Racial Attitudes Towards Criminal Justice Policy

Abstract

The present study examined the intersection of race and attitudes toward crime and criminal justice policies. Using the Kinder Houston Area Survey, findings revealed some surprising similarities, but also significant differences between the three largest racial categories sampled: Black/African American, Hispanic, and White. Political affiliation, social class, and educational attainment were the primary indicators of support/rejection toward attitudinal beliefs regarding crime and criminal justice policy (i.e., teachers carrying guns, death penalty, assault weapon bans). Political affiliation and education were paramount regarding whether teachers should carry guns on school grounds and implementing mandatory background checks. White and Hispanic republicans favored teachers carrying guns, while educated Blacks and Hispanics rejected this policy. At the same time, educated Blacks and Hispanics favored implementing mandatory background checks. Similarly, support and/or objection to the death penalty and banning assault weapons yielded interesting findings. Black, Hispanic, and White republicans advocated support for the death penalty, while simultaneous rejecting bans on assault weapons. Interestingly, only educated Blacks supported banning assault weapons. Participants' political party affilation influenced their attitudes toward these policies. These and other findings are discussed in relation to the extent to which race, sociodemographic characteristics, political, and residential placement shape beliefs about crime and criminal justice policy in one of Americas most racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan cities.

Introduction

Gun violence remains one of the most considerable social problems in the US (Schaeffer, 2021). For instance, on May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos fatally shot 19 students and two teachers and wounded 17 other people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas (CBS News, 2023). Not even at the midpoint of 2022, the Uvalde Massacre marked the 246th mass shooting in 2022 (Amed, 2022). Similarly, in the first 150 days of 2023, 263 mass shootings have occurred (CBS News, 2023). While most Americans call for better gun legislation, a national agenda to reduce violent crimes, accessibility to guns, etc., have not prompted politicians and legislators to implement significant criminal justice policy reform. While most Americans honor the idea of the second amendment, many advocate for reasonable changes in gun legislation.¹

While violent crimes impact all people, the history of criminal legislation and attitudes toward criminality have been rooted in the history of race and racial attitudes. From the early twentieth century’s Harrison Act (1914) to President Nixon’s War on Drugs and President Clinton’s 1994 Crime Bill, it is unquestionable to ignore the inherent negative impact these policies and laws have had on people of color, African Americans specifically. As a result, individual’s attitude toward criminality, and subsequent criminal justice policies and legislation, is viewed through a racial lens. The media remains one of the main culprits in shaping attitudes toward criminality and criminal justice reform. While the media is not to blame for criminal acts, it does bear a burden of responsibility in how it shapes attitudes toward criminality. News media reports often use racially coded language to describe certain types of crimes committed by certain offenders (Keenan & Greene, 2019). When crimes are committed by African Americans or Hispanics, the media uses language such as “thugs” or “gang bangers”; when crimes are committed by individuals with middle eastern surnames, they are immediately associated with terrorism. Also, these individual criminal acts become representative of the entire group. However, when crimes are committed by Whites, especially White males, they are described as individual, isolated incidents while linking the mental health narrative to the criminal. There are countless recent examples of this type of reporting (e.g., Dylann Roof — Charleston, SC Mother Emmanuel Church shooting; James Holmes — Aurora, CO movie theater shooting; Stephen Paddock — Las Vega, NV Music Festival Shooting). Consequently, the purview of criminality and criminal justice policies are vetted through a racial lens.

