.Caseswere deleted ifthey hadmissingdata on anyof the variables ncluded nthe analyses.The listwisedeletionof missingdataresultednaweightedsampleof 1,146respondents.No excessivemulticollinearitywas detected. Thelargestvariance nflationactor VIF) as 1.64.ResultsThe analysisfirstexaminedwhether AfricanAmericanswere significantlyesslikelyo supporthe deathpenaltyhanwhites.Model1of Table1regressedpublicsupportor he deathpenalty nrace.Theresults how,as expected, hat herewasa significant relationshipbetween race and public support for the death penalty,with AfricanAmericans less likely han whites to support capitalpunishment.In Model 2 of Table 1, independent variables, minus our racism measures,were entered into the regression equation. Results show that this step reducedthe magnitude of the race coefficient by only 2 percent.


10/22

Does White Racism Matter?* 1289Table :AnalysisftheRacialDividenSupportorCapital unishmentyMeasuresf Racism

Variables Model Model Model ModelAfricanmerican -.18*** -.18*** -.13*** -.11**(-.60) (-.59) (-.43) (-.36)Age -.09** -.09** -.09**(-.00) (-.00) (-.00)Gendermale 1) -.02 -.01 -.01(-.00) (.04) (-.04)Education -.05 -.02 -.03

(-.04) (-.01) (-.01)South .06* .05 .05(.14) (.11) (.12)Urban .07* .08** .08**(.23) (.27) (.27)Religiosity -.17*** -.16*** -.17***

(-.05) (-.05) (-.05)Politicalonservative .08** .07** .07**(.04) (.04) (.04)Authoritarianism .11*** .09"** .10***(.09) (.08) (.08)Governmentrust .01 .02 .02(.00) (.00) (.01)Income .05 .04 .04(.02) (.01) (.02)Working -.01 -.01 -.01

(-.02) (-.04) (-.04)Crime ates .08** .06* .05**(.08) (.06) (.07)Familyies .07** .05 .05*(.08) (.06) (.06)

Egalitarianism -.13*** -.05 -.07**(-.03) (-.01) (-.01)Media nfluence .12*** .11*** .11***(.01) (.01) (.01)JimCrowRacism - -.00 -

(-.00)SymbolicRacism - .20*** -(.06)White acism - .17***(.05)R2 .03*** .13"** .16*** .15***

Notes:n = 1117******p


11/22

1290* SocialForcesVolume 5,Number *March 007The next analysis had two purposes. First,it assessed whether the twomeasures of racism,Jim Crow and symbolic racism,were associated withsupportfor the death penalty.Second, it assessed the degree to whichthesetwo manifestations f racismaccounted orthe racialdivide nsupport orcapital

punishment.In Model 3 of Table1, these measures of racism were enteredalongwithourindependentvariables.Consistentwiththe extantresearch e.g.,Borg1997),the results show that JimCrowracism ailedto significantly redictpublic upport orthe deathpenalty.Also consistentwiththe pastresearch Borg1997), he results ndicated hatsymbolicracismpositivelypredicted he degreeto which Americanssupported capitalpunishment.Indeed,the standardizedregressioncoefficients indicate hatthe symbolicracismmeasurewas the mostrobustpredictor f the strengthof support orthe deathpenalty.The resultsfrom Model 3 of Table1 further ndicated hat includinghe twomeasuresof racismn he regression quationmodifiedheracial ividensupportforcapitalpunishment.Comparinghe raceregressioncoefficient n Model3 tothe one in Model2 shows that the racialdividein publicsupport or the deathpenaltywas reducedby28 percentafter ncludinghe racismmeasures.InModel4 of Table1, we deleted the measuresof Jim Crowand symbolicracismand includedourmeasureof white racism.Results ndicate hatthe whiteracismmeasurepositivelypredicted he degree to whichAmericans upportedcapitalpunishment. ndeed, he standardized egressioncoefficientsshow thatthe white racismmeasurewas one of the most robustpredictors f the degreeto whichAmericans upported he deathpenalty.The question remains as to whether the measure of white racism thatwe constructed can account for the racialdividein publicsupportfor capitalpunishment.Results rommodels2 and4 reveal hatthe magnitudeof the racecoefficientwas substantiallyeducedafter ncludinghe whiteracismmeasure nthe regressionequation.The racialdivide npublicsupport or the deathpenaltywas reducedby39 percentafter ncludinghewhiteracismmeasure.Theseresultssuggest that morethana thirdof the racialdividein publicsupport or capitalpunishment an be attributedo the undue nfluenceof whiteracistattitudes.5We also investigatedwhethera racialdivideexists between nonracistwhitesand AfricanAmericans.Ina separateanalysis,whites who scored above theAfricanAmericanmean on the symbolic racismscale were deleted and theregressionequationpresented in Model 2 of Table1 was re-estimated.Thisanalysis ncluded 16AfricanAmericans ndwhites.Results howedthat he racecoefficientdid notsignificantly redict he levelof support or the deathpenalty.Thisnullrelationshipuggests thatAfricanAmericans ndnonracistwhites sharesimilar pinionsaboutcapitalpunishment, verything lse beingequal.6The inalanalysisexploredwhywhite racistsweremore ikelyo support apitalpunishment han nonracistwhites and AfricanAmericans.To detect possiblereasons for their stronger support,we investigatedwhether the relationshipbetween the white racism measure and public support for the death penaltyvaried across the independent variables. These analyses yielded two interactionterms that significantly predicted support for capital punishment, White Racismx Religiosity and White Racism x Egalitarianism.To uncover the substantive


