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Public Opinion, Crime, and Justice (Criminology)

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Feb 16th, 2018
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  1. Introduction
  2. With the emphasis placed on democratic values in contemporary society, much attention has been paid to the role of public opinion in the formation of public policy generally and criminal justice policy specifically. The punitive turn in criminal justice policy, epitomized by policies such as “three strikes” laws, truth-in-sentencing, and mandatory minimums, is often attributed in part to demand for harsher criminal justice responses from an increasingly punitive public. It has been argued that public opinion, known to be both largely uninformed and frequently misunderstood, both indirectly and directly affects policy. It is known, for example, that politicians and policymakers look to polls and other measures of public opinion to gauge the mood of the public or the popularity of proposed crime policy. In some states, public opinion sometimes literally drives criminal justice policy, such as when the public actually votes for criminal justice policies presented as ballot initiatives (California’s notorious three-strikes law, for example, was endorsed by the public through voter referenda). In other states the criminal justice policymaking process is largely insulated from public influence and opinion. Indeed, there are a number of competing theses about the nature of the relationship between the media, public opinion, and public policy. The media is certainly the source for most of the information the public processes about crime, and research has consistently found that the media, with its focus on stories that emphasize the most unusual and extreme (yet least common) types of crime, offers a decidedly distorted picture of the nature and extent of the crime problem. Much of what people think they know about crime is thus not particularly accurate. Members of the public then form opinions about criminal justice policy issues on this less-than-optimal understanding of crime. Misconceptions aside, public opinion data from a variety of sources offer policymakers a window into the views of their constituents. Some have argued that punitive criminal justice policy is simply evidence of “democracy at work,” with policymakers simply responding to the desires of their constituents. Others have argued that policymakers take advantage of, or exploit, public opinion to gain electoral advantage—pandering to an ill-informed public. Still more argue that policymakers actually use the media to manipulate (indeed manufacture) the very opinion that they then use to justify their popular, yet often ineffective, criminal justice policies.
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  4. General Overviews
  5. There are a number of influential works on the relationship between public opinion, crime, and criminal justice. This section focuses on works explicitly related to public opinion around crime and justice issues, while Understanding Public Opinion focuses on works that address public opinion more broadly. Public opinion around crime and justice has been the subject of a number of full-length books, edited collections, and comprehensive survey articles. The most prolific writer in this area has been the criminologist Julian V. Roberts, who has authored numerous influential books and several survey articles on public opinion and criminal justice. Though slightly outdated, Roberts 1992 is a classic and will remain so until a similarly comprehensive survey article on the topic is published. Roberts 2004 is an important survey article on public opinion around youth justice. Roberts and Stalans 1998 provides a more concise (and slightly less comprehensive) survey that introduces the readers to the research (and the debates) in this area. Roberts and Stalans 1998 is short and direct and therefore ideal for classroom use. Similar but more focused survey articles appear under Punishment and Corrections and Crime, Politics, and Criminal Justice Policy. Hindelang 1974 and Stinchcombe, et al. 1980 are both classics in the area of crime, justice, and public opinion. Relying on current public opinion research (including some of the major data sources [see Data Sources] on American public opinion), Flanagan and Longmire 1996, and Peter D. Hart Research Associates 2002 offer analyses of fairly contemporary public opinion around justice issues. When used in conjunction with more current work such as Flanagan and Longmire 1996 or Peter D. Hart Research Associates 2002, Hindelang 1974 and Stinchcombe, et al. 1980 are ideal for gaining perspective on the advances made in crime and public opinion research over the past few decades and demonstrate just how far that research has come. Juxtaposition of these works and their findings also provides an interesting window into changes in public opinion on matters related to crime and justice. Wood and Gannon 2009 provides a recent edited (and eclectic) collection of essays on public opinion across an array of topics relevant to crime and justice. The various works of Roberts and colleagues, and the edited collection of from Wood and Gannon 2009 are notable also for their international focus.
  6.  
  7. Flanagan, Timothy J., and Dennis R. Longmire, eds. 1996. Americans view crime and justice: A national public opinion survey. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
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  10.  
