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Japanese and Americans are compared in terms of the extent each sample believes that capital punishment should be abolished, Blacks and white American females are more likely to approve of the abolition of capital punishment. No differences by sex were found in the Japanese sample. For both countries, those who are younger and more educated hold less punitive attitudes The Japanese as a whole are less likely than Americans to approve of the abolition o f capital punishment. Problems found in cross-cultural secondary analysis are discussed. 0 JAPANESE AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT JON P. ALSTON Texas A&M University ross-cultural secondary analyses of survey data dealing c with the attitudes toward crime, penal procedures, and related topics held by national populations are being increa- singly made available to scholars by various data archives.' This paper is an example of how archived data can be utilized for the comparison of the beliefs and values from two or more societies. We provide below survey data from Japan and America in order to suggest the advantages and disadvantages of cross-cultural secondary analyses. Although problems of interpretations exist, it is possible to compare the Japanese and American adult populations in terms of their attitudes toward capital punishment. The two publics' evaluation of capital punishment is complicated by AUTHOR'S NOTE: The research reported in this paper nas sponsored by the mini-grant program and the University Research Council of Texas A&M University. CRIMINOLOGY, VoI. 14 No. 2, August 1976 0 1 9 7 6 American Society of Criminology

JAPANESE AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

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Page 1: JAPANESE AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Japanese and Americans are compared in terms of the extent each sample believes that capital punishment should be abolished, Blacks and white American females are more likely to approve of the abolition of capital punishment. No differences by sex were found in the Japanese sample. For both countries, those who are younger and more educated hold less punitive attitudes The Japanese as a whole are less likely than Americans to approve of the abolition o f capital punishment. Problems found in cross-cultural secondary analysis are discussed.

0

JAPANESE AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES

TOWARD THE ABOLITION

OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

JON P. ALSTON Texas A&M University

ross-cultural secondary analyses of survey data dealing c with the attitudes toward crime, penal procedures, and related topics held by national populations are being increa- singly made available to scholars by various data archives.' This paper is an example of how archived data can be utilized for the comparison of the beliefs and values from two or more societies. We provide below survey data from Japan and America in order to suggest the advantages and disadvantages of cross-cultural secondary analyses.

Although problems of interpretations exist, it is possible to compare the Japanese and American adult populations in terms of their attitudes toward capital punishment. The two publics' evaluation of capital punishment is complicated by

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The research reported in this paper nas sponsored by the mini-grant program and the University Research Council of Texas A&M University.

CRIMINOLOGY, VoI. 14 No. 2, August 1976 0 1 9 7 6 American Society of Criminology

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[2721 CRIMINOLOGY /AUGUST 1976

several factors, in part because the homicide rate in America is roughly three and one-half times that of Japan’s. The rate for murder during 1972 in America was 8.9 per 100,000 inhabitants (Kelly, 1973) while Japan’s rate was 2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants during 1971 (United Nations, 1972: 591). As a result of these different levels, we would expect a different amount of concern related to homicide and its punishment from one country to the other.

In addition, one must take into account the amount of change over time in the national rates of homicide for each country. The death rate due to homicide in Japan decreased during 1960 through .1967 (from 1.9 to 1.4 per 100,000 population, respectively).’ However, the rate increased after 1967, until the Japanese homicide rate for 1971 was 2.5 per 100,000 population. The American homicide rate steadily increased (1960: 5.0; 1973: 9.3). Consequently, the Ameri- can public has experienced a different trend in homicide rates than have the Japanese. The climates of opinion due to both rate levels and trend in time are thus different for both populations.

Japan has a very strict gun control law in force and private citizens do not own firearms, with the consequence that homicides in Japan are different in nature than that of America’s. Being relatively fewer and more “personal,” homicides in Japan receive a more sensational treatment by the mass media and the public.

The Japanese are also more concerned about the motive and the situation relative to homicide. As an example, a train was derailed shortly after World War 11. This act was committed as a political protest, but the engineer was inadvertently killed. The resulting trial received a large amount of attention and lasted for fifteen years.

Another problem exists when cross-cultural analyses of opinioii are attempted. Unlike Americans, Japanese respond- ents are more reluctant to express a personal opinion to strongly-this may be viewed as a lack of politeness. There is

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Alston /JAPANESE AND AMERICAN AlTlTUDES 12731

consequently a greater tendency on the part of Japanese to respond in terms of what is perceived as being a socially accepted opinion. Also, the average Japanese disIikes Iimited- answer alternatives, such as a ."yes-no" dichotomy (Nisihira, 1975).

A final ambiguity exists when interpreting the data below. Both surveys are based upon national, representative samples. However, the surveys were conducted during different time periods. The Japanese survey was conducted during 1967, a period when homicide rates were decreasing. By contrast, the American survey was conducted during 1972 when the annual homicide rates were in~reasing.~ We assume that the five-year interval between the two surveys is a minor though unfortunate matter, since it is difficult to assume which years are equivalent between two countries. Moreover, the oppos- ing trends in homicide rates in the two countries make cross-cultural comparisons more ambiguous.

