Releasing prisoners during COVID-19: the impact of the support for the early release, perceived insecurity and political orientation on attitudes towards released prisoners in Portugal.

Purpose: This study aims to examine how prisoners' early release affects other citizens' perceived insecurity and their attitudes towards those released prisoners, and how citizens' political orientation influences these variables.

Design/methodology/approach: A total of 383 Portuguese participants were presented with a recommendation from the United Nations for the release of prisoners because of COVID-19 and then asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring their political orientation, support for the early release of prisoners, perceived insecurity regarding such measure and their attitudes towards the released prisoners.

Findings: Results showed that support for the release of prisoners during COVID-19 is associated with perceived insecurity and both, in turn, predicts inclusive attitudes regarding these prisoners, while only perceived insecurity is associated with an agreement with an intensification of social control measures.