12/22

Does White Racism Matter?* 1291meaningofthese interactionffects, the samplewas split nto hosewho wereorwere notracist,andthe regressionequationpresented nModel2 of Table1wasre-estimated.Therelationship etween religiosity nd publicsupport orcapitalpunishmentwas found o be substantively reateramongnonracistsbeta= -.33p = .000)thanthose who were racists(beta = -.13 p = .000).Theresultsalsofound hat herelationshipetweenegalitarianismndpublic upportor hedeathpenaltywas nonsignificantmongthose who heldracistbeliefs(beta= -.04 p.=.21)butwas significant mongnonracistsbeta= .16 p = .01).Thus, he findingsindicate hatreligiosity ndegalitarianismmattered ess when racistsconsideredthe degree to whichthey supported he death penalty.Onthe otherhand,theinteractioneffects indicatedthat religiosityand egalitarianism ubstantivelyaffectedthe level of support orcapitalpunishment mongnonracists.DiscussionThe use andlegitimacyof capitalpunishments inextricablyntwinedwithraceinthe UnitedStates.ManyhavequestionedwhetherAfricanAmericans re morelikely hanwhites to be sentenced to die and executed (e.g., Langbein1999;Radelet1981).Scholarshavealso begunto examinewhetherpublic upport orcapitalpunishments infusedwiththe dynamicsof racial onflict.In hiscontext,we attempted o advance his existingresearchbyexaminingmorefully he sizeandsources of this seeminglyenduring acialdivide npublicsupport orcapitalpunishment.Mostsalient,we explored he rolethat white racismhas increatingthe chasm inpublicopinionaboutthe deathpenalty.Theanalysissuggests fiveconsiderations hatwarranturther ttention.First, he most robustpredictorof the degree to which Americanssupportthe death penaltyis our measure of white racism. We found that the morerespondents believe African Americans are "irresponsible"or "culturallydeficient"(Feaginand O'Brien2003), the more likely they are to supportexecuting convicted murderers.The analysisalso providestentative insightsintowhy individualswiththese attitudesare more likely o supportthe deathpenalty hannonracistwhites andAfricanAmericans.The impactof religiosityis less strongamong those with racistattitudes,and these individualsdo notconsider whether the UnitedStates is an egalitarian ociety when formingopinionsabout the deathpenalty.On the otherhand,amongthose who didnotharbor acialanimus,religiosityandegalitarianism as a substantive mpactontheiropinionsaboutcapitalpunishment.7Beyondthese data, however,more research is needed to illuminatewhyracialanimus inparticularymbolicracism is related o support or the deathpenalty.It is possible, for example, that symbolicallyracist whites wronglybelieve thattheirgains were achievedthrough heirindividual ffort in a trulycolor blindsociety. Additionally,ymbolicracistwhites might be more proneto believe that the poverty that disproportionately affects African Americans isthe result of blacks' unwillingness to work as hard as they have. Their denialof white privilege, an aspect of white racism (Feagin 2001; Sears and Jessor1996), coupled with feelings of racial animosity, may generate a heightenedfrustration with African Americans, in general, and particularlytoward those


