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DEATH PENALTY KNOWLEDGE, OPINION, AND REVENGE: A TEST OF THE MARSHALL HYPOTHESES IN A TIME OF FLUX

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Date Issued:
2007
Abstract/Description:
This thesis tests the three hypotheses derived from the written opinion of Justice Thurgood Marshall in Furman v Georgia in 1972. Subjects completed questionnaires at the beginning and the end of the fall 2006 semester. Experimental group subjects were enrolled in a death penalty class, while control group subjects were enrolled in another criminal justice class. The death penalty class was the experimental stimulus. Findings provided strong support for the first and third hypotheses, i.e., subjects were generally lacking in death penalty knowledge before the experimental stimulus, and death penalty proponents who scored "high" on a retribution index did not change their death penalty opinions despite exposure to death penalty knowledge. Marshall's second hypothesis--that death penalty knowledge and death penalty support were inversely related--was not supported by the data. Two serendipitous findings were that death penalty proponents who scored "low" on a retribution index also did not change their death penalty opinions after becoming more informed about the subject, and that death penalty knowledge did not alter subjects' initial retributive positions. Suggestions for future research are provided.
Title: DEATH PENALTY KNOWLEDGE, OPINION, AND REVENGE: A TEST OF THE MARSHALL HYPOTHESES IN A TIME OF FLUX.
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Name(s): Lee, Gavin, Author
Bohm, Robert, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2007
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This thesis tests the three hypotheses derived from the written opinion of Justice Thurgood Marshall in Furman v Georgia in 1972. Subjects completed questionnaires at the beginning and the end of the fall 2006 semester. Experimental group subjects were enrolled in a death penalty class, while control group subjects were enrolled in another criminal justice class. The death penalty class was the experimental stimulus. Findings provided strong support for the first and third hypotheses, i.e., subjects were generally lacking in death penalty knowledge before the experimental stimulus, and death penalty proponents who scored "high" on a retribution index did not change their death penalty opinions despite exposure to death penalty knowledge. Marshall's second hypothesis--that death penalty knowledge and death penalty support were inversely related--was not supported by the data. Two serendipitous findings were that death penalty proponents who scored "low" on a retribution index also did not change their death penalty opinions after becoming more informed about the subject, and that death penalty knowledge did not alter subjects' initial retributive positions. Suggestions for future research are provided.
Identifier: CFE0001754 (IID), ucf:47259 (fedora)
Note(s): 2007-08-01
M.S.
Health and Public Affairs, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
DEATH PENATLY
PUBLIC OPINION
MARSHALL HYPOTHESIS.
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001754
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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