Most Americans report wanting to feel safe in public spaces, their children to attend safe schools, and have crime free communities (Barry et al., 2019). As a result, many Americans support policies that advocate for better gun legislation, seek harsher penalties for violent criminals, but also want alternative solutions for non-violent crimes/criminals (Barry et al., 2019). This paper investigates individuals’ attitudes toward a range of criminal justice policies and identify similarities and differences across America’s three largest racial groups: Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.²

Theoretical Framework

Several theoretical perspectives have been used to assessed American’s beliefs and attitudes crime, policing, and criminal justice policies, especially among racial minorities (Wilson & Dunham, 2001). For example, class theory and race theory are two theories, while similar, provide nuanced explanations for African Americans’ attitudes toward crime. Class theory argues that group placement in the stratification hierarchy shapes attitudes toward crime (Brooks, 1993; Huang & Vaughn, 1996). In essence, African Americans’ social class status impacts their views and attitudes toward criminality. Race theory suggests African American’s attitude toward crime, subsequently how one supports/rejects criminal justice policy, is grounded in a sense of group connectedness. Both middle class and/or working-class African Americans share similar views of criminal justice, policing, and the like (Wilson & Dunham, 2001). In this regard, class shapes more structural attitudes while race influences more individualistic attitudes among African Americans. Furthermore, Wilson and Dunham (2001) point to where individuals from different racial groups who have parallel social class backgrounds share parallel attitudes toward criminal justice and policy. While these approaches address the various ways in which African Americans, and other racial minorities, view criminality and policies, as everyday American citizens, the end goal is to live and function in spaces that minimize crime.

Literature Review

With continued examples of gun violence and overall increases in crime rates, criminal justice reform continues to spark debate among US citizens. These debates and talking points contribute to the ongoing empirical and anecdotal evidence regarding American’s attitudes toward criminal justice policies and reform. Recent social and political discourse has included racial biases in sentencing for criminals (Alesina & LaFerrara, 2014; Bennett, 2017; Exum, 2019), advocacy and opposition for the death penalty (Peffley & Hurwitz, 2007; Soss et al., 2003; Unnever & Cullen, 2007), and gun control and legislation (e.g., teachers carrying guns) (Baranauskas, 2021; Burton et al., 2021; Cullen et al., 2021; Jonson et al., 2021; Morabia, 2018; Verrecchia & Hendrix, 2017; Vidal et al., 2021). 

Racial Attitudes Toward Crime

Racial media biases fuel public perception regarding criminality. Consequently, individuals’ beliefs and attitudes toward crime are often skewed via race. Certain crimes are thought to be fundamentally associated with certain racial groups. As a result, support for and/or rejection of criminal justice policies are filtered through the same racial lens. Among Whites, empirical studies have shown that determinants of White’s support for criminal justice policies are often influenced by symbolic racism. Green et al. (2006) found higher probability of Whites’ support for crime policies were dependent upon how tough and punitive they were toward racial minorities. Whites were more supportive of punitive rather than preventive policies (Green et al., 2006). They concluded that while there was some support for both punitive and preventive policies, White’s support was partially driven by racial prejudices.

Other studies have found that White racial prejudices fuel support for stiffer, more punitive criminal justice policies, particularly when involving people of color (Barkan & Cohn, 2005; Chiricos et al., 2006). Barkan and Cohn (2005), in their analysis of the 2000 General Social Survey, found that when Whites perceive African Americans as more violent criminals, they favor increased police budgets to address criminality. Even more, Tonry (2011) noted the interconnectedness of White insensitivity to Black suffering, which becomes, as he stated, “a theme for crime and drug control policy” (pg. 80).

Attitudes Toward Gun Legislation

Gun violence continues to be a salient public health crisis, yet attitudes toward gun control policies remain divisive. While many advocate for the second amendment, others advocate for regulated gun control policies. Solutions have ranged from federal policies such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act initiated under Biden in 2022; to California’s signing a package of five bills on gun safety in 2021 (e.g., AB 2571, AB 1594); to Texas passing a bill where teachers could earn up to $25,000 as armed campus security. In this regard, according to Verrecchia and Hendrix (2017) analysis of college faculty attitudes toward their colleagues and students carrying concealed firearms, more political conservative faculty members were in favor for qualified faculty and students. Not surprisingly, they also found more liberal faculty members were not in favor of students or faculty members carrying guns on campus (Verrecchia & Hendrix, 2017). There is congruency with the link between political beliefs and racial antipathy. For instance, Baranauskas (2021) analysis links racial resentment with the likelihood of supporting arming teachers with guns. Based on the results of his empirical analysis, White racial resentment, as defined by animus toward African Americans and Hispanics, are more likely to support teachers having firearms. Additionally, Jonson et al. (2021) analysis of public support for arming teachers yielded similar results. They acknowledged that among their sample, there was universal support for school resource officers being armed but was divisive regarding teachers. Their study found respondents who were more politically on the right, were older, racially resentful, and had children were more likely to advocate for teachers carrying guns (Jonson et al., 2021). Conversely, respondents who felt a “moral wrongness of harming others” were less likely to support arming teachers.