  11. The chapters in this edited collection offer results and commentary on findings from the 1995 National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice—a comprehensive survey of a representative sample of Americans. Includes contributions on public views of police, courts, sentencing, juvenile offending, and on more contentious topics such as the death penalty, gangs, gun control, and substance abuse.
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  13. Find this resource:
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  16. Hindelang, Michael J. 1974. Public opinion regarding crime, criminal justice, and related topics. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 11:101–116.
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  18. DOI: 10.1177/002242787401100202Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. A widely cited classic article that chronicled the sources of data on public opinion related to issues of crime and justice and reported on some of the key findings related to opinion on crime and justice issues.
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  22. Find this resource:
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  24.  
  25. Peter D. Hart Research Associates. 2002. Changing attitudes toward the criminal justice system. Washington, DC: Peter D. Hart Research Associates.
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  27. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  28.  
  29. A summary of public opinion research conducted on behalf of the Open Society Institute that demonstrates that public opinion toward crime and justice has changed over the past few decades but has not changed demonstrably as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Reports that the American public is more concerned with addressing the underlying causes of crime and is less punitive in its orientation to crime than it had been previously.
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  31. Find this resource:
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  33.  
  34. Roberts, Julian V. 1992. Public opinion, crime, and criminal justice. In Crime and justice: A review of research. Vol. 16. Edited by Michael Tonry. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
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  36. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37.  
  38. A survey article that introduces readers to research on public opinion as it pertains to criminal justice, and then reviews the evidence based on findings of that research. An excellent resource for those seeking an overview of research in this area.
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  40. Find this resource:
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  42.  
  43. Roberts, Julian V. 2004. Public opinion and youth justice. In Crime and justice: A review of research. Vol. 31, Youth crime and youth justice: Comparative and cross-national perspectives. Edited by Michael Tonry, and Anthony N. Doob. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
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  46.  
  47. Roberts examines twenty years of survey data from several Western nations and finds that most of these individuals share a common misperception about juvenile crime and justice issues. Roberts also investigates public attitudes toward rehabilitation and the public’s willingness to support less punitive reforms for juvenile offenders.
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  49. Find this resource:
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  52. Roberts, Julian V., and Loretta J. Stalans. 1998. Crime, criminal justice, and public opinion. In The handbook of crime and punishment. Edited by Michael Tonry, 31–57. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  53.  
  54. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  55.  
  56. A concise yet comprehensive introduction to literature related to crime, criminal justice, and public opinion. An exceptional resource for classroom use or for those seeking an overview.
  57.  
  58. Find this resource:
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  60.  
  61. Stinchcombe, Arthur L., Rebecca Adams, Carol A. Heimer, Kim L. Scheppele, Tom W. Smith, and D. Garth Taylor. 1980. Crime and punishment: Changing attitudes in America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  62.  
  63. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  64.  
  65. Through reviewing time-series and cross-sectional data from several sources, the authors examine the dynamics of public opinion formation and explore the numerous connections between trends in crime, media attention to crime, and public reactions to crime. The discussions highlight the changing attitudes toward crime and crime policies, and the variation in public opinion that exists between residents in America’s major urban centers and residents in other parts of the country.
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  67. Find this resource:
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  69.  
  70. Wood, Jane, and Theresa Gannon. 2009. Public opinion and criminal justice. Cullompton, UK: Willan.
  71.  
  72. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  73.  
  74. Key reading for students, scholars, policymakers, or anyone interested in the formation of public opinion and the various forces that influence criminal justice policy. The chapters were authored by a number of internationally recognized scholars who tackle issues such as the social psychology of public opinion on crime and the myths and realities of public opinion around various contentious issues.
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  76. Find this resource:
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  78.  
  79. Data Sources
  80. There are a number of places to go for data on public opinion related to issues of crime and justice. Two major sources of such data are the Gallup Polls, which regularly ask members of the public for their opinions on array of issues, and the General Social Survey (GSS), which has been collecting data on public opinion since 1972. Each release of the GSS data includes a large number of core questions that have been asked consistently across time, and a number of mini-modules that cover a variety of topical issues of special interest. A number of the core questions and some of the mini-modules focus on issues directly related to crime and justice. In 1995 Flanagan and Longmire conducted a national opinion survey explicitly focused on issues of crime and justice. This National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice became the data source for a series of works that appear in Flanagan and Longmire 1996 (see General Overviews). Two research centers, the National Opinion Research Center and the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, at the University of Chicago and the University of Connecticut, respectively, are useful places to start when looking for data related to public opinion. The Roper Center is an archive for data and research devoted exclusively to public opinion, and researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) are responsible for much of the most important social science research related to public opinion, including the General Social Survey.