TABLE 1 Attitudes Toward the Abolition of Capital Punishment,

in America and Japan, by Sexa

Do not favor Do not Total N Sex Abolition abol 1 t ion know (7. - 100)

67 4 Anarkan Males 29 American Females 41 48 11 Black Aarricana 61 29 10

Japanese Uales 17 74 9 Japanem Females 15 67 18

Total Aeerfcans 39 53 8 Total J ~ p a n e ~ t 16 71 13

b 671 673 261

1165 1333

1605 w a

a. The question for the American sample is: "Are you in favor of the deatn penalty for persons convicted of murder?" The question for the Japanese sample is: "Do you agree with the opinion that capital punishment should be abolished in any case in today's Japan?" b. Whites only

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[274] CRIMINOLOGY /AUGUST t976

TABLE 2 Proportion Believing that Capital Punishment Should be

Abolished by Nationality, Age, and Education

Age and Kducation

White American, x N

JAP~MK x N

Kducat ion Rimrya 34 (2399

College 37 (412) High School 34 (692)

23 (528) 16 (638) 16 (558) 11 (774)

12 (1358) 18 (880) 29 (258)

a. America: 0-8 years; Japan: 0-10 years. Includes t w o years of Junior high school. These are considered as one unit and are now ComPuIsorY. b. America: 1-4 years of high school; Japan: senior high school (11-12 years). These are now primarily preparations for the passing of college entrance examinations.

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Most Americans and Japanese do not favor a complete abolition of capital punishment. The questions asked each national sample are not completely comparable, since the wording of the Japanese question is broader, but the context is similar (Table 1). Although exceptions exist (America: kidnapping; Japan: arson), the controversy as to the necessity of capital punishment usually involves homicides of one form or another.

The Japanese are less in favor of the abolition of capital punishment than are the Americans in part because, while homicides in Japan are relatively fewer, such deeds are more spectacular. Being fewer in Japan, crimes punishable by death may be defined as being greater threats to society. The

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Alston /JAPANESE AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES [2751

Japanese-American attitudinal difference in terms of this item may also reflect .the idea on the part of the Japanese that reform of perpetrators of serious crimes is less likely. On the other hand, Americans, rather than the Japanese, may be more likely to feel that a criminal can be reformed and that his personality is more plastic. That is, the latter may hold a more fatalistic attitude about the reform of a deviant.

For both national samples, the males, those who are younger, and the more educated tend to be less punitive. It is interesting that in this context, education is a more influ- ential variable in Japan than in America. This suggests that the acceptance of abolition is a more recent or “modern” attitude rather than a traditional one.

NOTES

1. A major source of survey data using foreign samples is the Roper Public Opinion Research Center. A large number of the Roper Center’s 15,000 data sets are foreign surveys See the Roper Center’s Newsletter for summaries of data available for secondary analysis. Hyman (1972) lists the names and addresses of several data archives located in foreign countries.

2 The journal Social Sciences Information is an especially fruitful source of information concerning international data. See also Rokkan (1966) for a discussion of efforts being directed toward making crosscultural comparisons of survey data more feasible. Hyman (1972: 291-324) discusses a number of problems found in cross-cultural analyses.

3. All data on the Japanese homicide rates are located in the specific United Nations’ Demographic Yearbook of that year. All American homicide data can be found in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.

4. Both surveys are made available to interested scholars by the Roper Public Opinion Research Center, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. The Japanese survey is identified as PMOF No. 2397 (June, 1967). The American survey is identified as the 1972 General Social Survey No. 9001. This survey was conducted by NORC during March, 1972 under the directorship of James A. Davis.

REFERENCES

HYMAN, J. J. (1972) Secondary Analysis of Sample Surveys: Principles, Procedures, and Potentialities. New York: John Wiley.

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[2761 CRIMINOLOGY /AUGUST 1976

KELLEY, C. M. (1973) Uniform Crime Reports for the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

NISIHIRA, S. (1975) “Develoypement des sondages au Japon.” World Associa- tion for Public Opinion Research Newsletter 63 (July).

ROKKAN, S. (1966) “Comparative cross-national research: the context of current efforts,” pp. 3-25 in R. L. Merritt and S. Rokkan (eds.) Comparing Nations: The Use of Quantitative Data in Cross-National Research. New Haven: Yale University Press

United Nations (1972) Demographic Yearbook 1971 (24th issue). New York Statistical Office of United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Jon l? Alston is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas A M University. His research interests are the analysis of cross-cultural diner- ences in moral and religious values, ,and in the sociology of religion. He has recently published articles in Social Forces and Sociological Analysis.