The Effect of Social and Individual Variables on the Degree of Punitiveness of Public Opinion (A Field Study in three cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Qom)

The phenomenon of punitiveness of public opinion is complex and influential on policy making, which derives from varying factors. The rate and factors of this phenomenon are not the same everywhere and among individuals depending on complicated interaction between different influential factors. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of four variables on the phenomenon, namely knowledge, sex, religious beliefs and education in three cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Qom on three crimes of rape, embezzlement and establishment or membership of pyramid companies. The present study was conducted using a survey method. The study population included all people 18 years and older in three cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Qom. Were selected 180 of them as the research sample using the available sampling method. The descriptive statistics method was used to describe the data and the chi-square correlation test was used to test the questions.Findings showed that there is no significant relationship between awareness and gender variables with the tendency to punitiveness. The level of education variable also proved to have a significant relationship with the degree of punitiveness only in the case of the crime of rape. Regarding the city variable and its effect on the tendency to punitiveness, a significant relationship was found only in the crime of rape. The findings of the present study emphasize the importance of using criminal experts in legislation for various crimes, as well as the need to inform public opinion about the nature and social effects of various crimes and their punishment.