Results show that Poland’s population considers sentencing policies of courts to be too lenient, and represents often extremely punitive attitudes. The findings show that this punitiveness may have increased in recent years; there has been widespread support for the death penalty in more recent years than there was under the communist regime. There appears to be a gap between abstract declaration about support for the death penalty and punishment proposed in more concrete cases. The research confirms that there is a substantial majority of those supporting the death penalty in abstract terms; however, only in one of five homicide cases did respondents support the imposition of the death penalty. The results do not necessarily show Polish people are more punitive in attitude than other countries. With respect to those proposing imprisonment, Poland is average when compared to other countries, although duration of imprisonment is above average, especially when compared to other European countries. Data were collected from a national sample of adults using a survey conducted in December 2000. Table, figures, and references