Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing
This paper examines the critical issue of public confidence in sentencing, and presents findings from Phase I of an Australia-wide sentencing and public confidence project. Phase I comprised a nationally representative telephone survey of 6005 participants. The majority of respondents expressed high...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Sage
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29869 |
| _version_ | 1848752924730064896 |
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| author | Mackenzie, G. Spiranovic, C. Warner, K. Stobbs, N. Gelb, K. Roberts, Lynne Broadhurst, R. Bouhours, T. |
| author_facet | Mackenzie, G. Spiranovic, C. Warner, K. Stobbs, N. Gelb, K. Roberts, Lynne Broadhurst, R. Bouhours, T. |
| author_sort | Mackenzie, G. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper examines the critical issue of public confidence in sentencing, and presents findings from Phase I of an Australia-wide sentencing and public confidence project. Phase I comprised a nationally representative telephone survey of 6005 participants. The majority of respondents expressed high levels of punitiveness and were dissatisfied with sentences imposed by the courts. Despite this, many were strongly supportive of the use of alternatives to imprisonment for a range of offences. These nuanced views raise questions regarding the efficacy of gauging public opinion using opinion poll style questions; indeed the expected outcome from this first phase of the four phase sentencing and public confidence project. The following phases of this project, reported on elsewhere, examined the effects of various interventions on the robustness and nature of these views initially expressed in a standard ‘top of the head’ opinion poll. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:16:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-29869 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:16:21Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Sage |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-298692017-09-13T16:09:22Z Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing Mackenzie, G. Spiranovic, C. Warner, K. Stobbs, N. Gelb, K. Roberts, Lynne Broadhurst, R. Bouhours, T. confidence in sentencing punitiveness leniency in sentencing survey public opinion This paper examines the critical issue of public confidence in sentencing, and presents findings from Phase I of an Australia-wide sentencing and public confidence project. Phase I comprised a nationally representative telephone survey of 6005 participants. The majority of respondents expressed high levels of punitiveness and were dissatisfied with sentences imposed by the courts. Despite this, many were strongly supportive of the use of alternatives to imprisonment for a range of offences. These nuanced views raise questions regarding the efficacy of gauging public opinion using opinion poll style questions; indeed the expected outcome from this first phase of the four phase sentencing and public confidence project. The following phases of this project, reported on elsewhere, examined the effects of various interventions on the robustness and nature of these views initially expressed in a standard ‘top of the head’ opinion poll. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29869 10.1177/0004865811431328 Sage restricted |
| spellingShingle | confidence in sentencing punitiveness leniency in sentencing survey public opinion Mackenzie, G. Spiranovic, C. Warner, K. Stobbs, N. Gelb, K. Roberts, Lynne Broadhurst, R. Bouhours, T. Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title | Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title_full | Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title_fullStr | Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title_short | Sentencing and public confidence: Results from a national Australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| title_sort | sentencing and public confidence: results from a national australian survey on public opinions towards sentencing |
| topic | confidence in sentencing punitiveness leniency in sentencing survey public opinion |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29869 |