Banning assault weapons is often viewed as an attack on individuals’ rights to bear arms (e.g., the 2nd Amendment). O’Brien et al. (2013) explored the relationship between symbolic racism and gun ownership. According to their overall findings, symbolic racism was related to gun ownership and opposing gun policies to reduce gun ownership. The authors stated this relationship is paradoxical among White Americans given the acute recognition of gun violence in the USA (e.g., school shootings), but the reluctance to adhere to policies that limits access to gun ownership. It is seen as an infringement upon their constitutional rights (O’Brien et al., 2013). Racial resentment also highlights who White Americans regard as having the legal right to bear arms. Higginbotham, Sears, and Goldstein’s (2023) examination of attitudes toward legal gun ownership revealed how many White Americans support and advocate for the second amendment as it applies to White Americans only. Their study analyzed multiple [ways] to address White racial attitudes. When utilizing the Implicit Association Test (IAT), White Americans subconsciously associated gun rights (i.e., right to bear arms) with only themselves, not racial minorities. Also, when analyzing gun rights and ownership whereby informing White participants that Black Americans showed greater utilization of gun rights, White American’s support for gun rights declined (Higginbotham et al., 2023).

Regarding racial minorities advocacy for gun legislation, Filindra and Kaplan’s (2015) study analyzed data that found that racial minorities (e.g., African Americans and Latinos) were supporters for better gun control legislation, with some variation across groups. Like many Whites, racial minorities showed strong support for gun legislation relative to rates of crime, but also mirrored Whites’ attitudes toward gun legislation with less support when they are victims of crime and/or held strong conservative political values. Overall, scholars have linked racial resentment to attitudes toward criminality, but more importantly, how these attitudes shape voting patterns regarding gun legislation (Schutten et al., 2021).

Attitudes Toward the Death Penalty

Advocacy for or against the death penalty spans a spectrum. No one factor links an individuals’ support or rejection of the death penalty. However, given the legacy of racial biases within the US criminal justice system, it has been found that the types of crimes, perception of who commits most crimes, who receives stiffer penalties for crimes, and even residential proximity are factors that influence individuals’ support or rejection of criminal justice policies. In 2003, Soss, Langbein, and Metelko found that white support for capital punishment increased when African Americans’ residential population increased. They suggested White’s support for capital punishment in this regard reveals racial prejudices and racial resentment (Soss et al., 2003). Also, Peffley and Hurwitz (2007) explored racial differences in the support of the death penalty and found African Americans more than Whites were less likely to support the death penalty due to it disproportionately affecting African Americans. Additionally, African Americans were less supportive of the death penalty if they believed “too many innocent people were being executed” (pg. 1007). Conversely, they found that Whites were heavily in favor of the death penalty, especially once learning how it excessively impacts African Americans (Peffley & Hurwitz, 2007).

Unnever and Cullen (2007) examined the 2000 National Election Study and found Whites overall were in more favor of capital punishment than African Americans. They argued that the support for capital punishment strengthened when accounting for, as they define, White racism.³ The authors examined three measures of racism: Jim Crow Racism, Symbolic Racism, and White Racism. Jim Crow and symbolic racism predicted White support for capital punishment, yet the authors state that “one-third of the racial divide in support for the death penalty can be attributed to the influence of white racism.” The effects of race were minimized when including factors such as family ties and media influence. When accounting for these other coefficients, non-racist Whites’ support, or lack thereof, for capital punishment was very similar to African Americans. Overall, support or rejection for capital punishment was/is not “black and White.” While race impacts individuals’ advocacy for capital punishment, several other factors shape Blacks, Hispanics, and White’s attitudes toward criminal justice policies.

