Objectives

Identifying ways to shift public attitudes toward support for alternative approaches to criminalized behavior is necessary to address mass incarceration. We test whether education on the impacts of traumatic events may be one strategy to increase such support. Drawing from mindset theory, we also test whether effects can be amplified through incorporation of growth mindset messaging.

Methods

Two experimental studies assessed the impact of trauma education and growth mindset-enhanced trauma education on public attitudes.

Results

In Study 1, participants in both trauma education conditions exhibited greater support for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent crimes compared to the control condition. In Study 2, participants in the mindset-enhanced trauma education condition exhibited greater support for alternative sentencing for violent crimes compared to those in the other two conditions.

Conclusions

Mindset-enhanced trauma education has potential to shift public attitudes toward support for alternative sentencing, though further research is needed to substantiate effects.

中文翻译：

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创伤教育和成长心态信息对公众对刑事法律制度的态度的影响

目标

确定如何转变公众的态度以支持对刑事定罪行为的替代方法的支持对于解决大规模监禁问题是必要的。我们测试了关于创伤事件影响的教育是否可能是增加这种支持的一种策略。从心态理论出发，我们还测试了是否可以通过结合成长心态信息来放大效果。

方法

两项实验研究评估了创伤教育和成长心态增强型创伤教育对公众态度的影响。

结果

在研究 1 中，与对照组相比，两种创伤教育条件下的参与者都对非暴力犯罪的监禁替代方案表现出更大的支持。在研究 2 中，与其他两种情况下的参与者相比，心理强化创伤教育条件下的参与者对暴力犯罪的替代量刑表现出更大的支持。

结论

强化心态的创伤教育有可能改变公众对替代量刑的支持态度，尽管需要进一步的研究来证实其效果。