13/22

1292* SocialForcesVolume 5,Number e March 007AfricanAmericanswho flagrantlyake advantageof opportunities hatwhitesbelievehave been "given"o them.Thus, it is not surprising hat the death penaltytakes on such symbolicimportancenthe UnitedStates. It s the vessel thatcontains he frustrationndanger symbolicwhite racists have toward AfricanAmericans.These emotiveforces percolatedduring he raceriotsof the 1960s andwere intensifiedduringthe 1980s as the picturesof WillieHorton lashedacross the nation's elevisionsets (Chiricos ndEschholz2002; Kinder nd Sanders1996;Mendelberg1997;Neubeck and Cazenave2001). Addingto this combustiblemix were whitesscapegoating AfricanAmericansfor their downward mobilityas 5 millionfamiliesheaded by white males were added to the povertyrollsfrom 1979 to1983(Staples1987).Itis likely hat these events cemented andlegitimated heperceptionamong symbolically acist whites thatAfricanAmericansare proneto criminalbehavior, articularlyfricanAmericanmales(Chiricos nd Eschholz2002; Chiricos,Welch and Getz2004; Wacquant2001; Young1985).Thus,theAfricanAmerican eath rowinmateencapsulates he racial nimus hatsymbolicwhiteracistshaveforthose AfricanAmericansheybelieve ntentionallylouttheethos of hardworkby trying o profit hroughmurder.Admittedly,his discussionof why racism s related o support or the deathpenalty s speculative.Moredefinitivensightswillrequire tudydesignsthatarerace-sensitive.Thismightincludemore detailedmeasuresbothof componentsof symbolicracism(e.g., angertowardAfricanAmericans, hreatfromAfricanAmericans,tereotypesofoffenders)andofthe applicationfcapitalpunishment(e.g., application f the deathpenalty o whitevs. AfricanAmericansoffenders).At present,the extantknowledgeis restrictedbecause majorpollingagencies,such as the GallupOrganization,argelyavoid he issue of racismwhen probingwhyAmericans upportcapitalpunishmentUnnever ndCullen2005).Second, consistent with previous research (Cochranand Chamlin2006;Unneverand Cullen2007),we reporta clearracialdividein publicsupportforthe death penalty,withwhites more likely o supportcapitalpunishment.Thisracialcleavage does not appearto be a productof economic, educational,religiousor politicaldifferencesbetween AfricanAmericansand whites. Thesedifferences decreased the racialdivide in supportfor capitalpunishment byonly 2 percent. Importantly, owever,the analysis reveals that a substantialproportion f the racialdivide- more than one-third can be attributed o theundueinfluenceof white racism.Third,t is instructivehat he racialdivide s notfullyexplainedbywhite racism.Evenaftercontrolling or such racism,the racialdivide,though substantivelyattenuated,persists.These resultssuggest that AfricanAmericanshaveuniqueexperiencesthat contribute o theirlowersupportof the state's use of capitalpunishment. n hisregard,Unnever ndCullen 007argue hatAfricanAmericansmay have a distinct historywith the death penalty.This history includes both theepidemic of lynching AfricanAmericans throughout the South in the early 1900sand the discriminatory use of capital punishment against African Americansfor a range of crimes (e.g., rape) (Clarke1998; Lofquist2002; Tolnay,Beck andMassey 1992; Tolnay,Deane and Beck 1996). They furtherargue that this history


