Cheryl Lero Jonson
Biographic Data
| ID | 189113 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cheryl Lero Jonson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cheryl Lero |
| FAMILY NAME | Jonson |
| SIGNATURE | JONSON C L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Xavier University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2278-7807 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 249 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
The hidden inhumanity of incarceration: Quantifying the suffering caused by banning sexual intimacy behind bars
Getting the Facts Straight: A Survey Experiment of Crime and Immigration Attitudes
Immigration is at the forefront of the nation’s public policy agenda. Despite research finding the contrary, a primary concern held by some Americans is that immigration increases crime in the United States. The current study embeds an information experiment in a survey of 430 U.S. adults to assess whether fact-based information on the immigration-crime relationship influences attitudes toward immigration and its effect on crime. Results reveal t…
We Should Have Listened to Shaun Gabbidon: W. E. B. Du Bois and The Philadelphia Negro
In 1899, W. E. B. Du Bois published The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study , an investigation of “the Negro problem” in the city's Seventh Ward based on a door-to-door survey of nearly 10,000 residents. For three decades, Shaun Gabbidon has trumpeted the criminological relevance of this classic work and, mostly unsuccessfully, urged scholars to visit its pages. The current work seeks to amplify Shaun's message. It begins by noting how a number of…
Incarceration without Dehumanization: Public Support for Policies to Reduce Correctional Officer Misconduct
Misconduct committed against incarcerated people is severe and dehumanizing. As the media has begun to shine light on correctional officer misconduct, corrections departments have started implementing policies to curb misbehavior, such as equipping officers with body-worn cameras. Using survey data from a national sample (N = 1,000), the study explores attitudes toward policies intended to reduce officer misconduct in prisons. We also test experi…
The Right to Keep Arms Secretly? An Experimental Analysis of Popular Support for Public Gun Registries
Generally, Americans support the right to bear arms. However, a less studied inquiry is whether the public believes citizens should be allowed to take up arms secretly. We assess if Americans support a public gun registry so that they can know who around them (i.e., in their own neighborhood) owns firearms. To do so, we embedded a split-ballot experiment into a national survey ( n = 1,000) to assess support for registries for either handguns or A…
Public support for universal second look sentencing, a research note
Based on a 2023 national YouGov survey ( N = 800), we explored public support for universal second look sentencing—the view that all incarcerated individuals, not just those who committed their crimes before they were age 25, should be eligible to have lengthy sentences revisited by judges after serving 15 to 20 years in prison. A majority of Americans supported a universal policy, with only 1 in 5 respondents opposed. Multivariate analyses showe…
The Potential Benefits of a Military to Prison-Work Pipeline: A Study of Newly Hired U.S. Prison Officers’ Self-Efficacy
For years, U.S. prison systems have struggled to staff their prison officer ranks. As such, many agencies have increased advertisements and incentives to specific populations of prospective employees. Particularly, military service member and veteran applicants are highly valued and often qualify for preferential hiring. Thus, it is important to evaluate the assumption that these individuals have unique skills and attributes that set them apart f…
Coerced motherhood behind bars: Public support for abortion access for incarcerated women
Research Summary The U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has profound implications for the 58,000 incarcerated women who are pregnant. Especially in states that now ban abortion, women in prisons and jails who prefer to terminate their pregnancy will be denied that choice by the government and will be forced to give birth. Based on a July 2023 YouGov survey ( N = 800) employing three experiments and measuring attitudes tow…
Revisiting the correlates of youth attitudes toward the police: The role of conservative and liberal crime ideology
Public support for safe-storage laws: White nationalism and politics as barriers to evidence-based gun policy
Understanding Gun Ownership in the Twenty-First Century: Why Some Americans Own Guns, but Most Do Not
The gun ownership literature is vast, with dozens of studies seeking to explain who owns guns and why. We build on this literature in two key ways. First, we introduce a new variable into the fold: sensitivity to harm. We theorize that this concern actively inhibits gun ownership. Second, we direct theoretical and empirical attention to a predictor that has frequently been overlooked in the contemporary gun literature even though its timing makes…
Nefarious and Disconcerting Motivations for Choosing a Correctional Officer Position: A Deviant Case Analysis
Most research finds that individuals are drawn to the correctional officer occupation for the pay and benefits or because it provides a new and exciting opportunity. However, these are not the only interests for choosing a correctional officer position. The current study draws on a sample of pre-service correctional officers surveyed prior to beginning their jobs ( N = 673). In the spirit of the deviant case method, we focus on a subset of our sa…
