Crime Salience And Public Willingness To Pay For Child Saving And Juvenile Punishment

Keywords

fear of crime; juvenile justice; punitive rehabilitation; risk of victimization; willingness to pay

Abstract

Public policy in the area of youth crime has periodically shifted back and forth between punishment and child saving. Generally, scholars believe that public opinion and youth justice policies are linked. It is also believed that crime salience—fear and perceived risk of victimization—is linked to public opinion about youth sanctions. To test these widely held beliefs, this study examines public opinion about youth justice policies by exploring the impact of crime salience on public support for child saving versus youth punishment. This study expands on prior literature by also considering the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the youth justice policies they prefer. Results indicate that fear increases punitiveness, WTP for youth justice policies generally, and, more specifically, the WTP for youth punishment. However, fear does not affect the public’s WTP for child saving. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Publication Date

5-1-2016

Publication Title

Crime and Delinquency

Volume

62

Issue

5

Number of Pages

645-668

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128713505487

Socpus ID

84962787082 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84962787082

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS