Divine Justice: The Relationship Between Images of God and Attitudes Toward Criminal Punishment

• Author: Byron R. Johnson,Scott A. Desmond,Christopher D. Bader,F. Carson Mencken
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016809360329
• Published date: 01 March 2010
• Date: 01 March 2010
• Subject Matter: Articles

Divine Justice: The Relationship

Between Images of God and

Attitudes Toward Criminal

Punishment

Christopher D. Bader,

1

Scott A. Desmond,

2

F. Carson Mencken,

1

and

Byron R. Johnson

1

Abstract

Some have argued that moralistic considerations trump other factors in determining attitudes

toward criminal punishment. Consequently, recent research has examined how views of God

influence sentiments regarding criminal punishment. Using the Baylor Religion Survey (BRS) 2005,

we find that (a) angry and judgmental images of God are significant predictors of punitive

attitudes regarding criminal punishment and the death penalty and (b) images of God as loving

and engaged in the world are not consistently significant predictors of attitudes toward criminal

punishment, once measures of God’s perceived anger and judgment are considered.

Keywords

punitive attitudes, capital punishment, death penalty, image of God, religion, public opinion

When it comes to matters of crime and justice, few issues arouse as much passion or debate as the

punishment of criminals. The revelation of particularly horrifying crimes such as the murder or

abuse of children often prompts fear and outrage and a call from the public for the harsher punish-

ment of criminals (Jenkins, 1994). Academic studies have similarly entered the debate about the

punishment of criminals, often with a focus on the ultimate punishment—the death penalty.

For several decades, survey research suggested the majority of Americans supported the death

penalty for persons convicted of murder. Although recent changes to the question format and grow-

ing support for alternative punishments suggest diminished support for the ultimate sanction, sizable

numbers of Americans continue to express moral and practical support for capital punishment as a

sentencing option.

1

Although researchers have studied a number of factors associated with public

support for the death penalty, much of the recent research has focused on (a) racial differences,

(b) criminal victimization and fear of crime (mugging thesis), (c) execution of innocent people, and

(d) the effect of information on death penalty support (Marshall hypotheses). In addition to surveys

1

Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

2

Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Corresponding Author:

Christopher D. Bader, Department of Sociology, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA

Email: christopher_bader@baylor.edu

Criminal Justice Review

35(1) 90-106

ª2010 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016809360329

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and public opinion polls monitoring public attitudes concerning capital punishment, researchers

have conducted studies seeking to determine the linkages, if any, between the death penalty and

factors like deterrence, incapacitation, arbitrariness, and discrimination (for reviews, see Bohm,

1998, 2007; Cullen, Fisher, & Applegate, 2000; Gross, 1998; Hood & Hoyle, 2008).

Public opinion polls and survey research provide insight into the fundamental reasons why

Americans support or oppose the death penalty. For example, recent national surveys and polls

reveal that, among Americans who favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, the most

common reasons are based on retribution (e.g., ‘‘aneye for eye’’ or ‘‘the punishment fits the crime’’).

Alternatively, among Americans who oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, the

most common reason is ‘‘it is wrongto take a life’’(The Gallup Organization, 2007). It would appear

from these survey findings that Americans are influenced in rather significant ways by retribution, as

well as moral perspectives, when it comes to the death penalty. We also know that support for the

death penalty varies widely for various subgroups of the population.

A common underlying theme of research on the death penalty has been to unravel why support for

the death penalty remains high among Americans. In addition to the question formatting issue noted

above, a number of scholars have suggested there are too few thoughtful studies examining the

extent to which cultural factors (e.g., moral, philosophical, and religious) influence societal attitudes

toward criminal laws, penal institutions, and the death penalty (Cook, 1998a, 1998b; Garland, 1990,

2001; Young, 1992; Young and Thompson, 1995). Indeed, the continued support of a majority of the

American public for capital punishment under at least some circumstances, coupled with the inabi-

lity to reach some kind of common moral ground regarding the death penalty, has allowed the debate

to remain unnecessarily focused on questions of social utility. In recent years, some scholars have

sought to reposition the focus of scholarship on punishment by calling for research that more inten-

tionally focuses on broader and understudied factors like, for example, the role of religion in shaping

(a) attitudes toward capital punishment and attitudes toward criminal punishment in general (Cook,

1998a; Unnever, Cullen, & Bartkowski, 2006; Young, 1992), (b) the state’s response to criminal

conduct (Garland, 2001), or (c) current theories of punishment (Savelsberg, 2002).

Unfortunately, researchers often make assumptions about religion, religious beliefs, and religious

practices that oversimplify what is, in actuality, a very complex American religious landscape

(Dougherty, Johnson, & Polson, 2007). For example, recent research suggests that Americans hold

vastly different views of God and these different views are very predictive of contrasting positions

people hold on a variety of current moral and political issues, such as gay marriage, abortion, or the

environment (Froese & Bader, 2007). Indeed, recent studies have examined how images of God as

loving and images of God as harsh and unforgiving are related to attitudes about criminal punish-

ment. However, due to limitations in existing surveys, such research has been forced to focus on only

a single possible image of God. In other words, current research does not allow us to determine

which conceptions of God are the strongest predictors of punitive attitudes. Using data from the Bay-

lor religion survey (BRS), a recent national survey of the general population, we examine the effects

of four measures of God’s perceived disposition—God’s perceived love, engagement, anger, and

judgment—on the desire to punish criminals more harshly and support for the death penalty. Doing

so will allow us to identify what conceptions of God appear to have the strongest associations with

attitudes regarding criminal punishment.

Religion and Attitudes Toward Criminal Punishment

Although Zeisel and Gallup (1989) found that political leanings, ethnic background, gender, and

economic status are important correlates of support or opposition to the death penalty, they conclude

that death penalty sentiment is ultimately determined more by moralistic than utilitarian considera-

tions (p. 292). Interestingly, one might also argue ‘‘symbolic predispositions’’ hold true for many

Bader et al. 91

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