14/22

DoesWhiteRacismMatter? 1293informsAfricanAmericans'presentreluctance o embracecapitalpunishmentat the same levels as whites (cf., Messner et al. 2006). It is also noteworthythat Unneverand Cullen2007 found thatmanyof the socialforces thatshouldlessen the dividebetween AfricanAmericansandwhites- such as politicalandreligiousbeliefs - either have a negligibleimpactor actually urther ntensifytheir differences in opinions about the death penalty.Thus, these results,combinedwiththose presentedhere, suggest that the racialdividein supportfor the deathpenaltymayresultboth fromthe undueinfluenceof whiteracismand fromthe enduring mpactof the historicaluse of lethal violence againstAfricanAmericans.Fourth,he UnitedStatesmaybe anationdividedwithin ace.Clearly,he resultsof the current tudyandthose of others(Soss et al.2003)suggest thattherearedivisions nsupport orthe death penaltyamong whites. Nonracistswhites areless likely o supportcapitalpunishmenthan racistwhites. Indeed,Barkan ndCohn 2005b)reporthatonlya slimmajorityf nonracistswhites- 56.5 percent- support he deathpenalty.Similarly,n the NESdata,it is possibleto calculate,by racialbeliefs, the degree to which respondentsstronglysupportedcapitalpunishment: 3 percentof whites who scoredabovetheAfricanAmericanmeanon the symbolicracismscale stronglysupportedthe death penalty,whereas,only43 percentof nonracistwhites strongly upportedcapitalpunishment.Fifthand finally, t is clear that capitalpunishmentcannot be consideredas a race-neutralpublicpolicy because white racism is inextricablynvolvedin differentialpublicsupportfor the death penalty.Thus, it mightbe time torecognize that when legislatorsjustify their support for the death penaltybecause they are representinghe "willof the people," hese pronouncementsignorea discomforting eality: hat strongor highlevels of supportfor capitalpunishment relargely ooted nthe views of thatsegment of the publicholdingracistviews towardAfricanAmericans.Further,Mallicoatand Radelet(2004)note thatthe SupremeCourthas, on numerousoccasions, used publicopinionpollsas a wayto measurethe "evolvingtandardsof decency"argument e.g.,Furman .Georgia, 08 U.S.238, 1972),and thatthe Courthas recently ndicateda new willingnessto consider data generatedfrompublicopinionpollswhendetermining he constitutionalityf variousaspects of capitalpunishment.Inlightof these developments,it will perhapsgive juristsreasonto pause whenthey learn hat racism s likely keyingredientnthe public'sdefinition f capitalpunishmentas meetinga standardof decency.Notes1. Notably, cholarsarguethat prejudiceamongAfricanAmericans s distinctfrom the prejudicedviews whites have about AfricanAmericans.Watts-Jones (2002:592)states that"Peopleof Africandescent maybe prejudiced,but not racistvis-a-vis hose of Europeandescent. We have no collectivehistoryof proclaimingEuropeansnferior,r of wielding nstitutional owerto subjugate hem."


15/22

1294* SocialForcesVolume 5,Number *March 0072. We created requencydistributionsorAfricanAmericans ndwhites forthesymbolicracism cale.Therewere AfricanAmericans ndwhites whoscoredinthe highestcategory n= 20)indicatingtrongracial nimus owardAfricanAmericans.However,hetwogroupsdifferednthatonly1percentofAfrican

Americans cored inthe highest category, n comparisono 7.6 percentofwhites. Ingeneral,the frequencydistributionsndicate hat the majority fAfricanAmericans core belowthe 12th interval54.1percent),whereasthemajority f whites (56.9 percent)score abovethe 13thinterval ndthatthegreatest disparitiesoccur at the tailof the distributionhatindicatesstrongracial esentments.3. Morespecifically, esearchshows thatwomen who harbor exist attitudesare more likely o believe in rapeand sexual harassmentmyths,are lesstolerantof women who go beyondthe confinesof theirprescribedgenderrole, and are more likelyto accept interpersonal iolence (Cowan2000;Lonswayand Fitzgerald1995; Russell and Trig2004). Researchers andpractitioners ecognize that this expression of "false consciousness" orinternalizedacism-sexism anbe overcome foppressedminorities evelopa "critical onsciousness"- self-empowerment hat begins with a criticalunderstanding nd awarenessof the sociologicalforces that result in theiroppression(Watts,Griffith nd Abdul-Adil999;Watts-Jones2002).4. We reproduced uranalysisusingcumulativeogisticregressionandordinal

regressionand the resultswere substantivelydentical o those we presentusingordinaryeast squares.5. We reestimated he regressionequationpresentedin Model4 of Table1including wo alternativemeasures of white racism.We includedthesemeasuresseparately. hebaselines or hese two alternativesmeasureswerethe population ndwhite means on the symbolicracismscale. As with ourothermeasureof white racismbased on the AfricanAmericanmean,thesemeasures nclude he degreeto whichwhite racistsexpressedracial nimus.Includinghe populationmean measureof white racismreducedthe racialdivide n support orthe death penaltyby 25 percent.Whenwe separatelyincluded he measure of white racismbased on the white mean,the racialdividewas reducedby30 percent.Thus,dependingon how whiteracism smeasured, twould be reasonableo conclude hat25 percent o 39 percentof the racialdivide in the degree to which Americanssupportedcapitalpunishment an be accounted orbythe undue nfluenceof white racism.Notably,n an analysisof the reasonswhy white respondents(AfricanAmericanswere excluded)supportedspendingmoremoneyto fightcrimeBarkanand Cohn(2005a)created a scale measuringantiblackprejudice

