Η τιμωρητικότητα του κοινού σε περιοχές με διαβάθμιση εγκληματικότητας στην Αθήνα και οι στάσεις του απέναντι στην αντεγκληματική πολιτική

Public punitiveness, a concept that indicates the demand for strict measures in addressing crime and particularly the support for harsh sanctions for offenders, is related to instrumental determinants, such as crime trends in the area, crime salience, victimization and to symbolic ones that go beyond the crime issue and confront punishment as a symbol that can bring back order, cohesion and morality in society. In this study, the influence of crime trends in the home area as well as the theoretical approaches of ‘process of othering’, ‘ontological insecurity’, ‘attribution theory’, ‘disbelief in redeemability’, ideological attitudes (i.e., social conservatism) and the Durkheimian perspective on moral values are examined in their relation to punitiveness.The model analysis showed that the factors of ‘disbelief in redeemability’, the belief on the moral basis between crime and punishment as well as social conservatism contribute significantly to punitive attitudes, observing that the latter has a considerable effect on the other two significant variables. As a result, it becomes apparent that the conservative orientation of the individual extends beyond what happens within criminal phenomenon. Therefore, punitiveness of this kind can be considered to be a structural characteristic of the person, not relating exclusively and directly to the crime issue. Additionally, restorative justice (penal mediation) and Local Delinquency Prevention Councils are less acceptable by those who express punitive attitudes and therefore public punitiveness potentially constitutes one of the obstacles to the implementation of the participatory criminal policy.