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TABLE OF CONTENTS

criticism on either side because they affect our most personal feelings and our private lives.

Perhaps this is why people are so sensitive about these topics.

and death. Abortion and capital punishment go hand and hand in the political arena for this very

reason. They both relate to the way specific individuals view who or what deserves life and what

is most important in these situations. Some people consider abortion immoral and some do not,

just as some people consider the death penalty immoral and some do not. These issues offer a

compelling comparison. Like most other political debates, it is doubtful our society will ever

punishment practices in the United States and Europe. Various arguments for and against both

did not regard abortion as a terrible practice (Sauer 1974).

―quickening‖, meaning the time between the 12

and 20

defined by the point at which the mother feels the first fetal movement. At this time, as far as

reports can show, people probably neither valued early life highly, nor held abortion before

think of children as expensive or burdensome. With the emergence of the women‘s rights

movement, women began to want fewer children and there became a greater need for abortion.

restriction of this prohibition. The wording of these statutory provisions made clear that this law

was to protect un-born life (Keown and Phil 2006). In the United States, more dramatically than

in England, it seems this new legislation was influenced by the emerging medical profession

whose discovery that human life began at fertilization exposed the moral irrelevance of

terms of legal abortion became a respectable idea. In the 1960s, Americans increasingly began to

of abortion (Sauer 1974). In addition, changes in sexual attitudes played a role in attitudes

toward abortion. Since early times, a more open discussion of all sexual matters has led to a

more open discussion of abortion. This more open-examination of abortion eventually led to

changes in the ethics and laws (Sauer 1974).

During April 2007, in an attempt to reduce cases of abandoned babies and abortions, a Japan

hospital announced that it would set up a hatch into which unwanted infants could be

aged 15 to 44 (CNN.com April 5, 2007).

the highly debated act. Those in favor of legalized abortion hold strong beliefs but anti-abortion

supporters have firm opinions as well. One argument for legalizing abortion is as follows. The

likelihood that women will still have abortions whether legal or not is one of the main arguments

made by pro-choice activists.

decision that their lives are worth saving‖ (Grimes et. al 2006: 1917). Every year, approximately

19 to 20 million abortions are done worldwide by individuals who lack required skills or in

environments that do not meet medical standards, or both. Ninety seven percent of unsafe

abortions happen in developing countries. In turn, an estimated 68,000 women die as a result.

Many of these women die from hemorrhaging, infection or poisoning. Many pro-choice activists

contemporary medical practice. Proponents of abortion feel that unsafe abortion endangers

health and should receive the same approach to solution that other threats to public health receive

have legal abortions so that they are not ―forced‖ to go to ―back-street‖ abortionists (Adamek

1994). Abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest to spare the woman mental anguish.

Abortion is necessary to protect the physical, mental, or social health of the mother (Adamek

1994). Abortion should be allowed for the sake of the unwanted child. Strict anti-abortion laws

limit freedom, whereas lenient laws do not (Adamek 1994). Restrictive anti-abortion laws are

and adults are all stages of human life that are equally alive and have equal worth. Pro-life

which one should live should one be faced with the choice (Clark 2007).

social traditionalism, 3) political conservatism, and 4) all life is worth preserving. Many people

5) believe that abortion goes against God‘s rules, and it 6) devalues human life (Hess and Rueb

2005). Pro-life individuals view life as beginning at conception, whereas most pro-choice

General Social Surveys, Strikler and Danigelis find that in early times, whites were more

approving of abortion than blacks but by the end of the 1980s this had reversed (Strickler and

Danigelis 2002). They also found that white women are less likely than black women to have an

States were re-sentenced to life in prison. Four years later, the Supreme Court reversed this

ruling with the case of Greg vs. Georgia (Radelet and Borg 2000).

support for the death penalty comes from the Gallup Polls. They point out that in 1994 support

had reached 80 percent (Radelet and Borg 2000). An article in the Economist in 2000 mentions

that Americans have always favored capital punishment by an overwhelming majority. The

article claimed that according to the 2000 Gallup Poll, support for the death penalty had dropped

to 66%, a 19-year low (Economist 2000). According to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today,

in order to send a message to potential offenders. Here, people are certain if they violate laws,

they will be punished (Radalet and Borg 2000). Individuals that support the death penalty also

Hawkins 1986). Some studies have been able to find deterrent effects (e.g., Ehrlih 1975), but

these studies have been criticized (e.g., Klein et al 1978). Overall, most deterrence studies have

failed to support the hypothesis that the death penalty has a greater deterrent effect on homicide

rates than long-term imprisonment (Radalet and Borg 2000). In fact, Bailey and Peterson (1997),

two of America‘s most experienced deterrence researchers, conclude that capital punishment in

1997, this number fell to 45%. These polls show that there have been fluctuations in the way the

death penalty is justified. What was once a highly cited justification for the death penalty, the

characteristics or personal victimizations. Rankin uses five years (1972-1976) of NORC General

Social Survey data as well as data on official violent crime rates to point out that although many

studies have found different personality associations of death penalty attitudes, these are not

necessarily precursors for short-term attitudinal changes (Rankin 1979). He argues that only

historical or period effects could explain the rise in support for capital punishment at the time of

still have that opportunity. Many feel that the incapacitation argument might have made sense in

historical times when there were no prisons that could accommodate prisoners long-term. Now,

sentencing alternative still feel that judges will always find ways to release life-sentenced

inmates. This is an interesting paradox because the group who wishes to give the government the

ultimate power to take lives of its citizens does so because of distrust of the same government

(Radelet and Borg 2000).