Elevating the Rehabilitation Orientations of the Correctional Officer Workforce: Implications for Recruitment and Hiring Practices
Due to their close proximity to those serving time, correctional officers may not only be agents of control but also agents of change. Although state departments of correction often target for recruitment those individuals who can fulfill the custodial role of the job, little attention is given to hiring a human service-oriented workforce. To fill that void, we surveyed 673 newly hired correctional officer trainees from three states to determine …
Public support for second look sentencing: Is there a Shawshank redemption effect
Research Summary Washington, DC has implemented second look sentencing. After serving a minimum of 15 years in prison, those convicted of a serious offense committed while under the age of 25 years can petition a judge to take a “second look” and potentially release them from incarceration. To examine both global and specific support for second look sentencing, we embedded experiments in a 2021 MTurk survey and in a follow‐up 2022 YouGov survey. …
Blinded by the White (Nationalism): Separatist Ideology and Discounting the Threat of Covid-19 to Society
After more than one million COVID-19 deaths and ninety-one million cases in the United States, it is clear that COVID-19 has and will continue to pose a threat to the health of the United States' population and economy. However, despite the clear and early warnings from the CDC, many have continued to downplay the impact of the pandemic, which has arguably inflamed the perniciousness of the virus. Using data from national surveys conducted a year…
Attributions as Anchors: How the Public Explains School Shootings and Why It Matters
From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the American public has repeatedly witnessed the carnage and tragic consequences of mass school shootings. Using a national survey of American adults (N = 1,100) conducted between May 30 and June 6, 2018 in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, this project explores public opinion on why these events occur. Informed by sociological scholarship on social movements and framing, the analysis…
Punishing Rampage: Public Opinion on Sanctions for School Shooters
School shootings are one of the most salient social problems in America. Most prior research in this area has focused on identifying their causes and evaluating preventive school safety measures. An overlooked issue involves what to do with individuals who plan, attempt, or commit school shootings. Using data from an experiment embedded in a national survey of American adults (N = 1100), this study seeks to answer that question. We examine the pu…
Friend Not Foe? Reconsidering Race, the Police, and Community Relations
Given the complicated historical and contemporary relationship between law enforcement and African Americans, academic and popular commentary have focused intently on the existence of conflict between the police and the Black citizenry in the United States. The current project, however, seeks to broaden understanding in this area by exploring the extent to which African Americans know the police in positive, informal ways. Based on a 2017 nationa…
Understanding Who is Hired to Work in U.S. Prisons and Why it Matters: A Call for Research
Despite the longstanding issues within the correctional officer occupation (e.g., high turnover, absenteeism), decades of research have tended to focus solely on the negative consequences of correctional officer work, rather than on the unique personal characteristics of the officers themselves. This omission is surprising as it is highly probable that each person experiences correctional work differently, with variation potentially hinging on th…
Are guns the new dog whistle? Gun control, racial resentment, and vote choice
Two principal movers of American politics appear increasingly to be connected: racism and guns. The racial content underlying gun rights rhetoric, however, is rarely made explicit during political campaigns. As such, it is possible that espousing pro‐gun messages may be an effective way to surreptitiously court prejudiced voters without transgressing popular egalitarian norms. In other words, gun rights rhetoric may function as a racial dog whist…
The Denier in Chief: Faith in Trump and Techniques of Neutralization in a Pandemic
Based on a March 28–29, 2020 MTurk survey (N = 1,000), the current study examined how faith in President Donald Trump's statements downplaying the risks and his responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic affected endorsement of social distancing techniques of neutralization. Controlling for a host of variables, the analysis revealed that faith in Trump's denials was robustly associated with neutralization beliefs. Support for techniques of neutrali…
Using Behavioral Strategies to Cope With the Threat of Terrorism: A National-Level Study
Although the risk of dying in a terrorist attack in the United States is almost non-existent, recent polls indicate that Americans rank terrorism as a top national concern, prioritizing it over other issues such as the economy, health care, and the environment. The current study examines how Americans are impacted by the threat of terrorism today. Analyses of original national survey data suggest that Americans currently engage in behavioral copi…
Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review
