Public attitudes toward imprisonment, punishment and rehabilitation: a comparative study between Sweden and Italy

Sammanfattning

Aim: The aim of the thesis is to examine how public attitudes toward imprisonment, punishment and rehabilitation differ between Italy and Sweden. Moreover, it explores how demographic characteristics influence these views. Furthermore, it assesses how individuals respond when presented with specific offender scenarios. Methodology: Using a mixed‑method, cross‑sectional survey design, the study combined 25 quantitative Likert‑scale items with qualitative vignette‑based questions, allowing respondents to express both general and case-specific attitudes. The survey was administered online in Italian, Swedish, and English, and included attention checks, multi‑item scales. The results were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The results show that Italian respondents expressed significantly stronger agreement with statements emphasizing imprisonment as a means of protecting society and re‑educating offenders, while Swedish respondents reported slightly higher, though not statistically significant, support for rehabilitation. Contrary to expectations originating from existing literature, punitive attitudes did not differ significantly between the two groups. Multiple regression analyses further indicated that demographic characteristics such as gender, age, socioeconomic status, and occupation did not significantly predict attitudes toward imprisonment, punishment, or rehabilitation, while education emerged as the only significant predictor. The vignette study revealed that respondents adopted more punitive positions when evaluating specific offender scenarios than when responding to general attitudinal items, suggesting that contextualised cases may elicit stronger punitive impulses, particularly when offences involve violence or repeat offending. Open‑ended responses, however, highlighted the importance of offender background, motivation, and rehabilitation potential, in respondents´decisions. Although the study’s non‑probability sampling limits generalisability, the findings contribute to comparative research on penal attitudes by integrating general and case‑specific measures and by highlighting the multidimensional nature of public views on punishment and rehabilitation. The thesis concludes by outlining implications for penal policy and recommending future research using more representative samples, additional predictors, and expanded vignette designs.