Methodology

This study analyzed the Kinder Houston Area Survey Data (KHAS). The KHAS is the “nation’s longest-running study of the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of the residents in any metropolitan region” (Klineberg, 2015). From 1982 to 2015, the Kinder Houston Area Survey has collected data on Houston area residents (approximately 48,000) ranging from attitudes, beliefs, and experiences on various measures representative of the changing global world. As a longitudinal survey, it captures the growing and changing dynamics regarding neighborhood composition, the economy, educational outcomes, and the political landscape of a racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan city (Klineberg, 2015). According to Klineberg (2015), “No other metropolitan region in the country has been the focus of a research program of this scope.” The findings reveal how the Houston metropolitan area is representative of the “changes facing urban areas across the country” (Klineberg, 2015).

For the purposes of this study, the KHAS data was chosen for two reasons. First, they include a widely analyzed survey module that addresses various attitudes and beliefs about regarding crime and criminal justice policies overall, but also specific to the Houston, TX, area. Second, the Houston metropolitan area is the third largest city with approximately 1.7 million foreign-born residents (24.1%) according to the Greater Houston Partnership (2021). Houston, TX, represents a microcosm of the racial and ethnic changes that are reshaping the demographics across the USA. The KHAS survey asks respondents several crime policy–related questions.⁴ These series of questions, and respondent’s attitudes/beliefs in response to them, are excellent barometers to determine similarities and differences among and across a racially and ethnically diverse population.

The analysis compared the US three largest racial categories: White, Black/African American, and Hispanic in the KHAS. Asians and respondents who identified as other were omitted from the investigation. To classify respondents by racial classification, the variable ETHGROUP was utilized.⁵ In total, there are approximately 43,322 total respondents (Whites = 19,210; Black/African American = 11,858; Hispanic = 12,254). The present sample distribution is as follows: 47.4% male, 52.6% female; mean age 46.03 years, SD 17.48, range 18–98.

Dependent Variables

Table 1 presents percent distributions for all independent variables for White, Black/African Americans, and Latinos. The dependent variables are separately regressed on three categories of predictors: (1) socio-demographics indicators, (2) political party affiliation, and (3) residential area. To measure attitudinal beliefs toward crime and crime policy, this study regressed the predictors on the following dependent variables: allow teachers to carry guns (schlguns), allow for criminal background checks to buy guns (guncheck), for/against — death penalty for capital murder (death4), for/against — true life sentence without parole as an alternative to the death penalty (lifesent), more effective — longer sentences of better education (prisons2), and for/against — federal laws banning assault weapons (assault).

Table 1 Means and standard deviations by racial category

Independent Variables

The socio-demographic indicators include measures age, gender, and education. Age is examined as a continuous variable. Education is an ordinal variable that was coded as follows: “less than a high school degree” (0), “high school degree” (1), “some college” (2), “college degree” (3), and “graduate degree” (4), while gender is coded as a dichotomous variable: “men” (0) and “women” (1). Political affiliation was coded as “Democrat” (0) and “Republican (1). To determine respondent’s residential location inside versus outside Houston’s I-610 Loop, zip codes were designated whether they were located inside or outside the loop. Afterwards, the variable “TheLoop” was created where any zip code inside the loop was coded “0” (inside [urban]) and zip codes outside the loop was coded “1” (outside [suburban]). Houston’s I-610 Loop is a proxy for income in this study. Residential areas outside of the loop house more suburban/affluent residents, while residential areas inside the loop have a significant number of working class/poor residents.