Previous articleNext article FreeCustodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic ReviewDamon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Jonson, and Francis T. CullenDamon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Jonson, and Francis T. CullenAbstractFull TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreAbstractBeginning in the 1970s, the United States bega…
An apple in one hand, a gun in the other: Public support for arming our nation's schools
Research summary In the wake of repeated school shootings, today's youth have acquired the label of the “mass shooting generation.” Another fitting label would be the “armed school generation.” Most states now permit school security officers to carry firearms, and at least 466 school districts in 19 states allow teachers or staff members to be armed. In this context, understanding public opinion about guns in schools is essential. Using a 2018 na…
Gun Owners and Gun Control: Shared Status, Divergent Opinions
After each mass public shooting, an inevitable debate surrounding the tools used to carry out the attack ensues. This debate is marked by two sides: those who endorse controlling access to firearms and those who oppose restrictions to the Second Amendment. Implicit in this dialogue is the assumption that gun owners are a homogenous group who stand in opposition to the gun control legislation. Using a national sample of American gun-owning adults,…
Imprisonment and Reoffending
Imprisonment is the most severe punishment in democratic societies except for capital punishment, which is used only in the United States. Crime prevention is its primary rationale. Imprisonment may affect reoffending in various ways. It may be reduced by some combination of rehabilitation and what criminologists call specific deterrence. Sound arguments can be made, however, for a criminogenic effect (e.g., due to antisocial prison experiences o…
Faith in Trump, Moral Foundations, and Social Distancing Defiance during the Coronavirus Pandemic
Purpose: Over the past several months, the coronavirus has infected more than six million Americans and killed nearly 200,000. Governors have issued stay-at-home orders, and prosecutors have filed criminal charges against individuals for defying those orders. And yet many Americans have still refused to keep their distance from their fellow citizens, even if they had symptoms of infection. The authors explore the underlying causes for those who i…
Public Concern about Terrorism: Fear, Worry, and Support for Anti-Muslim Policies
In the era of 9/11, terrorist attacks occur with sufficient frequency and lethality to constitute a realistic threat to the well-being of the American public. Sensing this concern, politicians emphasize the threat of violent attacks to advance a platform of making public safety a priority. In this context, the authors assess the extent, sources, and emotional impact of the public's concern about terrorism. On the basis of a national survey of 1,0…
Are guns the new dog whistle? Gun control, racial resentment, and vote choice
Two principal movers of American politics appear increasingly to be connected: racism and guns. The racial content underlying gun rights rhetoric, however, is rarely made explicit during political campaigns. As such, it is possible that espousing pro‐gun messages may be an effective way to surreptitiously court prejudiced voters without transgressing popular egalitarian norms. In other words, gun rights rhetoric may function as a racial dog whist…
Race, Racism, and Support for Capital Punishment
There is a clear racial divide in support for the death penalty, with whites favoring and blacks opposing this sanction. This divide has persisted for decades and remains statistically and substantively significant even when controls are introduced for the known correlates of death penalty attitudes. A meaningful portion of this chasm is explained, however, by racism, with whites who manifest animus to blacks being more likely to embrace the leth…
Cracks in the Penal Harm Movement: Evidence From the Field
Research Summary For more than three decades, the penal harm movement, which involves “get tough” ideology and policies, has held sway over U.S. corrections. Scholars have justifiably detailed and decried this movement, but in so doing, they have also inadvertently contributed to the view that a punitive worldview is hegemonic. In contrast, we detail four major “cracks” in the penal harm movement's dominance: the persistence of rehabilitative pub…
Prisoner Reentry Programs
Only in the past decade has prisoner reentry been “discovered” and become a central policy concern in the United States. This is due in part to the sheer number of released inmates (more than 600,000 annually) and in part to a movement that has defined the issue as “reentry.” A growing number of programs have been created in prisons and the community. Implementing them effectively, however, poses substantial challenges. A wide diversity of progra…
Gun Owners and Gun Control: Shared Status, Divergent Opinions
After each mass public shooting, an inevitable debate surrounding the tools used to carry out the attack ensues. This debate is marked by two sides: those who endorse controlling access to firearms and those who oppose restrictions to the Second Amendment. Implicit in this dialogue is the assumption that gun owners are a homogenous group who stand in opposition to the gun control legislation. Using a national sample of American gun-owning adults,…
An apple in one hand, a gun in the other: Public support for arming our nation's schools