  81.  
  82. Gallup Polls.
  83.  
  84. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  85.  
  86. For decades, Gallup has regularly polled the American public to gauge its sentiment on a variety of topics, including crime and drugs. Gallup frequently asks Americans to identify what they think is the most important problem facing the nation, and for many years crime and/or drugs ranked among the top ten problems identified.
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  88. Find this resource:
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  90.  
  91. General Social Survey 1972–2008. Storrs: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Univ. of Connecticut.
  92.  
  93. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  94.  
  95. The General Social Survey (GSS) is a formerly annual (and now biennial) survey of a nationally representative sample of Americans conducted by the National Opinion Research Center since 1972. Principal investigators are James A Davis, Tom W. Smith, and Peter V. Marsden. More information on GSS available online from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
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  97. Find this resource:
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  99.  
  100. National Opinion Research Center(NORC).
  101.  
  102. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103.  
  104. Housed at the University of Chicago, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) conducts influential social science research on matters related to public opinion. NORC’s Center for the Study of Politics and Society (CSPS) has conducted the influential General Social Survey since 1972.
  105.  
  106. Find this resource:
  107.  
  108.  
  109. National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice. 1996. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
  110.  
  111. DOI: 10.3886/ICPSR06720Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  112.  
  113. Extensive national data gauging public opinion on many facets of criminal justice, including perceptions of police, courts and sentencing, and punishment and corrections. Respondents were also asked about media portrayal of crime, their own fear of crime, and their opinions related to a variety of criminal justice issues, including gangs, guns, and drugs. Principal investigators are Timothy J. Flanagan and Dennis R. Longmir.
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  115. Find this resource:
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  117.  
  118. Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  119.  
  120. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  121.  
  122. Housed at the University of Connecticut, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is a social science archive and data repository specifically dedicated to public opinion data. The Roper Center makes public opinion data on a wide variety of issues, including criminal justice issues, publicly available.
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  124. Find this resource:
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  126.  
  127. Understanding Public Opinion
  128. The works under General Overviews focus quite explicitly on public opinion around issues of crime and justice. The works cited here are broader in scope and offer guidance for those seeking to more broadly understand public opinion and its development. After much chatter about increasing social polarization, DiMaggio, et al. 1996 considered whether the American public had actually become more polarized, ultimately finding that it had not. Warr 1995 examines poll data related to crime and justice, and explains where much of what we know about public opinion comes from. Together with his colleagues, Julian Roberts has contributed several full-length books on the nature of public opinion related to crime. Hough and Roberts 2005 draws on international data to offer a comparative view of public opinion, as does Roberts’s full-length book authored with Loretta Stalans (Roberts and Stalans 1997), which focuses quite explicitly on public perceptions and misperceptions. Yankelovich 1991, on public judgment (an opinion that emerges when the public is given an opportunity to be more deliberative and reflective in considering an issue and forming a response), has advanced the way that some public opinion research is conducted. While Zaller 1992 offers a comprehensive theory and Igo 2007 adds a colorful history of the social construction of public opinion, Frost 2010 concisely summarizes what we know about the complex topic of public opinion (and how we know it).
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  130. DiMaggio, Paul, John Evans, and Bethany Bryson. 1996. Have Americans’ social attitudes become more polarized? American Journal of Sociology 102:690–755.
  131.  
  132. DOI: 10.1086/230995Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. Takes on the notion that the American public has become more ideologically polarized. With the exception of attitudes toward abortion and some differences between self-identified Republicans and Democrats, the authors find little overall support for the polarization thesis.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
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  138.  
  139. Frost, Natasha A. 2010. Beyond public opinion polls: Punitive public opinion and criminal justice policy. Sociology Compass 4:153–168.
  140.  
  141. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  142.  