and dividedit at its medianto define those who were "less"and "more"prejudiced.Theyreporteda strongrelationship etweenantiblack rejudiceand spendingmore to fight crimeamongthe moreprejudicedwhites butfound no relationshipor the less prejudicedwhites. Theyconcludedthatracialprejudice s an unacceptablereason to support he greaterfundingof crime reduction policies especially in a democracy that espouses equalopportunityand egalitariantreatment (Barkanand Cohn 2005a:312).


16/22

Does White RacismMatter?*12956. Tofurther xplorethese relationships,we restrictedouranalysisto AfricanAmericansand deleted whites who scored above the populationmeanon the symbolic racismscale (n = 567), and race significantlypredictedsupport orthe deathpenalty beta= -.13,p. = .01).We also deletedwhites

who scored abovethe white mean on the symbolicracismscale (n = 666)and,as expected, racesignificantlypredictedsupport orthe deathpenalty(beta = -.13, p. = .00).7. It is also possible that white racists are more likely o supportthe deathpenaltybecause they perceivehomicidethrougha racial ens resulting nthem associatingAfricanAmericanswith murderChiricos nd Getz2004;FeaginandO'Brien 003).ReferencesApplegate,BrandonK.,FrancisT.Cullen,BonnieS. FisherandThomasVanderVen.2000."ForgivenessndFundamentalism:econsideringheRelationshipbetweenCorrectional ttitudesandReligion." riminology8:719-54.Aguirre,Adalberto,and DavidV Baker.1993. "RacialPrejudice nd the DeathPenalty:A ResearchNote."SocialIssues20:150-56.Barkan,Steven E., and Steven F.Cohn. 1994. "RacialPrejudiceand Supportfor the Death Penaltyby Whites."Journal of Research in CrimeandDelinquency31:202-9.

. 2005a. "WhyWhites FavorSpending More Money to FightCrime:TheRole of RacialPrejudice."ocialProblems52:300-14.

. 2005b. "OnReducingWhite Supportforthe Death Penalty:A PessimisticAppraisal." riminologyndPublicPolicy4:39-44.Beckett,Katherine,ndTheodoreSasson. 2000. ThePoliticsof Injustice.Crime

andPunishmentnAmerica.PineForgePress.Blumstein,Alfred,andJoelWallman,ditors.2000. TheCrimeDrop nAmerica.CambridgeUniversity ress.Bobo, Lawrence.1997. "Race,PublicOpinion,and the SocialSphere."PublicOpinionQuarterly1:1-15.Bobo,Lawrence, ndDevonJohnson. 2004. "ATaste or Punishment:BlackandWhiteAmericans'Views on the DeathPenaltyand the Waron Drugs."Du

BoisReview1:151-80.Bobo,Lawrence, ndJamesR.Kluegel. 993."Oppositiono Race-targeting:elf-interest,Stratificationdeology,or RacialAttitudes?" mericanSociologicalReview58:443-64.Bonilla-Silva,Eduardo. 1997. "RethinkingRacism: Toward a StructuralInterpretation."mericanSociologicalReview62:465-80.


