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Abstract
To date, numerous studies have used United States-based samples to make inferences about how religion correlates with correctional attitudes in the American public. Many studies include Christian identity as a variable in models predicting correctional attitudes, with very few studies publishing information on the relationship between Jewish identity and correctional attitudes. Of the studies that have published analyses on Jewish samples, most are limited by focusing solely on punitive correctional policy preferences, using a small sample size, or using a convenience sample that is not nationally drawn. Further, no studies to date have examined Jewish American attitudes toward progressive correctional policies (e.g., "banning the box" on employment applications). The current study addressed these gaps by examining Jewish-American attitudes toward progressive, as well as punitive, correctional policies while controlling for pertinent demographic, political, religious, and psychosocial variables.
To attain a large enough sample size of Jewish and Christian American respondents, a convenience sample was drawn, and then combined, from two sources – MTurk and Cint-Lucid (n = 194). Jewish respondents constituted most of the sample (128 Jews; 66 Christians). Using stepwise regression to analyze the data, the current study concluded that Jewish identity did not significantly predict support for any of the progressive (banning the box, offender rehabilitation, expungement, jury rights, and voting rights for individuals with a felony conviction) or punitive correctional policies (death penalty, harsher courts, punitiveness) measured in this study. The finding of a null relationship is itself meaningful, as the relationship between Jewish religious identity and progressive correctional attitudes was previously unknown. While religious affiliation did not evince differences, the models did illustrate components of religious belief were associated with both punitive and progressive views about correctional policies. The implications of the study on future research, as well as policy, are discussed.