  143. In a survey article written for a broad audience, Frost reviews the research on the relationship between punitive public opinion and punitive public policy. Frost also discusses the nature, source, and scope of contemporary public opinion data.
  144.  
  145. Find this resource:
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  147.  
  148. Hough, Mike, and Julian Roberts. 2005. Understanding public attitudes to criminal justice. Maidenhead, UK: Open Univ. Press.
  149.  
  150. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151.  
  152. Offers an in-depth exploration of public opinion about the three common branches of criminal justice: police, courts, and corrections. The authors draw on international research to explore the influence public opinion has in shaping policy and practice within the criminal justice systems of several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
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  154. Find this resource:
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  156.  
  157. Igo, Sarah E. 2007. The averaged America: Surveys, citizens, and the making of a mass public. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
  158.  
  159. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  160.  
  161. Igo offers an important history of the creation of the notion of mass public opinion. She draws on specific examples to illustrate the way in which public opinion is elicited and shaped by the organizations and agencies that collect opinion data. She also explores the effects of mass opinion on the everyday American.
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  163. Find this resource:
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  165.  
  166. Roberts, Julian V., and Loretta J. Stalans. 1997. Public opinion, crime, and criminal justice. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  167.  
  168. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  169.  
  170. Addresses the common misperceptions of crime and criminal justice processes in the public eye. The authors draw on research from United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to compare the realities of crime with public perceptions of criminal justice. Issues covered in this comprehensive work include police practices, sentencing and parole, recidivism rates, and punishment effectiveness.
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  172. Find this resource:
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  174.  
  175. Warr, Mark. 1995. Poll trends: Public opinion on crime and punishment. Public Opinion Quarterly 59:296–310.
  176.  
  177. DOI: 10.1086/269474Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  178.  
  179. One of the foremost researchers of public opinion, Warr goes through the public opinion data on some of the key criminal justice issues, examining some trends over time. A useful introduction to the various sources and types of data available.
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  181. Find this resource:
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  183.  
  184. Yankelovich, Daniel. 1991. Coming to public judgment: Making democracy work in a complex world. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Univ. Press.
  185.  
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187.  
  188. Yankelovich is credited with advancing research on public opinion by elaborating on the distinction between public opinion, which tends to be measured as an “off the cuff” response to a pollster’s question, and public judgment, which results from a more deliberative process. This distinction has led to important advances in our understanding of the scope and depth of public opinion.
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  190. Find this resource:
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  192.  
  193. Zaller, John R. 1992. The nature and origins of mass opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  194.  
  195. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  196.  
  197. A comprehensive analysis of the social construction of public opinion. One of Zaller’s main theoretical contentions is that the public’s method for processing political information is driven by people’s political awareness. An extremely important work for understanding public opinion in all of its complexity.
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  199. Find this resource:
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  202. Crime, Politics, and Criminal Justice Policy
  203. Some of the most important works in the area of public opinion, crime and criminal justice are not books explicitly about public opinion per se, but rather these influential books (Beckett 1997, Garland 2001, Simon 2007, and Tonry 2004) are works that attempt to explain the punitive turn in crime control policy since the 1970s. Each of these works reserves a role for shifts in public sentiment toward crime in their explanation for the punitive turn. Of the four, Beckett 1997 most directly takes on the role of public opinion in driving the shift toward a more punitive orientation. Due to its explicit focus on the relationship between politicians, the media, and public opinion (see Media, Public Opinion, and Politics), Beckett’s must-read book provides a very comprehensive review of literature around the shaping of public opinion. The author’s work also relies heavily on Gallup Poll data (see Data Sources). In one of the more influential books of the past decade, Garland 2001 provides an explanation for the punitive turn that speaks directly to a changing public experience of crime in late modern life. Tonry 2004 similarly looks to the experience of crime that focuses on changing sensibilities among the public and the impact of those changing sensibilities on crime policy. Although more broadly a book about governance and the exploitation of the crime issue, Simon 2007 places fear of crime at the heart of its analysis. Four additional works have more explicitly examined the relationship between public opinion and criminal justice policy. In a survey article, Frost 2010 describes the competing theories surrounding the nature of the relationship between public opinion and public policy. Gaubatz 1995 uses extensive interviews with everyday Americans to better understand why the American public is so punitive. In a pair of influential works (Scheingold 1984 and Scheingold 1995), Stuart A. Scheingold weaves a persuasive narrative about the role of politicians and the media in the manipulation of public opinion.
