MATTHEW LESENYIE

Presented at UC San Diego Race and Ethnicity Speaker Series (Dec. 2024)

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This study investigates Californians’ attitudes toward prison conditions in the context of Governor Newsom’s 2022 prison realignment announcement. The experiment examines the relationship between situational and dispositional attributions of crime and preferences for prison conditions. Using a novel measure of punitiveness, ambient prison temperatures, we hypothesize that individuals who perceive criminals as irredeemable will favor harsher prison conditions (e.g. hotter temperatures). Conversely, those who view crime as a result of structural issues will express support for less severe conditions (e.g. more comfortable temperatures). Additionally, we explore an alternative hypothesis using a four-question racial resentment scale to account for the racial elements embedded in criminal justice. We find that attribution has little influence on estimated temperatures for prison guards, but dispositional attributions are related to temperature conditions for prisoners. However, the primary focus of this research is on the role of criminal attribution in shaping public opinion on prison conditions. The findings aim to contribute to the broader discourse on criminal justice reform and public attitudes toward punitive versus rehabilitative approaches.

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