民眾死刑態度影響因素之研究

A study of the public attitude toward the death penalty

死刑制度有其利弊得失，世界各國對廢止死刑之意見，始終有很大的爭議。有鑑於此，本研究旨在瞭解民眾對於死刑存廢之態度、民眾在個人特性、環境因素以及對司法品質之想法三個層面之相關情形。本研究採配額取樣法，共抽取749位臺北縣與桃園縣之民眾為研究對象。並運用自編之「民眾死刑意見調查表」為研究工具，以描述統計、Spearman相關以及區別分析等方法進行分析。結果指出：一、75.6%的研究參與者贊成死刑的存在。二、社會階層越高之民眾，越贊成死刑之廢除。三、在環境因素上，民眾覺知犯罪愈嚴重、於戶外活動愈感到不安全、於夜間感到愈害怕者，則越會傾向支持死刑的存在。四、在整體司法品質上，民眾對檢查官偵察、起訴能力、法官審判公正性、監獄感化效果以及罪犯判刑輕重愈不滿意時，依賴死刑來嚇阻犯罪的傾向愈明顯。五、社會階層愈低、感受到犯罪較嚴重、於戶外與夜晚越感到不安全並對檢察官偵查、起訴能力較不滿意者，較支持死刑；反之，則傾向支持死刑的廢除。

Death penalty is considered an extreme punishment and it was customary around the world over several centuries. But, attitude toward the death penalty is still a highly contentious and politicized problem in Taiwan and other countries. The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between public attitude toward the death penalty in Taiwan, participant’s personal background, environmental factors, and judicial quality. Using quota sampling, this study included 749 people from Taipei and Taoyuan counties as participants. The methods adopted were a comprehensive literature review and a questionnaire. The Questionnaire of the attitude toward the death penalty was used. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, and discriminate analysis were conducted. The major results were summarized as follows: (a) a significant majority of the participants (75.6%) agreed to retain the death penalty; (b) with the higher level of social status, the participants show higher agreement to the abolishment of death penalty; (c) participants’ attitude toward the death penalty were supportive, when their awareness of the potential dangers of serious crime, the fear of outdoor and nocturnal activities are strong; (d) participants’ attitude toward the death penalty were supportive, when they aware lower satisfaction of the public procurator’s ability of investigation, prosecutions, and authoritative judgments; (e) briefly, participants with lower level of social status, the awareness of the potential dangers of serious crime increasing, and lower satisfaction of the public procurator’s ability of investigation and prosecutions show appositive attitude toward ending the death penalty; in contrast, participants with higher level of social status, the awareness of the potential dangers of serious crime decreasing, the fear of outdoor and nocturnal activities are strong , and higher satisfaction of the public procurator’s ability of investigation and prosecutions show supportive attitude toward ending the death penalty.