This study assesses and compares, in an Australian context, four explanations which have emerged to explain punitive attitudes. Each purports these attitudes have different origins: concerns over crime and a lack of trust in the state to deal with it (‘crime-distrust’ model); a desire to reinforce social cohesion or express discontent with society (‘social discontent’ model); an outlet for dissatisfaction over one’s own life (‘personal discontent’ model); and a wish to suppress or express prejudice towards disliked racial minorities (‘racial animus’ model). The study finds support for each of the crime-distrust, social discontent and racial animus models (but not the personal discontent model). Despite rarely being considered in Australia, it also suggest that social discontent and racial animus may have as great, if not greater, an impact on punitiveness as concerns over crime and the state’s response to it.