Kevin H Wozniak
Biographic Data
| ID | 86404 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kevin H Wozniak |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kevin H |
| FAMILY NAME | Wozniak |
| SIGNATURE | WOZNIAK K H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Massachusetts Boston |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6542-0095 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 163 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Toward a Standard Measure of Gun Ownership: A Methodological and Theoretical Quandary in Firearm Research
One limitation of the literature on gun ownership is a lack of consensus regarding how to operationalize the dependent variable. Consequently, gun measures vary widely across studies, and findings about the prevalence and predictors of gun ownership are inconsistent. In the current study, we endeavor to develop an empirically supported, standard measure of gun ownership. First, utilizing data from a national sample of the U.S. population, we anal…
Public opinion about the shadow carceral state: A study of support for criminal justice fees
Public opinion about legal financial obligations (LFOs) is under-researched, despite the fact that LFOs are one facet of the “shadow carceral state” that interacts with poverty and financial precarity to significantly constrain the lives of people with criminal records. Furthermore, attitudes toward poverty have also been largely overlooked as a potential predictor of punitive attitudes. To begin to fill these knowledge gaps, we analyze data from…
The Politics of Crime Prevention: Race, Public Opinion, and the Meaning of Community Safety
An important understanding of the role public opinion plays in crime prevention policy "Defund the police.” This slogan became a rallying cry among Black Lives Matter protesters following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. These three words evoke a fundamental question about America’s policy priorities: should the nation rely predominantly upon the branches of the criminal justice system to arrest, prosecute, and imprison offe…
Judging Hardworking Robbers and Lazy Thieves: An Experimental Test of Act- vs. Person-Centered Punitiveness and Perceived Redeemability
This study explores whether Americans’ punitiveness and perceptions of redeemability are shaped more by the type of crime committed or by judgements about an offender’s moral character. Guided by theories of neoliberalism, we focus on laziness as an indicator of flawed character that is independent of criminality. A sentencing vignette experiment administered to a national sample of the U.S. population tested the effects of crime type and a defen…
Framing Effects and Group Differences in Public Opinion about Prison Pell Grants
After years of gridlock on the issue, a bipartisan group of members of Congress struck a deal in 2020 to restore eligibility for inmates to access Pell Grants. Evidence indicates that college education programs in prison reduce recidivism and, consequently, state corrections expenditures, but legislators in prior decades feared that voters would resent government subsidy of college classes for criminals. To assess the contemporary politics of the…
Whose lives mattered? How White and Black Americans felt about Black Lives Matter in 2016
White Americans, on average, do not support Black Lives Matter, while Black Americans generally express strong support. The lack of support among white Americans is striking, and we argue that it matterswhythis racial gap exists. Using a nationally representative survey collected during the crest of the first wave of widespread attention to the movement, we explore four potential explanations for interracial differences in feelings toward Black L…
Public opinion and the politics of collateral consequence policies
We analyze data from a national sample of the U.S. population to assess public support for policies that deny former offenders’ access to job training programs, food stamps, and public housing. We find that Americans generally oppose benefit restrictions, though support for these policies is higher among Republicans and people with higher levels of racial resentment. We also find that a legislator’s criminal justice reform positions generally do …
Race and policing in the 2016 presidential election: Black lives matter, the police, and dog whistle politics
A series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police sparked mass protests, received extensive media coverage, and fueled a new civil rights movement in the years leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Both major party nominees campaigned on issues of race and policing in different ways. Drawing on colorblind racism theories and the history of law‐and‐order politics, we explore how views of race relations and the police were as…
An Analysis of Black-White Racial Differences in Public Support for Nonviolent Sentencing Reform
I examine public support for sentencing reform for nonviolent offenders situated within a justice reinvestment context. I analyze data from a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of White and Black Americans. I pay particular attention to differences in support between the two races, and I analyze the degree to which ideological beliefs explain interracial differences. I find that a larger number of both Black and White peopl…
The Role of Poverty and Income in the Differential Etiology of Violence: An Empirical Test
Poverty has been linked with criminal behavior in theory and empirical research. The authors test the differential etiology of violence thesis using a sample of teenagers from the Add Health data set. Employing a three-pronged test and conservative models, the authors find that income is associated with variability in violent offending, even controlling for nonviolent offending. The family incomes of nonviolent-only offenders were comparable to t…
