
Contents
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The Fundamental Puzzle The Fundamental Puzzle
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Crime Rates: Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Index Offenses Crime Rates: Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Index Offenses
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Public Opinion and Crime Public Opinion and Crime
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Fear of Crime Fear of Crime
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Crime as an Important National Problem Crime as an Important National Problem
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Are the Courts Too Harsh or Not Harsh Enough? Are the Courts Too Harsh or Not Harsh Enough?
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Capital Punishment Capital Punishment
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Guns, Gun Ownership, and Gun Control Guns, Gun Ownership, and Gun Control
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Gun Control Gun Control
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Political Ideology and Attitudes about Crime Political Ideology and Attitudes about Crime
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Discussion and Conclusion Discussion and Conclusion
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Notes Notes
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References References
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6 Crime, Punishment, and Social Disorder: Crime Rates and Trends in Public Opinion over More Than Three Decades
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Published:August 2012
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Abstract
In 1980, Arthur Stinchcombe, Tom Smith, Garth Taylor, and several additional coauthors published Crime and Punishment—Changing Attitudes in America. The book reviewed public opinion data from the first five or six waves of the General Social Survey (GSS), plus a large number of pre-GSS polls and surveys dating back to the 1930s, all dealing with attitudes of the American public toward crime, punishment, and social disorder. This chapter revisits the principal findings, themes, and conclusions of Crime and Punishment in light of what is now 30-plus years worth of GSS data. In addition, for the first time since Crime and Punishment was published, the United States has recently experienced a sharp decline in crime rates that began in about 1994 and continued for a decade. Thus, the chapter also explores the apparent effects of declining crime rates on Americans' attitudes about crime, punishment, and related matters.
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