Public Opinion, Crime, and Criminal Justice

by Roberts,Julian

• ISBN13: 9780813367934
• ISBN10: 081336793X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-10-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Taking on one of the most popular issues of the daycrime and the way we make sense of itJulian Roberts and Loretta Stalans reveal the mismatch between the public perception of crime and the reality of crime statistics. Discussing such issues as public knowledge of crime, sources of crime information, information processing by the public, public attitudes about crime, and the effectiveness of punishment, this book considers the role that public opinion plays in the politics of criminal justice issues. Based on extensive data from the United States, with comparisons with Canada and the United Kingdom, Roberts and Stalans reveal the truth behind how the public perceives crime and how this perception compares to actual criminal activity.

Author Biography

Julian V. Roberts is a professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Loretta J. Stalans is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Loyola University of Chicago. Julian V. Roberts is a professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Loretta J. Stalans is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Loyola University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction and Overview: Crime in the Public Eye	1	(22)
Public Concern About Crime	1	(2)
Prime-Time Crime	3	(2)
Public Opinion and Criminal Justice Policy-Making	5	(2)
Going Beyond the Results of Polls	7	(2)
Plan of the Book	9	(3)
Crime Control Versus Due Process Models of Justice	12	(1)
Consensus Versus Conflict	12	(1)
Information Processing by the Public	13	(1)
Research Methodologies	14	(6)
Conclusions	20	(1)
Notes	21	(2)
Public Knowledge of Crime: Myths and Realities	23	(12)
Crime Rates and Patterns	26	(4)
Criminal Recidivism Rates	30	(2)
Conclusions	32	(2)
Notes	34	(1)
Legal Reforms and Criminal Justice Statistics: What Does the Public Really Know?	35	(18)
Knowledge of the Law and Legal Rights	35	(8)
Knowledge of the Sentencing Process	43	(8)
Conclusions	51	(1)
Notes	52	(1)
Crime Seriousness	53	(22)
Seriousness of Crime as Social Problem	54	(2)
Perceptions of the Relative Seriousness of Different Crimes	56	(15)
Conclusions	71	(1)
Notes	72	(3)
Beyond Public Responses: The Hidden Effects of Context, Recall, and Stereotypes	75	(32)
Context	76	(1)
Time Pressure and Answers to General Questions	77	(4)
The Public as Pragmatic Decisionmaker	81	(8)
People as Creative Storymakers	89	(15)
Conclusions	104	(2)
Notes	106	(1)
Origins of Crime and Crime Prevention	107	(20)
Beliefs About Why Crimes Are Committed	107	(3)
Schemata of Criminal Events	110	(1)
Stereotypes of Offenders	111	(12)
Crime Prevention	123	(2)
Conclusions	125	(1)
Notes	125	(2)
Evaluating the Police and the Courts	127	(28)
Confidence Across Institutions and Clarification of Diffuse Support	128	(12)
Evaluations of the Procedural Fairness of Courts	140	(4)
Evaluations of Procedural Fairness: The Role of Direct Experience	144	(5)
Relation Between Encounters with Authorities and Diffuse Support	149	(3)
Conclusions	152	(1)
Notes	153	(2)
Legislative Definitions of Crimes and Law Enforcement Priorities	155	(24)
Public Definitions of Crimes and Defenses to Crimes	156	(11)
Evaluations of Police Competence	167	(9)
Conclusions	176	(1)
Notes	177	(2)
The Adversarial System and the Institution of the Jury	179	(18)
Desired Procedures to Resolve Disputes and Their Accuracy	180	(6)
Fairness and Accuracy of Jury Verdicts	186	(9)
Conclusions	195	(1)
Notes	196	(1)
Sentencing and Parole	197	(28)
Public Interest in Sentencing	198	(1)
The Purposes of Sentencing and Imprisonment	199	(5)
Proportionality in Public Views of Sentencing	204	(1)
Criminal Record and the Sentencing Process	205	(2)
Attitudes Toward Sentencing Severity	207	(2)
Relative Punitiveness of the Public and the Courts	209	(8)
Attitudes Toward Parole	217	(1)
General Versus Specific Measures of Public Opinion	218	(4)
Conclusions	222	(1)
Notes	223	(2)
The Death Penalty	225	(22)
Power of the Death Penalty as Cruel and Unusual Punishment	225	(13)
Power of Instrumental Arguments to Change Death Penalty Attitudes	238	(5)
Conclusions	243	(1)
Notes	244	(3)
Privacy and Free Speech	247	(18)
Public Versus Judicial View of Privacy	248	(10)
Community Standards and Judgments of Obscene Materials	258	(5)
Conclusions	263	(1)
Notes	264	(1)
Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice	265	(12)
Knowledge of Juvenile Justice Trends	266	(8)
Sentencing Juvenile Offenders	274	(2)
Conclusions	276	(1)
Notes	276	(1)
Gun Control	277	(14)
Possession and Ownership of Guns	278	(1)
Views About Gun Control Laws	279	(8)
Conclusions	287	(2)
Notes	289	(2)
Drawing Conclusions	291	(6)
Educating the Public	291	(2)
Researching Public Opinion	293	(1)
Educating Criminal Justice Professionals	294	(3)
References	297	(40)
About the Book and Authors	337