Analytical Plan

The analysis of HAS data begins with descriptive statistics. First, there is a presentation of percent distributions and means for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics across all outcomes and predictors. Second, and more importantly, ordinary least squared (OLS) and binary logistic regression was used to assess attitudinal differences in beliefs about crime and criminal policy. This is the appropriate statistical procedure for multivariate models assessing dichotomous dependent variables. Each of the five outcomes were separately regressed on a fully saturated model containing all specified predictors. Based on the coding scheme, odds ratios (OR) greater than 1 signal a stronger commitment to the attribution under analysis, while odds ratios under 1 signal a weaker commitment.

Findings

Tables 1 and 2 present descriptive statistics for all variables. The findings show variations among the sample’s beliefs on several measures regarding White, Black, and Hispanic attitudes toward crime and criminal policy. For example, a larger percentage of Whites (77.7%) support the death penalty compared to Blacks (47.5%) and Hispanics (58.0%). A disproportionate number of Blacks (74.6%) strongly oppose having teachers carry guns compared to their White (36.0%) and Hispanic (51.7%) counterparts. Conversely, Whites (30.1%) strongly favor teachers carrying guns compared to Blacks (7.2%) and Hispanics (16.5%). Blacks (66.1%) and Hispanics (62.6%) advocate for better education rather than longer sentences as a measure of being most effective against crime compared to Whites (43.8%). Whites (82.5%), Blacks (82.1%), and Hispanics (76.2%) equally support policies that require background checks for individuals who want to purchase guns. Policies to reduce criminality and potential mass shootings (e.g., background checks, teachers with guns on school grounds, and bans on assault weapons), Blacks and Hispanic Houstonians were more in favor. Other than universally supporting criminal background checks, White Houstonians held more pessimistic attitudes toward crime and criminal policies.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics for all dependent variables: survey question/statements, answer possibilities, and percent distributions for all dependent variables by race

Tables 3 and 4 display the results from ordinary least squared and logistic regression, respectively, assessing attitudes toward criminal justice policies. Each table highlights the similarities and differences between White, Black, and Hispanic Houston-area residents; sociodemographic factors among the sample (e.g., age, gender, education); respondents political party affiliation (Democrat vs. Republican); and respondent’s residential location (inside or outside Houston’s I-610 loop). Table 3 measures attitudes towards policies regarding whether teachers should carry guns on school grounds and requiring mandatory background checks for individuals who purchase weapons. Results highlight party affiliation and education among Whites and Hispanics were positively associated, while education among Blacks and Hispanics were negatively correlated with policies that would allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds. White (b = 1.69, p ≤ 0.001) and Hispanic (b = 0.86, p ≤ 0.01) republicans support teachers carrying guns on school grounds. More educated Blacks and Hispanics were less supportive of policies that would allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds (b =  − 0.14, p ≤ 0.05) and Hispanics (b =  − 0.22, p ≤ 0.05, respectively). Residential location was also a significant indicator of support for teachers carrying guns among Black Houston residents. Blacks who live in Houston’s outer I-610 loop support teachers carrying guns on school grounds (b = 0.42, p ≤ 0.05).

Table 3 OLS Regression Determinants of Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Policies by Race

Table 4 Logistic regression of determinants of attitudes toward criminal justice policies by race

Support for/against federal laws requiring mandatory background checks to purchase guns was associated with gender, age, education, and political affiliation. Regarding gender, only White women supported policies that would require mandatory background checks (b = 0.20, p ≤ 0.001). Also, White republications did not support mandatory background checks (b =  − 0.23, p ≤ 0.001). As for Hispanics and Blacks, age and education were significant predictors of support and/or opposition to mandatory background checks. For instance, older Hispanics did not support mandatory background checks (b =  − 0.01, p ≤ 0.05). Yet for educate Blacks and Hispanics, they were in favor of mandatory background checks: (b = 0.18, p ≤ 0.001) and (b = 0.17, p ≤ 0.001), respectively.

Table 4 displays results from logistic regression models that assess support for criminal policies (i.e., death penalty; assault weapons ban; support longer prisons sentences vs. better education; death penalty vs. life sentence). These measures were assessed across three racial categories: White, Black, and Hispanic. There were significant differences, but also interesting similarities across racial groups. Political affiliation was the most consistent significant predictor of attitudes toward criminal justice policies. Socio-demographics such as gender and education were also consistent predictors across racial groups.

