This thesis conducted a secondary quantitative analysis to test predictors of punitive attitudes about the best overall and youth crime reduction methods in Saskatchewan, and to examine an integrated perspective developed from Bourdieu’s concept of habitus. My research questions were twofold: 1) What are the valid predictors of punitive attitudes toward overall and youth crime respectively? 2) Is there a difference in punitive attitudes between overall crime and youth crime? For my research methodology, I relied on a secondary quantitative analysis of data from Taking the Pulse of Saskatchewan 2012, a survey conducted by the Social Sciences Research Laboratories (SSRL) of the University of Saskatchewan. The data used in this thesis was taken from Section (F), Crime and Public Safety in Saskatchewan, and Section (H), demographics. I examined three types of predictors: demographics, fear of crime, and perception of crime trends. The demographic variables were gender, age, education, marital status, race, and total annual household income. The relationship between these predictors and the public’s punitive attitudes were first examined with a bivariate analysis. Then logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effect of a selected predictor of punitive attitudes when other predictors were controlled. This thesis reported three major findings. First, the mutual predictors of punitive attitudes towards overall and youth crime are age, education, marital status, and perceived crime trends, while gender is significant only for overall crime, and race is significant only for youth crime when other variables are controlled. Secondly, with regard to the magnitude of influence, the variables perceived crime trends and education are the strongest predictors among all the predictors considered in this study, but any single predictor only has small impact on punitive attitudes. Finally, respondents are generally less punitive towards youth crime than overall crime. This thesis revealed that an integrated Bourdieuian perspective used in this study helped link the predictors in a more explanatory manner, and contributed to a more critical and contextual understanding of punitive attitudes. The empirical results reported in this thesis produced knowledge about punitive attitudes in Saskatchewan, and contributed to the literature on predictors of such attitudes.

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The aim of this study is to examine the Swedish population's attitudes about the causes behind violence in society, and how these attitudes influence their position on criminal policy proposals. By analyzing underlying dimensions of attitudes towards the causes of violence and how political ideology, political interest, media consumption and social capital relate to these dimensions, and their impact on criminal policy proposals. The findings show that ideology, and partly social capital, play a significant role in shaping attitudes towards the cause behind violence in society. Individuals on the right-wing tend to explain violence with immigrants, whereas those on the left-wing tend to explain it with social vulnerability and media culture. Additionally, people with higher social capital tend to focus on social issues rather than blaming media culture or immigration. The results also show that those who consider media culture and immigration to be important factors for the causes behind violence in society, tend to support criminal policy proposals such as limiting democracy to deal with crime, toughener punishment for gang crime and deporting non-citizens convicted of violent crimes. Those who associate social vulnerability and home, and education with the cause of violence, also tend to have negative attitudes towards punitive policy proposals. These insights deepen the understanding of how different factors shape people's perceptions of violence and criminal policy in Sweden.

Depuis plusieurs années, les perceptions et attitudes punitives du public concernant les crimes intéressent les chercheurs. Aujourd’hui, bien que la société profite des avantages de la technologie, elle doit aussi composer avec ses risques. Parmi ceux-ci, la cyberdélinquance sexuelle émerge comme un domaine d’étude complexe et encore largement sous-exploré. Les politiques gouvernementales étant souvent influencées par les réactions du public plutôt que des preuves empiriques, il est important d’étudier la façon dont la population générale perçoit et réagit à ce phénomène afin d’en approfondir la compréhension et contribuer à des réponses judiciaires et éducatives plus justes et efficaces. À ce jour, seule une étude a porté son attention sur les facteurs influençant les perceptions et attitudes face aux sollicitations sexuelles en ligne des mineurs. Toutefois, celle-ci manque à tenir compte de l’influence des caractéristiques spécifiques du délit et se limite à un échantillon d’étudiants universitaires. Objectifs. Le principal objectif de ce mémoire est de comprendre la manière dont les caractéristiques individuelles et les caractéristiques du délit influencent les attitudes punitives des citoyens dans les cas de leurre en ligne. Méthode. Les données ont été collectées auprès de 198 citoyens francophones. Les participants ont répondu à un questionnaire évaluant leurs perceptions, croyances et attitudes sur le crime et les délits sexuels. Un design factoriel 2x3 a été utilisé afin d’examiner la façon dont l’âge et le type d’interaction sexuelle influent sur la sévérité des répondants. Chaque participant a été assigné aléatoirement à une vignette et invité à attribuer une peine d’incarcération au contrevenant dépeint dans le scénario, mais aussi indiquer la durée de celle-ci. Résultats. Les résultats montrent que la majorité des participants donnent une peine d’emprisonnement à l’auteur de leurre, bien que les taux d’incarcération varient selon la nature des sollicitations sexuelles. L’analyse de régression logistique binomiale suggère que les caractéristiques des répondants influencent peu les attitudes punitives. En revanche, le type d’interaction sexuelle apparaît comme le meilleur prédicteur de cesdites attitudes. Discussion. Les résultats soutiennent la nécessité d’adopter une approche nuancée et exhaustive dans l’étude des attitudes sociales en raison de leur complexité. Ils mettent en évidence l’importance de fournir des informations spécifiques au public pour obtenir une compréhension plus précise de ces attitudes. Les futures recherches devraient ainsi encourager les politiques publiques et les pratiques judiciaires à se baser sur des preuves empiriques afin de mieux répondre aux enjeux sociétaux liés à ce phénomène. Ces recherches doivent également continuer à approfondir cette problématique pour orienter les interventions visant à sensibiliser la population aux réels dangers du leurre par voie informatique et à promouvoir des pratiques en lignes plus sécuritaires. / For several years, researchers have been interested in public perceptions and punitive attitudes toward crimes. Today, although society benefits from technological advancements, it also faces their risks. Among these, cybersexual crimes emerge as a complex and still substantially underexplored field of study. Given that government policies are often influenced by public reactions rather than empirical evidence, it is important to study how the general population perceives and reacts to this phenomenon to deepen its understanding and contribute to more just and effective judicial and educational responses. To date, only one study has focused on the factors influencing perceptions and attitudes toward online sexual solicitations of minors. However, this study fails to consider the influence of the specific characteristics of the crime and is limited to a sample of university students. Objectives. The main objective of this thesis is to understand how individual characteristics and the details of the offence affect citizens’ attitudes in cases of online luring. Method. Data were collected from 198 French-speaking citizens. Participants responded to a questionnaire assessing their perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about crime and sexual offences. A 2x3 factorial design was used to examine how age and the type of sexual interaction influence respondents' punitiveness. Each participant was randomly assigned to a vignette and asked to give a prison sentence to the offender depicted in the scenario, as well as its duration. Results. Results show that most participants assign a prison sentence to the online sex solicitor, although incarceration rates vary depending on the nature of sexual solicitations. The binomial logistic regression analysis suggests that respondents’ characteristics have little influence on punitive attitudes. In contrast, the type of sexual interaction appears to be the best predictor of these attitudes. Discussion. The results support the need to adopt a nuanced and comprehensive approach in the study of social and attitudes due to their complexity. They highlight the importance of providing specific information to the public for a more precise understanding of these attitudes. Future research should encourage public policies and judicial practices to be based on empirical evidence to better address the societal challenges related to this phenomenon. Such research should also continue to delve into this issue to guide interventions aimed at raising public awareness of the real dangers of online luring and promoting safer online practices.