A “Ferguson Effect” on 2016 Presidential Vote Preference? Findings from a Framing Experiment Examining “Shy Voters” and Cues Related to Policing and Social Unrest
Objectives This study explored the sociopolitical influence of controversies related to policing and “law and order” during the 2016 presidential campaign. Following incidences of social unrest sparked by lethal confrontations between police officers and people of color, Donald Trump condemned protesters and expressed unwavering support for the police, while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders expressed empathy with communities of color and called…
Are Racial and Educational Inequities in Mass Incarceration Perceived to be a Social Problem? Results from an Experiment
The disproportionate incarceration of certain groups, racial minorities, and the less educated constitutes a social problem from the perspective of both policy makers and researchers. One aspect that is poorly understood is whether the public is similarly concerned about inequities in mass incarceration. Using a list experiment embedded in a framing experiment, we test for differences in attitudes towards mass incarceration by exploring three fra…
Race, Justice, Policing, and the 2016 American Presidential Election
Scholars have long been interested in the intersection of race, crime, justice, and presidential politics, focusing particularly on the "southern strategy" and the "war on crime." A recent string of highly-publicized citizen deaths at the hands of police and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement have brought renewed visibility to this racially-driven intersection, and in particular to issues involving contact with and attitudes toward …
Public Opinion and the Politics of Criminal Justice Policy Making: Reasons for Optimism, Pessimism, and Uncertainty
Ontological Insecurity, Racial Tension, and Confidence in the Police in the Shadow of Urban Unrest
According to the theory of “ontological insecurity,” people who worry that society is in a state of decline or upheaval will also support punitive social control of deviants. I test the relationship between several measures of people's anxiety about the state of society, their perception of racial tension, and their confidence in the police (as enforcers of social control) during the period of social unrest following the death of Michael Brown in…
A Political Science Assessment of the House Democratic Gun Violence PreventionTask Force: Congressional Fellowship Program
n December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza took the lives of 26 teachers and students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the wake of this tragic massshooting, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the leadership of the House Democratic Caucus convened a Gun Violence Prevention Task Force (GVPTF). This task force was charged to "explore the best available methods to address gun violence, to give stakeholders on all sides of [the] issue a …
Reexamining the effect of christian denominational affiliation on death penalty support
Race and policing in the 2016 presidential election: Black lives matter, the police, and dog whistle politics
A series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police sparked mass protests, received extensive media coverage, and fueled a new civil rights movement in the years leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Both major party nominees campaigned on issues of race and policing in different ways. Drawing on colorblind racism theories and the history of law‐and‐order politics, we explore how views of race relations and the police were as…
Race, Justice, Policing, and the 2016 American Presidential Election
Scholars have long been interested in the intersection of race, crime, justice, and presidential politics, focusing particularly on the "southern strategy" and the "war on crime." A recent string of highly-publicized citizen deaths at the hands of police and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement have brought renewed visibility to this racially-driven intersection, and in particular to issues involving contact with and attitudes toward …
Whose lives mattered? How White and Black Americans felt about Black Lives Matter in 2016
White Americans, on average, do not support Black Lives Matter, while Black Americans generally express strong support. The lack of support among white Americans is striking, and we argue that it matterswhythis racial gap exists. Using a nationally representative survey collected during the crest of the first wave of widespread attention to the movement, we explore four potential explanations for interracial differences in feelings toward Black L…
Public opinion and the politics of collateral consequence policies
We analyze data from a national sample of the U.S. population to assess public support for policies that deny former offenders’ access to job training programs, food stamps, and public housing. We find that Americans generally oppose benefit restrictions, though support for these policies is higher among Republicans and people with higher levels of racial resentment. We also find that a legislator’s criminal justice reform positions generally do …
Ontological Insecurity, Racial Tension, and Confidence in the Police in the Shadow of Urban Unrest
According to the theory of “ontological insecurity,” people who worry that society is in a state of decline or upheaval will also support punitive social control of deviants. I test the relationship between several measures of people's anxiety about the state of society, their perception of racial tension, and their confidence in the police (as enforcers of social control) during the period of social unrest following the death of Michael Brown in…