―Two decades ago, some citizens and political leaders supported the death penalty as a way of

the modern death penalty system costs several times more than life without parole (Radelet

2000). There has been extensive research conducted in different states using different data sets

through newspapers, courts and legislatures, as well as academics (see reviews in Bohm 1998,

Dieter 1997, Spangenberg & Walsh 1989). ―Estimates by the Miami Herald are typical: $3.2

million for every electrocution versus $600,000 for life imprisonment‖ (von Drehle 1988: 1).

which gives evidence to the benefits of violent behavior. In other words, the use of the death

penalty as a punishment reduces people‘s respect for life and thus increases the incidence of

Victims Families for Reconciliation which has over 4,000 members. Some of these members

feel their loved ones deserve a more honorable memorial than what they refer to as a pre-

meditated, ―state-sanctioned‖ killing. They are among those who do not want the killers to be

killed because they do not feel that an execution will help them heal or contribute to reducing

homicide in the United States. Many in this group see the death penalty as a ―quick fix‖ that

social objectivity the Greeks attained, after so many generations of murder and revenge‖ (Cohen

2006:23).

death penalty, innocent defendants will occasionally be executed. Innocence is suddenly a

concern (Radelet and Borg 2000). In 1992, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld at the Benjamin N.

Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University founded The Innocence Project to assist prisoners

who could be proved innocent through DNA testing. They claim their use of DNA technology

documented the problem of erroneous convictions in homicide cases (Givelber 1997, Gross

1996, Huff et al 1996, Leo & Ofshe 1998, Radelet et al 1992). A recent nationwide poll found

1973, 123 people in 25 states have been released from death row with evidence of their

innocence. With errors such as this, some individuals are now finding themselves advocating on

the other side of the debate from where they once stood; even political figures. Supreme Court

Justice Harry Blackmun considered himself a supporter of the death penalty until 1994 when he

wrote that now he feels ―morally and intellectually obligated to concede that the death penalty

and race in the United States are quite intertwined. Many have questioned whether African

Americans are more likely than whites to be sentenced to death. When comparable crimes are

the perception that more blacks are put to death than whites is likely the reason for the racial

difference in attitudes. The significant difference between the number of whites put to death

compared to blacks holds even when controls are introduced for correlates of death penalty

attitudes, such as political views, religion, class, gender as well as other variables (Unnever and

Cullen 2007).

Americans (Unnever and Cullen 2007). Third, white racists may think that African Americans

are criminally dangerous, even with special advantages that are not available to whites. They

populations has increased from forty percent in the 1970s when the determinate sentencing

movement took place to around fifty percent by the late 1980s and has fluctuated until the time of

his research in 2005 ( Tonry 2007). Young (1992) suggested that African American

fundamentalists are less supportive of the death penalty because they attribute the case of crime

to situational characteristics. This, he argues, diminishes their desire to fully punish criminals

with the pro-choice abortion position. The idea of cognitive bundling could occur here when

individuals who feel strongly about one of these matters position themselves under the

and correlated attitudes.‖ They feel that cognitive and social processes are highly interactive

rather than operating independently from one another and these two processes have a very

interactive system out of which public opinion may emerge and become organized. Two theories

are proposed in attempt to explain how public opinions are developed and structurally organized.

Their first theory involves what they refer to as a ―cognitive impact specifying a parallel

Lavine and Latane discuss the way the inter-attitudinal consistency and interconnected

attitude systems develop and change over time. They argue that the cognitive and social

to maximize their consistency with their neighbors in cognitive space. So, internal attitudes that

people hold function much like the external dynamics of society (Lavine and Latane 1996).

Since abortion and capital punishment are both life-taking actions, it would make sense to

assume that a strong supporter of one would similarly be a strong supporter of the other, and vice

versa. The theory of cognitive bundling tells us that there are internal and external forces at work

it is used by sociologists second only to the Census. The basic purpose of the study is to gather

data on American society. Researchers use the study to explain trends and constants in attitudes,

behaviors, and attributes.

the world in order to compare trends. Further research on my topic could utilize the ISSP data to

track trends in time comparing other countries to the United States over the past two decades.

social behavior, employment, and retirement, as well as administrative records such as academic

transcripts, financial documents, and medical records, and also opinion-related questions.