Favoring or opposing the death penalty was significantly associated with political affiliation, gender, education, age, and residential location. Across all racial groups, being members of the republican party strongly related to the support for the death penalty. White republicans, however, were five times more likely than their White democratic counterparts to support the death penalty (odds = 5.44, p ≤ 0.001). Black republicans (odds = 1.87, p ≤ 0.001) and Hispanic republicans (odds = 1.98, p ≤ 0.001) supported the death penalty more than their democratic counterparts. More educated Blacks (odds = 1.13, p ≤ 0.001) and Hispanics (odds = 1.10, p ≤ 0.05) supported the death penalty than their uneducated counterparts. However, more educated Whites were less in favor of the death penalty relative to their less educated counterparts (odds = 0.75, p ≤ 0.01). Older Blacks (odds = 0.94, p ≤ 0.05) and Whites (odds = 0.91, p ≤ 0.01), along with Black (odds = 0.76, p ≤ 0.001) and White women (odds = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01), were less supportive of the death penalty. Residential location was also a predictor of support/rejection of the death penalty among Whites and Hispanics. White residents (odds = 1.73, p ≤ 0.001) and Hispanic residents (odds = 1.41, p ≤ 0.01) living in Houston’s outer loop supported the death penalty one and half to two times more than their counterparts living inside the I-610 loop.

The other major criminal justice policy that displayed significant results were the attitudes regarding the ban of assault weapons. Political party generated strong associations with support for/against banning weapons. White (odds = 0.13, p ≤ 0.001), Black (odds = 0.38, p ≤ 0.05), and Hispanic (odds = 0.60, p ≤ 0.05) republicans were less likely to support policies banning assault weapons than their democratic counterparts. Conversely, only education among Blacks presented a relationship with support for/against banning assault weapons. More educated Blacks favored banning assault weapons versus their less educated counterparts. They were approximately one and half times more likely to support a ban on assault weapons (odds = 1.35, p ≤ 0.001).

Attitudes toward the belief that better education is an alternative to longer prison sentences generated significant results. White and Hispanic republications were less likely than White and Hispanic democrats to believe better education rather than longer sentences is a remedy for reducing crime (odds = 0.56, p ≤ 0.001) and (odds = 0.70, p ≤ 0.05), respectively. Conversely, Black republicans were nearly three times more likely than Black democrats to support better education to prevent crime rather than longer prison sentences (odds = 2.85, p ≤ 0.01). This finding aligns with education and residential location among Black Houston residents. Educated Blacks (odds = 1.27, p ≤ 0.001) were more likely than uneducated Blacks to advocate for better education, while Blacks living in Houston’s outer loop were one and half times more likely to advocate for better education to prevent crime (odds = 1.44, p ≤ 0.05).

Support for/against true life sentence without parole as an alternative to the death penalty over longer generated similar results across racial categories. Again, party affiliation impacts support for life sentence without parole versus the death penalty. White (odds = 0.36, p ≤ 0.001), Black (odds = 0.43, p ≤ 0.001), and Hispanic (odds = 0.56, p ≤ 0.001) republicans were less in favor of life sentence without parole rather than the death penalty than their democratic counterparts. Conversely, socio-demographics proved to be advocates for longer sentences rather than the death penalty. White (odds = 1.36, p ≤ 0.001) and Hispanic (odds = 1.25, p ≤ 0.05) women, along with educated Whites (odds = 1.18, p ≤ 0.001) and educated Blacks (odds = 1.09, p ≤ 0.05) support life sentences without parole rather than the death penalty compared to their counterparts. Older Whites (odds = 1.08, p ≤ 0.05) and older Hispanics (odds = 1.10, p ≤ 0.05) were also more supportive of life sentences without parole rather than the death penalty compared to their younger contemporaries. However, White residents living in Houston’s outer loop were less in favor of life sentences without parole rather than the death penalty compared to Whites who lived within the inner loop (odds = 0.74, p ≤ 0.05).