17/22

1296 * Social Forces Volume85, Number 3 * March2007Borg, MarianJ. 1997. "TheSouthernSubcultureof Punitiveness?RegionalVariationn Support or CapitalPunishment."ournalof Research n CrimeandDelinquency 4:25-46.Brewer,PaulR. 2003. "TheShiftingFoundations f PublicOpinionabout GayRights."ournal f Politics65:1208-20.Chiricos,Ted,and SarahEschholz.2002. "TheRacialand EthnicTypificationfCrimeandthe Criminal ypificationf RaceandEthnicityn LocalTelevisionNews."Journal f Researchn Crime ndDelinquency 9:400-21.Chiricos,Ted,Kathy adgettand MarcGetz.2000."Fear,VNews,andthe Realityof Crime."Criminology8:755-85.Chiricos,Ted,KellyWelchand MarcGetz.2004."Racial ypificationf Crime ndSupportor PunitiveMeasures."Criminology2:359-89.Clarke, ames W.1998."Without earorShame:Lynching,CapitalPunishment,and the Subcultureof Violencein the AmericanSouth."British ournalofPolitical cience 28:269-89.Cochran, ohnK.,and MitchellB.Chamlin. 006. "TheEnduringRacialDivide nDeathPenaltySupport."ournalof Criminalustice34:85-99.Cowan,Gloria. 000. "Women'sHostilityowardWomenand Rapeand SexualHarassmentMyths."ViolenceAgainstWomen6:238-46.Feagin,Joe R. 2001. RacistAmerican.Roots, CurrentRealities,and FutureReparations.Routledge.Feagin,Joe R.,and EileenO'Brien. 003. WhiteMen on RacePower,Privilege,and theShapingof Cultural onsciousness.BeaconPress.Feagin, Joe R., Hernan Vera and Pinar Batur.2001. White Racism. The

Basics.Routledge.Feldman, tanley. 988. "StructurendConsistencyn PublicOpinion: heRoleofCoreBeliefsandValues." merican ournal fPolitical cience32:416-40.Feldman, Stanley, and Marco R. Steenbergen. 2001. "The HumanitarianFoundationof PublicSupportfor Social Welfare."AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience 45:658-77.Garland,David. 2001. The Cultureof Control.Crimeand Social Orderin

Contemporaryociety. Universityf ChicagoPress.Hacker, ndrew. 995. TwoNations.Black nd White,Separate,Hostile,Unequal.CharlesScribner's ons.Hagan, John, Carla Shedd and Monique R. Payne. 2005. "Race, Ethnicity,and Youth Perceptions of Criminal Injustice." American SociologicalReview 70:381-407.


18/22

Does White RacismMatter?* 1297Hetherington,MarcJ., and Suzanne Globetti.2002. "Political rustand RacialPolicyPreferences." merican ournalof Political cience 46:253-75.Jacobs, David,and Jason T.Carmichael. 002. "ThePoliticalSociologyof the

Death Penalty:A Pooled Time-SeriesAnalysis."AmericanSociologicalReview67:109-31.. 2004. "Ideology, Social Threat, and the Death Sentence: CapitalSentences acrossTimeandSpace."SocialForces83:249-78.

Johnson,Jacqueline,SharonRushand Joe Feagin.2000. "DoingAnti-Racism:Toward n Egalitarianmerican ociety."Contemporaryociology29:95-110.Kinder,DonaldR.,and LynnM.Sanders. 1996. DividedByColor.RacialPoliticsandDemocraticdeals.Universityf ChicagoPress.Kinder,DonaldR., and NicholasWinter.2001. "Exploringhe RacialDivide:Blacks,WhitesandOpinion n NationalPolicy." merican ournalofPoliticalScience 45:439-56.Langbein,LauraI.1999."Politics,Rules,and DeathRow:WhyStates EscheworExecuteExecutions."ocialScience Ouarterly0:629-48.Lofquist,William . 2002."Putting hemThere,KeepingThemThere,andKillingThem:AnAnalysisof State-LevelVariationsnDeathPenalty ntensity."owaLawReview87:1505-19.Lonsway,Kimberly .,andLouiseF Fitzgerald.995."AttitudinalntecedentsofRapeMythAcceptance:ATheoretical ndEmpirical eexamination."ournalof PersonalityndSocialPsychology68:704-11.Mallicoat, tacyL.,andMichaelL.Radelet.2004. "Fromhe Field:TheGrowingSignificanceof PublicOpinion or DeathPenalty urisprudence."ournalof

Crime ndJustice27:119-30.Mendelberg,Talil.997."ExecutingHortons:RacialCrimenthe 1988PresidentialCampaign."ublicOpinionQuarterly1:134-57.Messner,Steven F, EricP Baumerand RichardRosenfeld.2006. "Distrust nGovernment,he VigilanteTradition,nd Support or CapitalPunishment."LawandSocietyReview40:559-90.Miller, erome G. 1996. Search and Destroy.African-American ales in theCriminalusticeSystem.CambridgeUniversity ress.Neubeck,Kenneth ., and Noel A. Cazenave.2001. WelfareRacism.Playing heRaceCardAgainstAmerica'sPoor.Routledge.Nice, David C. 1992. "The States and the Death Penalty." Western Political

Ouarterly45:1037-48.


