In January of 2003, The American Journal of Sociology published an article written by Eric P. Messner, and Richard Rosenfeld, titled, "Explaining Spatial Variation in Support for Capital Punishment: A Multilevel Analysis." In this article the authors research how social issues and surroundings effect whether people support the death penalty. They look at political and economical influences, also homicide rates, and other aspects. They look at the possibility that mainly people support the death penalty when the criminal is convicted of murder, thus the criminal takes a life so he must give his. Also someone who has been exposed to high crime or violence is more likely to supporting the death penalty. They believe that "When crime goes up, people look for harsher punishments to bring it back down" (p. 40). .
As for the data they used, they combined information form NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics), the U.S. Census Bureau, and the GSS using geographic identifiers. The data used form the Census was to measure two aspects of their theory, the minority population size and the economic inequality. They were taken from county level census information form 1970, 1980, and 1990. The dependant variable for their study was the peoples attitudes toward the death penalty. They labeled those who favored the death penalty for a criminal convicted of a murder with a "1". Those who opposed the death penalty or who did not know were labeled or coded with a "0". While the .
2.
independent variables were the homicide rate, the degree of conservatism in the politics, and the general size of the minority population, and the level of economic inequality.
They found that the people that support the death penalty the most are white, older people, males, wealthy, conservatives, married couples, religious individuals, and they live in less populated areas. .
To examine the effects of homicide rates on support for the death penalty, the scientist used a multilevel modeling strategy.