Research summary In the wake of repeated school shootings, today's youth have acquired the label of the “mass shooting generation.” Another fitting label would be the “armed school generation.” Most states now permit school security officers to carry firearms, and at least 466 school districts in 19 states allow teachers or staff members to be armed. In this context, understanding public opinion about guns in schools is essential. Using a 2018 na…
Public support for second look sentencing: Is there a Shawshank redemption effect
Research Summary Washington, DC has implemented second look sentencing. After serving a minimum of 15 years in prison, those convicted of a serious offense committed while under the age of 25 years can petition a judge to take a “second look” and potentially release them from incarceration. To examine both global and specific support for second look sentencing, we embedded experiments in a 2021 MTurk survey and in a follow‐up 2022 YouGov survey. …
Pandemic emotions: The extent, correlates, and mental health consequences of fear of Covid-19
COVID-19 has had unprecedented effects on populations around the world. Given the political context of the pandemic and the nation's response to it, this study sought to assess the extent of Americans' personal fear about the virus as well as their fear for others (altruistic fear), identify potential predictors of these fears, and examine the mental health impact of heightened COVID-19 fears. Overall, a majority of respondents worried about vari…
Making America Safe Again: Public Support for Policies to Reduce Terrorism
A number of homeland security measures have been implemented or proposed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. While public opinion polls suggest that some of these measures (e.g., universal security checks) have received widespread support, security policies advanced by President Donald Trump that target Muslims and other immigrant groups are more controversial. These polices have conflated immigration with terrorism and have genera…
The influence of occupational strain on organizational commitment among police: A general strain theory approach
The Denier in Chief: Faith in Trump and Techniques of Neutralization in a Pandemic
Based on a March 28–29, 2020 MTurk survey (N = 1,000), the current study examined how faith in President Donald Trump's statements downplaying the risks and his responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic affected endorsement of social distancing techniques of neutralization. Controlling for a host of variables, the analysis revealed that faith in Trump's denials was robustly associated with neutralization beliefs. Support for techniques of neutrali…
Blinded by the White (Nationalism): Separatist Ideology and Discounting the Threat of Covid-19 to Society
After more than one million COVID-19 deaths and ninety-one million cases in the United States, it is clear that COVID-19 has and will continue to pose a threat to the health of the United States' population and economy. However, despite the clear and early warnings from the CDC, many have continued to downplay the impact of the pandemic, which has arguably inflamed the perniciousness of the virus. Using data from national surveys conducted a year…
Agents of Change or Control? Correlates of Positive and Negative Staff-inmate Relationships among a Sample of Formerly Incarcerated Inmates
Prior studies of staff-inmate interactions suggest that they are primarily adversarial in nature. However, less is known about the key factors that influence inmate-staff relationships. Using a sample of formerly incarcerated males in the state of Ohio, the impact of various demographic and institutional characteristics on positive and negative perceptions of correctional staff (by inmates) are assessed. Specifically, ordinary least squares (OLS)…
Overview of: “Assessing the Extent and Sources of NCAA Rule Infractions: A National Self‐Report Study of Student‐Athletes”
Research Summary Although the popular and academic media often proclaim that rule violations are widespread in college athletics, research assessing the true prevalence and causes of such infractions is in short supply. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a national survey that asked a random sample of male student‐athletes at Division I basketball and football programs about such infractions (n = 648). The results revealed that although …
The Potential Benefits of a Military to Prison-Work Pipeline: A Study of Newly Hired U.S. Prison Officers’ Self-Efficacy
For years, U.S. prison systems have struggled to staff their prison officer ranks. As such, many agencies have increased advertisements and incentives to specific populations of prospective employees. Particularly, military service member and veteran applicants are highly valued and often qualify for preferential hiring. Thus, it is important to evaluate the assumption that these individuals have unique skills and attributes that set them apart f…
Assessing the Extent and Sources of NCAA Rule Infractions: A National Self‐Report Study of Student‐Athletes
Cracks in the Penal Harm Movement: Evidence From the Field
Research Summary For more than three decades, the penal harm movement, which involves “get tough” ideology and policies, has held sway over U.S. corrections. Scholars have justifiably detailed and decried this movement, but in so doing, they have also inadvertently contributed to the view that a punitive worldview is hegemonic. In contrast, we detail four major “cracks” in the penal harm movement's dominance: the persistence of rehabilitative pub…
Race, Racism, and Support for Capital Punishment