19/22

1298 * SocialForcesVolume85, Number 3 * March2007Radelet,MichaelL.1981. "RacialCharacteristicsnd the Imposition f the DeathPenalty."mericanSociologicalReview46:918-27.Russell,BrendaL.,andKristin .Trigg. 004. "TolerancefSexualHarassment:An

Examinationf GenderDifferences,Ambivalent exism,SocialDominance,and GenderRoles."Sex Roles 50:565-73.Sears,David0., andPJ.Henry. 003. "TheOrigins f SymbolicRacism."ournalof PersonalityndSocialPsychology85:259-75.Sears,David0., andTomJessor.1996."Whites'RacialPolicyAttitudes:TheRoleof WhiteRacism." ocialScience Quarterly7:751-59.Sears,DavidO.,ColletteVanLaar,MaryCarrillondRickKosterman. 997. "IsItReallyRacism?TheOrigins f WhiteAmericans'Oppositiono Race-targetedPolicies." ublicOpinionQuarterly1:16-53.Soss, Joe, LauraLangbein ndAlanR.Metelko.2003."WhyDoWhiteAmericansSupporthe DeathPenalty?"ournalof Politics65:397-421.Sprott, aneB.1999."AreMembersofthe PublicTough nCrime? heDimensionsof PublicPunitiveness."ournal f Criminalustice27:467-74.Stack,Steven.2000. "Supportorthe DeathPenalty:AGender-specificModel."SexRoles43:163-79.

. 2003. "Authoritarianismnd Supportforthe Death Penalty:A MultivariateAnalysis."ociologicalFocus36:333-52.Staples, Robert.1987. "BlackMale Genocide: A FinalSolutionto the RaceProblemin America."The Black ScholarJournalof Black Studies andResearch 18:2-11.Tolnay, tewartE.,E. M. Beck and James L.Massey.1992."BlackCompetitionand WhiteVengeance:LegalExecutionof Blacksas Social Control n theCottonSouth,1890to 1929."SocialScience Quarterly3:627-44.Tolnay,tewartE.,GlennDeaneand E.M.Beck.1996."Vicariousiolence:SpatialEffectson SouthernLynchings, 890-1919."AmericanJournalof Sociology102:788-815.Tonry,Michael.1995.MalignNeglect. Race, Crime, ndPunishmentnAmerica.OxfordUniversity ress.

. 1999. "Why Are U.S. Incarceration Rates So High?" Crime andDelinquency 5:419-37.Tyler, omR.,and RobertJ. Boeckmann.1997. "Three trikesand YouAreOut,But Why? The Psychology of Public Support for Punishing Rule Breakers."Law and Society Review 31:237-65.


20/22

Does White Racism Matter?* 1299Unnever, ames D., and FrancisT. Cullen.2005. "Executinghe InnocentandSupport orCapitalPunishment:mplicationsorPublicPolicy."CriminologyandPublicPolicy4:3-37.

. 2006. "Are Christian Fundamentalists Radical Supporters of CapitalPunishment?"ournal f Researchn Crime ndDelinquency 3:169-97.

. 2007. "Reassessing the RacialDivide in Supportfor CapitalPunishment:The ContinuingSignificanceof Race."Journalof Researchin CrimeandDelinquency 4:124-58.Unnever, ames D.,FrancisT.Cullenand John P Bartkowski.006. "ImagesofGod and PublicSupport or CapitalPunishment:Does a Close Relationshipwitha LovingGodMatter?" riminology4:833-64.Unnever, ames D.,FrancisT.Cullenand BonnieS. Fisher. 005. "EmpathyndPublicSupportorthe DeathPenalty."ournalof Crime ndJustice 24:1-34.Unnever, ames D.,FrancisT.Cullenand JulianV Roberts.2005. "NotEveryoneStronglySupports he DeathPenalty:AssessingWeakly-held ttitudesaboutCapitalPunishment."merican ournal f Criminalustice29:187-216.Virtanen,Simo V, and LeonieHuddy.1998. "Old-fashioned acism and New

Formsof RacialPrejudice."ournal f Politics60:311-32.Wacquant,Loic.2001. "DeadlySymbiosis:WhenGhettoand PrisonMeet andMesh."Punishment ndSociety3:95-134.Watts,Roderick ., DerekM.Griffith nd Jaleel Abdul-Adil.999."SociopoliticalDevelopmentas an Antidote orOppression:Theoryand Action."AmericanJournalof Communitysychology27:255-71.Watts-Jones,Dee.2002."Healingnternalizedacism:The Roleof aWithin-groupSanctuary mongPeopleof AfricanDescent."FamilyProcess41:591-602.Young,RobertL. 1985. "Perceptions f Crime,RacialAttitudes,and FirearmsOwnership."ocialForces64:473-86.

