A Social Psychological Investigation of Community Sentiment Toward COVID-19 Mitigation Policies in the Justice System

The COVID-19 pandemic led to many policy changes across the U.S. justice system that aimed to reduce the spread of the deadly virus. The present dissertation provides novel insights into community sentiment toward justice system COVID-19 mitigation policies such as the early release of prisoners, the pretrial release of defendants, the suspension of fines and fees, and the prioritization of prisoner vaccination. Using a student sample (study 1) and a demographically-representative U.S. community sample (study 2), this dissertation found that political conservatism was negatively associated with support for justice system COVID-19 mitigation policies across both samples. Prison reform attitudes and COVID-19 anxiety were also positively associated with support for justice system mitigation policies in the community sample. In addition to exploring direct relationships, this research examined mechanisms between political conservatism and support for justice system COVID-19 mitigation policies. The results provide evidence that people high in political conservatism show low support for justice system COVID-19 mitigation policies because of authoritarian attitudes and their moral disengagement from those in the justice system. The results of this research contribute to the growing literature on how individual differences can affect COVID-19 pandemic-related attitudes. They also provide policymakers with an idea of how to tailor a more effective public health strategy to promote the welfare of one of the most vulnerable populations to public health crises - those involved in the justice system.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctorate Degree

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Murphy, Evan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Marsh, Shawn

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Miller, Monica
• Kemmelmeier, Markus
• Evans, Bill
• Devereux, Paul

• Community Sentiment
• COVID-19 Pandemic
• Justice System
• Pandemic Attitudes
• Public Health
• Public Opinion

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11714/8377

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarwolf.unr.edu:11714/8377