There is a clear racial divide in support for the death penalty, with whites favoring and blacks opposing this sanction. This divide has persisted for decades and remains statistically and substantively significant even when controls are introduced for the known correlates of death penalty attitudes. A meaningful portion of this chasm is explained, however, by racism, with whites who manifest animus to blacks being more likely to embrace the leth…
Imprisonment and Reoffending
Imprisonment is the most severe punishment in democratic societies except for capital punishment, which is used only in the United States. Crime prevention is its primary rationale. Imprisonment may affect reoffending in various ways. It may be reduced by some combination of rehabilitation and what criminologists call specific deterrence. Sound arguments can be made, however, for a criminogenic effect (e.g., due to antisocial prison experiences o…
A General Strain Theory of Prison Violence and Misconduct: An Integrated Model of Inmate Behavior
Explanations of prison violence and other forms of misconduct have been dominated by three competing models: (a) the deprivation model, (b) the importation model, and (c) the coping model. We propose that these three seemingly competing models can be integrated within Agnew’s general strain theory (GST). GST enriches the deprivation model by revealing three distinctive categories of strain. GST encompasses the importation model in hypothesizing t…
Prisons Do Not Reduce Recidivism: The High Cost of Ignoring Science
One of the major justifications for the rise of mass incarceration in the United States is that placing offenders behind bars reduces recidivism by teaching them that “crime does not pay.” This rationale is based on the view that custodial sanctions are uniquely painful and thus exact a higher cost than noncustodial sanctions. An alternative position, developed mainly by criminologists, is that imprisonment is not simply a “cost” but also a socia…
Assessing the Extent and Sources of NCAA Rule Infractions: A National Self‐Report Study of Student‐Athletes
Overview of: “Assessing the Extent and Sources of NCAA Rule Infractions: A National Self‐Report Study of Student‐Athletes”
Research Summary Although the popular and academic media often proclaim that rule violations are widespread in college athletics, research assessing the true prevalence and causes of such infractions is in short supply. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a national survey that asked a random sample of male student‐athletes at Division I basketball and football programs about such infractions (n = 648). The results revealed that although …
The influence of occupational strain on organizational commitment among police: A general strain theory approach
Unraveling Work Reactions in a Sales Occupation: A Test of Three Models
The American economy has moved into a post-industrial society, where the main focus is now on the provision of services and the creation of knowledge rather than the manufacturing of material goods. In this context, the current project examines the job experiences of sales workers in this new economy. Based on a survey of a large Midwest sales firm, we examine the influence of various individual and work-related characteristics on four negative r…
The Small Prison
The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future
For the first time in four decades, prison populations are declining and politicians have reached the consensus that mass imprisonment is no longer sustainable. At this unique moment in the history of corrections, the opportunity has emerged to discuss in meaningful ways how best to shape efforts to control crime and to intervene effectively with offenders. This breakthrough book brings together established correctional scholars to imagine what t…
Prisoner Reentry Programs
Only in the past decade has prisoner reentry been “discovered” and become a central policy concern in the United States. This is due in part to the sheer number of released inmates (more than 600,000 annually) and in part to a movement that has defined the issue as “reentry.” A growing number of programs have been created in prisons and the community. Implementing them effectively, however, poses substantial challenges. A wide diversity of progra…
Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences
PrefacePART I. Crisis in American CorrectionsCHAPTER 1. From Theory to Policy: Evidence-Based Corrections Theories of Corrections Six Theories in Brief Utility, Opinion, and Evidence Evidence-Based Corrections Conclusion: What's Ahead?CHAPTER 2. Correctional Theory in Crisis: America's Changing Context What Is Rehabilitation? The Rise of the Rehabilitative Ideal Attacking Rehabilitation The Doctrine: Martinson and Beyond Conclusion: Crisis in Cor…
Deterrence, Choice, and Crime, Volume 23: Contemporary Perspectives
Part I. Theories of Deterrence 1. Classical Theory: The Emergence of Deterrence Theory in the Age of Enlightenment Gerben J. N. Bruinsma 2. The Economics of Deterrence: A Review of the Theory and Evidence Aaron J. Chalfin and Sarah Tahamont 3. Perceptual Deterrence Theory Raymond Paternoster 4. Criminological Theory and Deterrence Christopher J. Sullivan and Melissa Lugo Part II. Unpacking the Effects of Deterrence 5. Informal and Formal Sanction…
Public Concern about Terrorism: Fear, Worry, and Support for Anti-Muslim Policies
In the era of 9/11, terrorist attacks occur with sufficient frequency and lethality to constitute a realistic threat to the well-being of the American public. Sensing this concern, politicians emphasize the threat of violent attacks to advance a platform of making public safety a priority. In this context, the authors assess the extent, sources, and emotional impact of the public's concern about terrorism. On the basis of a national survey of 1,0…