toward capital punishment and abortion because it gives access to questions of exact relevance

and allows me to trace attitudinal trends over the past thirty years. I utilize Statistical Package

the response rate between 1977 and 1980 was 75.3%, between 1982 and 1990 it was 77.26% and

during 1991 through 2004 the response rate was 75.03%. This general response rate represents

educational attainment question, 51,020 asked what region they live in, and 42,096 were asked

about their political views. For my study, it was important that my sample was asked both the

abortion question and the capital punishment question. Therefore, I have restricted my analysis

to only those respondents who were asked both questions. This subset of 24,514 cases is still

nationally representative since respondents were randomly chosen. Although I have lost some

While the same questions were not asked to every one every year, the sample that I do have can

still be nationally representative of the population.

questions regarding attitudes toward abortion on the GSS, most questions ask the respondent if

they approve of abortion under certain circumstances, such as in the case of rape or if the woman

is not married. For the purpose of this study, the question I use measures attitudes of those who

think abortion should be available for any reason. Since ―any reason‖ can cover the entire scope

of motives for abortion (from incest, to out-of-wedlock pregnancies, to mothers who think they

abortion. If they previously indicated that they do not believe a woman should be able to have an

abortion for any reason, this was coded as ―1‖, meaning they are pro-life in the case of abortion.

on the GSS include ―favor‖ or ―oppose.‖ Using this existing GSS question, I recoded this

variable to create a new variable that indicates whether the respondent is pro-capital punishment.

If they previously indicated that they are in favor of the death penalty for people convicted of

murder, this was recoded as ―1,‖ meaning they are pro-capital punishment. If they previously

indicated that they are not in favor of the death penalty for people convicted of murder, this was

However, for my study it is most relevant to know how religion of any type affects people‘s

attitudes toward abortion and capital punishment. In order to account for a wide variety of

respondent attended religious services about once a month, this was recoded into ―12,‖ since

there are 12 months in a year. Those attending less were coded as ―7‖ for several times a year,

―1.5‖ for once or twice a year, ―0.5‖ for less than once a year, and ―0‖ for never. If the

respondent attended more than once a month, the recodes are as follows. Religious attendance of

2-3 times a month was recoded as ―30‖, nearly every week was recoded as ―41‖, every week was

this question include the following sections of the United States: New England, Middle Atlantic,

East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central,

For the study, the following GSS question was measured: We hear a lot of talk these days about

liberals and conservatives. I‘m going to show you a seven point scale on which the political

views that people might hold are arranged from extremely liberal—point 1—to extremely

conservative—point 7. Where would you place yourself on this scale? The GSS response

options include: Extremely liberal, liberal, slightly liberal, moderate/middle of the road, slightly

have to use MNLR as my research method because of the nature of my dependent variable,

which is the combination of attitudes toward abortion and attitudes toward capital punishment.

Since I have four categories that are non-rankable and are individually distinct, MNLR was

appropriate for this analysis. My variables are discrete (categorical) meaning they cannot be

grouped into intervals. I did not use Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression because with OLS,

expected, there a higher percentage of Southerners are Conservative compared to Non-

Southerners (47% of Conservatives are from the South and about 42% are from non-Southern

followed by Anti-Life, Pro-Life and Liberal as the minority across time. Figure 8 demonstrates

20% but dropped to the low teens by 1990s and recently has been in the high teens at almost

20%. The Anti-Life category remained fairly stable until the late 80s and peaked in the mid 90s.

It then decreased back down to about 30% in recent years. The Conservative category fluctuated

from the late 70s through the late 80s then slowly declined until recently years when it has been

at about 40%.

Similar to past research (Ladd and Bowman 1997), this bivariate analysis indicates that older

According to Figure 10 there was a rise in the number of people who fall within the Anti-Life (for

both abortion and capital punishment) group for those that came of age in the 1960s. It seems

categories. Being born in the first few decades of the 1900s, liberalism grows while the Pro-Life

group gets smaller by 10%. The Pro-Life and Conservative groups grew smaller for those people

who were born before the 1940s while the Anti-Life and Liberal groups grew larger after the

1940s.

the top row of the six tables show how likely blacks are to fall within each of the six comparisons

(with white as the omitted racial category). According to results presented in Table 2-A, blacks

are less likely to be Conservative relative to whites (-1.286, p<.001). Table 2-B explores the

Anti-Life group relative to the Liberal group. Both of these groups are pro-choice in regards to

abortion, but blacks are less likely to be in favor of capital punishment than whites (-1.109,

on their abortion stance (0.084, NS) in Table 2-C. This was the only table of the six

Conservative category. There were no instances in which blacks were more likely to be in the

Conservative category compared to whites, relative to any of the six categories.

to whites (1.193, p<.001). This demonstrates that blacks are more likely to be against both

abortion and capital punishment than in favor of both.

abortion and capital punishment, with males representing the omitted gender category. The first

capital punishment‖ group (-0.404, p<.001 in Table 2-B). Of those people that are against capital

punishment, women are more likely than men to favor abortion rights (-0.193, p<.001 in Table 2-

C). As previous research suggested, when compared to men, women tend to hold stronger views

town abortion (Scott and Schuman 1988). This study finds that women are more likely to be in

favor (pro-choice).

women often wish to be in control of their own bodies. Compared to males, being female has a

positive effect (0.358) on being Pro-Life relative to Conservative. This demonstrates that of