A “Ferguson Effect” on 2016 Presidential Vote Preference? Findings from a Framing Experiment Examining “Shy Voters” and Cues Related to Policing and Social Unrest
Objectives This study explored the sociopolitical influence of controversies related to policing and “law and order” during the 2016 presidential campaign. Following incidences of social unrest sparked by lethal confrontations between police officers and people of color, Donald Trump condemned protesters and expressed unwavering support for the police, while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders expressed empathy with communities of color and called…
Reexamining the effect of christian denominational affiliation on death penalty support
Public Opinion and the Politics of Criminal Justice Policy Making: Reasons for Optimism, Pessimism, and Uncertainty
Are Racial and Educational Inequities in Mass Incarceration Perceived to be a Social Problem? Results from an Experiment
The disproportionate incarceration of certain groups, racial minorities, and the less educated constitutes a social problem from the perspective of both policy makers and researchers. One aspect that is poorly understood is whether the public is similarly concerned about inequities in mass incarceration. Using a list experiment embedded in a framing experiment, we test for differences in attitudes towards mass incarceration by exploring three fra…
An Analysis of Black-White Racial Differences in Public Support for Nonviolent Sentencing Reform
I examine public support for sentencing reform for nonviolent offenders situated within a justice reinvestment context. I analyze data from a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of White and Black Americans. I pay particular attention to differences in support between the two races, and I analyze the degree to which ideological beliefs explain interracial differences. I find that a larger number of both Black and White peopl…
Framing Effects and Group Differences in Public Opinion about Prison Pell Grants
After years of gridlock on the issue, a bipartisan group of members of Congress struck a deal in 2020 to restore eligibility for inmates to access Pell Grants. Evidence indicates that college education programs in prison reduce recidivism and, consequently, state corrections expenditures, but legislators in prior decades feared that voters would resent government subsidy of college classes for criminals. To assess the contemporary politics of the…
The Role of Poverty and Income in the Differential Etiology of Violence: An Empirical Test
Poverty has been linked with criminal behavior in theory and empirical research. The authors test the differential etiology of violence thesis using a sample of teenagers from the Add Health data set. Employing a three-pronged test and conservative models, the authors find that income is associated with variability in violent offending, even controlling for nonviolent offending. The family incomes of nonviolent-only offenders were comparable to t…
Reexamining the effect of christian denominational affiliation on death penalty support
A Political Science Assessment of the House Democratic Gun Violence PreventionTask Force: Congressional Fellowship Program
n December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza took the lives of 26 teachers and students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the wake of this tragic massshooting, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the leadership of the House Democratic Caucus convened a Gun Violence Prevention Task Force (GVPTF). This task force was charged to "explore the best available methods to address gun violence, to give stakeholders on all sides of [the] issue a …
Public Opinion and the Politics of Criminal Justice Policy Making: Reasons for Optimism, Pessimism, and Uncertainty
Ontological Insecurity, Racial Tension, and Confidence in the Police in the Shadow of Urban Unrest
According to the theory of “ontological insecurity,” people who worry that society is in a state of decline or upheaval will also support punitive social control of deviants. I test the relationship between several measures of people's anxiety about the state of society, their perception of racial tension, and their confidence in the police (as enforcers of social control) during the period of social unrest following the death of Michael Brown in…
Race, Justice, Policing, and the 2016 American Presidential Election
Scholars have long been interested in the intersection of race, crime, justice, and presidential politics, focusing particularly on the "southern strategy" and the "war on crime." A recent string of highly-publicized citizen deaths at the hands of police and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement have brought renewed visibility to this racially-driven intersection, and in particular to issues involving contact with and attitudes toward …
The Role of Poverty and Income in the Differential Etiology of Violence: An Empirical Test
Poverty has been linked with criminal behavior in theory and empirical research. The authors test the differential etiology of violence thesis using a sample of teenagers from the Add Health data set. Employing a three-pronged test and conservative models, the authors find that income is associated with variability in violent offending, even controlling for nonviolent offending. The family incomes of nonviolent-only offenders were comparable to t…
A “Ferguson Effect” on 2016 Presidential Vote Preference? Findings from a Framing Experiment Examining “Shy Voters” and Cues Related to Policing and Social Unrest
Objectives This study explored the sociopolitical influence of controversies related to policing and “law and order” during the 2016 presidential campaign. Following incidences of social unrest sparked by lethal confrontations between police officers and people of color, Donald Trump condemned protesters and expressed unwavering support for the police, while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders expressed empathy with communities of color and called…