Discussion and Conclusion

There were notable insights on variation between America’s three largest racial groups: Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and criminal justice policy. Multivariate statistics also revealed a wide range of attitudinal variation based on respondents’ socio-demographics (i.e., age, education, and political affiliation). In the aftermath of school shootings, Texas politicians⁶ proposed, and subsequently passed in 2022, having teachers carry weapons on school grounds, provide more school resource officers; hire military veterans, etc. In this analysis, support for teachers having guns varied. Conservative White and Hispanics supported this idea, along with affluent Blacks. While there is not universal agreement regarding whether teachers should be allowed to carry guns in school, many have argued that in doing so, the unfortunate result could lead to racial minority students, particularly African American (Mystal, 2022), becoming unfairly targeted despite most school shooting threats have been at the hands of White males.⁷

Despite the acknowledgement and impact of mass shootings, rising gun violence, support for mandated background checks to purchase firearms varied by race. While Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics supported this policy, the variation was a result of factoring in individuals’ level of education and political association. Educated racial minorities continued to support background check policies, but White republicans vehemently rejected such policies. This pattern of findings was also associated with support for banning assault weapons. In this case, conservative political ties across all racial groups rejected banning assault weapons, but educated African Americans supported such policies. These findings support public opinion polls and general debates on gun control in America. While Americans hold firm on wanting to honor and adhere to the 2nd Amendment, many agree that some type of legislation needs to thwart the unfortunate, yet inevitable, forthcoming mass shooting that remains a consistent problem in society.

For years, there have been plentiful debates on whether the criminal justice system should keep or reform the death penalty. The findings here indicate this specific policy remains a driving force within public discourse. Just as interesting is how racial attitudes both shape similarities and differences of opinions on the matters. As expected, political discourse dominates attitudes regarding the death penalty. Among conservatives, while there was variation in the strength of support, the support nonetheless for the death penalty was across racial lines. Black, White, and Hispanic republicans were in support of the death penalty. What may be most interesting is that increased educational attainment and living in more affluent areas further cemented support for the death penalty among African Americans and Hispanics. Yet, for Whites, education liberalized their attitudes regarding the death penalty, while being residents in more affluent, suburban Houston led to more conservative attitudes.

Support or rejection for criminal justice policies are often shaped by the media. The viewing audience tunes in when tragedy strikes, especially at schools. Similarly, when violent criminal acts, especially against innocent victims, become national news, Americans uniformly agree action needs to be taken. Where there is separation of views and attitudes is often the result of how criminals (or the crimes committed) are described. This often embodies both conscious and subconscious implicit racial biases on behalf of the news reporter. For instance, the media create empathy for White criminals by focusing on their mental (in)stability when they are responsible for heinous crimes. In fact, this narrative has shown to encourage support for gun control policies when the crime involves assault weapons (McGinty et al., 2013). More importantly, media reports often describe White criminals by producing endearing quotes from friends, family members, and neighbors, such as “he was a good kid” or “he was a strong student” or “we never thought he would do something like this.” CNN described Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter who killed 28 people, 20 of whom were children, as a “socially awkward kid” and “shy and quiet” (Yan, 2012). Despite the general outcry is “something needs to be done about guns” and “crime rates need to be under control,” too often America(n) operates with inherently hypocrisy. On the one hand, society wants better gun legislation, but simultaneously adamantly spout “do not take our guns.”

Appendix

Houston area survey: criminal policy survey questions.

• 1. Strongly Oppose to Strongly Favor: What about allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns on school grounds?

• 2. Strongly Oppose to Strongly Favor: What about requiring a criminal background check on anyone who wants to buy a gun?

• 3. For/Against: The death penalty for persona convicted of capital murder.

• 4. For/Against: A true life sentence without parole as an alternative to the death penalty.

• 5. Longer Sentences vs. Better Education: Which is more effective for crime: longer sentences or better education?

• 6. For/Against: A federal law banning assault weapons.