ABSTRACT
The contours of public attitudes in Western countries about crime and punishment have been increasingly well mapped over the last two decades. A consistent pattern has been established across many different countries, showing dissatisfaction with lenient sentencing and cynicism about the competence of sentencers. Yet in parallel with these findings are others that show support for community penalties, ambivalence about the use of custody for any but the most serious offences, and sentencing preferences that in reality are often consistent with judicial practice.