Are Racial and Educational Inequities in Mass Incarceration Perceived to be a Social Problem? Results from an Experiment
The disproportionate incarceration of certain groups, racial minorities, and the less educated constitutes a social problem from the perspective of both policy makers and researchers. One aspect that is poorly understood is whether the public is similarly concerned about inequities in mass incarceration. Using a list experiment embedded in a framing experiment, we test for differences in attitudes towards mass incarceration by exploring three fra…
Public opinion and the politics of collateral consequence policies
We analyze data from a national sample of the U.S. population to assess public support for policies that deny former offenders’ access to job training programs, food stamps, and public housing. We find that Americans generally oppose benefit restrictions, though support for these policies is higher among Republicans and people with higher levels of racial resentment. We also find that a legislator’s criminal justice reform positions generally do …
Race and policing in the 2016 presidential election: Black lives matter, the police, and dog whistle politics
A series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police sparked mass protests, received extensive media coverage, and fueled a new civil rights movement in the years leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Both major party nominees campaigned on issues of race and policing in different ways. Drawing on colorblind racism theories and the history of law‐and‐order politics, we explore how views of race relations and the police were as…
An Analysis of Black-White Racial Differences in Public Support for Nonviolent Sentencing Reform
I examine public support for sentencing reform for nonviolent offenders situated within a justice reinvestment context. I analyze data from a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of White and Black Americans. I pay particular attention to differences in support between the two races, and I analyze the degree to which ideological beliefs explain interracial differences. I find that a larger number of both Black and White peopl…
Framing Effects and Group Differences in Public Opinion about Prison Pell Grants
After years of gridlock on the issue, a bipartisan group of members of Congress struck a deal in 2020 to restore eligibility for inmates to access Pell Grants. Evidence indicates that college education programs in prison reduce recidivism and, consequently, state corrections expenditures, but legislators in prior decades feared that voters would resent government subsidy of college classes for criminals. To assess the contemporary politics of the…
Whose lives mattered? How White and Black Americans felt about Black Lives Matter in 2016
White Americans, on average, do not support Black Lives Matter, while Black Americans generally express strong support. The lack of support among white Americans is striking, and we argue that it matterswhythis racial gap exists. Using a nationally representative survey collected during the crest of the first wave of widespread attention to the movement, we explore four potential explanations for interracial differences in feelings toward Black L…
Judging Hardworking Robbers and Lazy Thieves: An Experimental Test of Act- vs. Person-Centered Punitiveness and Perceived Redeemability
This study explores whether Americans’ punitiveness and perceptions of redeemability are shaped more by the type of crime committed or by judgements about an offender’s moral character. Guided by theories of neoliberalism, we focus on laziness as an indicator of flawed character that is independent of criminality. A sentencing vignette experiment administered to a national sample of the U.S. population tested the effects of crime type and a defen…
The Politics of Crime Prevention: Race, Public Opinion, and the Meaning of Community Safety
An important understanding of the role public opinion plays in crime prevention policy "Defund the police.” This slogan became a rallying cry among Black Lives Matter protesters following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. These three words evoke a fundamental question about America’s policy priorities: should the nation rely predominantly upon the branches of the criminal justice system to arrest, prosecute, and imprison offe…
Public opinion about the shadow carceral state: A study of support for criminal justice fees
Public opinion about legal financial obligations (LFOs) is under-researched, despite the fact that LFOs are one facet of the “shadow carceral state” that interacts with poverty and financial precarity to significantly constrain the lives of people with criminal records. Furthermore, attitudes toward poverty have also been largely overlooked as a potential predictor of punitive attitudes. To begin to fill these knowledge gaps, we analyze data from…
Toward a Standard Measure of Gun Ownership: A Methodological and Theoretical Quandary in Firearm Research
One limitation of the literature on gun ownership is a lack of consensus regarding how to operationalize the dependent variable. Consequently, gun measures vary widely across studies, and findings about the prevalence and predictors of gun ownership are inconsistent. In the current study, we endeavor to develop an empirically supported, standard measure of gun ownership. First, utilizing data from a national sample of the U.S. population, we anal…
Criminology (13 works) · Political science (13 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Politics (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (10 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (8 works)