Race and Worrying About Police Brutality: The Hidden Injuries of Minority Status in America
Given the historically contentious relationship – including most notably the use of excessive and lethal force – between the police and African Americans, the current project examines the extent to which Blacks in the United States fear police brutality. The study is based on a national-level survey (N = 1,000), and measures fear by how much respondents “worry” about experiencing police force. The data support the racial divide hypothesis, showin…
Agents of Change or Control? Correlates of Positive and Negative Staff-inmate Relationships among a Sample of Formerly Incarcerated Inmates
Prior studies of staff-inmate interactions suggest that they are primarily adversarial in nature. However, less is known about the key factors that influence inmate-staff relationships. Using a sample of formerly incarcerated males in the state of Ohio, the impact of various demographic and institutional characteristics on positive and negative perceptions of correctional staff (by inmates) are assessed. Specifically, ordinary least squares (OLS)…
Faith in Trump, Moral Foundations, and Social Distancing Defiance during the Coronavirus Pandemic
Purpose: Over the past several months, the coronavirus has infected more than six million Americans and killed nearly 200,000. Governors have issued stay-at-home orders, and prosecutors have filed criminal charges against individuals for defying those orders. And yet many Americans have still refused to keep their distance from their fellow citizens, even if they had symptoms of infection. The authors explore the underlying causes for those who i…
Using Behavioral Strategies to Cope With the Threat of Terrorism: A National-Level Study
Although the risk of dying in a terrorist attack in the United States is almost non-existent, recent polls indicate that Americans rank terrorism as a top national concern, prioritizing it over other issues such as the economy, health care, and the environment. The current study examines how Americans are impacted by the threat of terrorism today. Analyses of original national survey data suggest that Americans currently engage in behavioral copi…
Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review
Previous articleNext article FreeCustodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic ReviewDamon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Jonson, and Francis T. CullenDamon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Jonson, and Francis T. CullenAbstractFull TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreAbstractBeginning in the 1970s, the United States bega…
An apple in one hand, a gun in the other: Public support for arming our nation's schools
Research summary In the wake of repeated school shootings, today's youth have acquired the label of the “mass shooting generation.” Another fitting label would be the “armed school generation.” Most states now permit school security officers to carry firearms, and at least 466 school districts in 19 states allow teachers or staff members to be armed. In this context, understanding public opinion about guns in schools is essential. Using a 2018 na…
Gun Owners and Gun Control: Shared Status, Divergent Opinions
After each mass public shooting, an inevitable debate surrounding the tools used to carry out the attack ensues. This debate is marked by two sides: those who endorse controlling access to firearms and those who oppose restrictions to the Second Amendment. Implicit in this dialogue is the assumption that gun owners are a homogenous group who stand in opposition to the gun control legislation. Using a national sample of American gun-owning adults,…
Pandemic emotions: The extent, correlates, and mental health consequences of fear of Covid-19
COVID-19 has had unprecedented effects on populations around the world. Given the political context of the pandemic and the nation's response to it, this study sought to assess the extent of Americans' personal fear about the virus as well as their fear for others (altruistic fear), identify potential predictors of these fears, and examine the mental health impact of heightened COVID-19 fears. Overall, a majority of respondents worried about vari…
Making America Safe Again: Public Support for Policies to Reduce Terrorism
A number of homeland security measures have been implemented or proposed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. While public opinion polls suggest that some of these measures (e.g., universal security checks) have received widespread support, security policies advanced by President Donald Trump that target Muslims and other immigrant groups are more controversial. These polices have conflated immigration with terrorism and have genera…
Attributions as Anchors: How the Public Explains School Shootings and Why It Matters
From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the American public has repeatedly witnessed the carnage and tragic consequences of mass school shootings. Using a national survey of American adults (N = 1,100) conducted between May 30 and June 6, 2018 in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, this project explores public opinion on why these events occur. Informed by sociological scholarship on social movements and framing, the analysis…
Political science (38 works) · Psychology (38 works) · Criminology (37 works) · Law (32 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (21 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (20 works) · Law (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Politics (14 works)