.1992. "ReligiousOrientation,Raceand Support or the DeathPenalty."JournalortheScientificStudyofReligion31:76-87.

. 2004. "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Conviction Orientation, RacialAttitudes,andSupportorCapitalPunishment."eviantBehavior 5:151-67.Zimring,Franklin . 2003. TheContradictionsf AmericanCapitalPunishment.OxfordUniversity ress.CasesCitedFurman . Georgia,408 U.S.238 (1972)


21/22

AppendixA. Scale temsScale ItemsSymbolicacism 1.Irish,talians,ewish ndmanytherminoritiesvercamerejudicendworkedhe

up.Blackshouldothesamewithoutny pecialavors.2. Overhepast ewyears,blacks avegotteness thanheydeserve.3. It's eally matterfsomepeople ot ryingardnough;fblacks ouldnly ryhathey ould ejustaswell ffas whites.4.Generationsfslaverynddiscriminationave reatedonditionshatmaketdiffiblackso workheirwayoutofthe owerlass.JimCrow 1.Where ouldourateblacks na scaleof1to7?(1indicatesardworking,meaand4 indicates ostblacksrenot loserooneendor heother)2.Where ouldourateblacksna scaleof1to7?(1indicatesntelligent,isunintand4 indicates ostblacksrenot losero oneendor heother)3. Where ouldourateblacksna scaleof1to7?(1indicatesrustworthy,isuntrustworthy,nd4 indicates ostblacksrenotclosero oneendor heother)Egalitarianism 1. Ourocietyhould owhateversnecessaryomake ure hat veryoneasaneqopportunityo succeed.2. Wehavegone oo ar npushingqual ightsn his ountry.neofthebigproblethis ountrys thatwe don'tiveeveryonenequal hance.3.This ountryould e better ff fwe worriedessabout ow qual eople re.4. It s notreallyhatbiga problemfsomepeople avemore f a chancen ife han5.Ifpeoplewere reatedmorequallyn his ountrye would avemanyewer robReligiosity 1.Doyouconsidereligionobe an mportantart fyourife, rnot?2.People racticeheireligionndifferentays.Outsidefattendingeligiouservicyouprayeveralimes day,onceaday,a few imes week, ncea weekor essnever?3. Outsidefattendingeligiouservices, oyoureadheBible everalimes day,oday,afew imes week, ncea weekor essornever?


22/22

Authoritarianism .Please ellmewhich neyou hinksmoremportantorachildohave:ndependrespector lders.2. Pleaseellmewhich neyou hinksmoremportantora childo have: bediencoreliance.3.Pleaseellmewhichneyou hinksmoremportantora childohave: uriosityrmanners.4. Pleaseellmewhichneyou hinksmoremportantora childohave: eingonsorwellbehaved.Governmentrust 1.Howmuch f the imedoyou hinkoucan rusthegovernmentnWashingtonodisrightjustabout lways,most fthe ime, ronly omeofthe ime?2.Doyou hinkhatpeoplengovernmentastea lotofthemoneywepay n axes,wsomeofit,ordon'twaste erymuch f it?3.Wouldou aythegovernmentsprettymuchunbyafewbig nterestsookingut

themselvesr hat t s runor hebenefitfall hepeople?4.Doyou hinkhatquite fewofthepeopleunninghegovernmentrecrooked,otmany re,ordoyou hinkardlynyofthem recrooked?Medianfluence 1.Howmany ays n hepastweekdidyouwatch ationaletworkewsonTV?2.Howmany ays n hepastweekdidyouwatchhe ocalTVnews hows uchas"Eyewitnessews"r"Actionews"n he ateafternoonrearly-evening?3.Howmany ays n hepastweekdidyouwatchhe ocalTVnews hows n he ateevening?4.Howmany ays n hepastweekdidyouread daily ewspaper?

racial divide death penalty.pdf

Documents