  204.  
  205. Beckett, Katherine. 1997. Making crime pay: Law and order in contemporary American politics. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  206.  
  207. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. Chronicles the punitive shift in crime control policy and posits that public opinion—or more accurately, political exploitation of public opinion—had an important role in the growth of increasingly punitive criminal justice policies. Beckett also addresses the ever-increasing problem of mass incarceration and examines the role of politics in the American criminal justice system.
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  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213.  
  214. Frost, Natasha A. 2010. Beyond public opinion polls: Punitive public opinion and criminal justice policy. Sociology Compass 4:153–168.
  215.  
  216. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  217.  
  218. In a survey article written for a broad audience, Frost describes a number of competing theories about the relationship between punitive public opinion and punitive public policy.
  219.  
  220. Find this resource:
  221.  
  222.  
  223. Garland, David. 2001. The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
  224.  
  225. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  226.  
  227. Garland offers a comprehensive analysis of how changes in the experience of crime in late modernity and a neoconservative approach toward crime in both the United States and the United Kingdom over the past several decades have worked together to transform crime policy.
  228.  
  229. Find this resource:
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  231.  
  232. Gaubatz, Kathlyn Taylor. 1995. Crime in the public mind. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
  233.  
  234. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235.  
  236. Through interviews with everyday people, Gaubatz explores what drives popular support for a punitive criminal justice system. Her research examines and then challenges Americans’ thinking about crime and punishment. The book also addresses the political beliefs and motivations that affect crime control policies.
  237.  
  238. Find this resource:
  239.  
  240.  
  241. Scheingold, Stuart A. 1984. The politics of law and order: Street crime and public policy. New York: Longman.
  242.  
  243. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  244.  
  245. A seminal work examining the intersection of politics, public policy, and crime. Scheingold uses Marxist and conflict perspectives to help highlight America’s controversial approach to controlling street crime. He explains the drives behind “our indiscriminately punitive” crime control policies. Scheingold concludes that politics and the media remain highly influential in the creation of public fear of crime.
  246.  
  247. Find this resource:
  248.  
  249.  
  250. Scheingold, Stuart A. 1995. Politics, public policy and street crime. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 539:155–168.
  251.  
  252. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  253.  
  254. Centered on the effect of crime control policy in America. Scheingold discusses the different ways that politician’s capitalize on the public’s fear of crime and contends that many of the public policies created to control crime are actually counterproductive and racially divisive. The author is highly critical of politicians for their failures in the creation of a crime control policy that preys on the public’s fear of crime.
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  256. Find this resource:
  257.  
  258.  
  259. Simon, Jonathan. 2007. Governing through crime: How the war on crime transformed American democracy and created a culture of fear. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  260.  
  261. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  262.  
  263. Wide-ranging discussion on fear of crime and its transformative effect on how American communities are governed. Simon integrates political science, law, and sociology to explain how the wars on crime, drugs, and now terrorism continue to shape different social institutions. His work concludes with a call for a more careful evaluation of crime policies and a less fear-driven response to the social problems affecting everyday lives.
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  265. Find this resource:
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  267.  
  268. Tonry, Michael. 2004. Thinking about crime: Sense and sensibility in American penal culture. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  269.  
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271.  
  272. Michael Tonry contends that moral panics, changing sensibilities, and anxiety among Americans have helped create harsh and counterproductive crime control policies. Tonry uses imprisonment, property, and violent-crime rates and other crime data to illustrate the point that American crime trends are similar to those of other industrialized nations. In addition to providing a historical account of the policies that have led to mass incarceration, Tonry concludes with a list of reform proposals.
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  274. Find this resource:
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  276.  
  277. Spending on Crime Control and Criminal Justice
  278. While the articles under Crime, Politics, and Criminal Justice Policy focus on attitudes and opinion, the articles in this subsection focus explicitly on the public’s willingness to spend money on crime control and criminal justice programs. The amount of money spent is often taken as an indicator of the strength of public opinion on policy issues. While Cohen, et al. 2004 and Cohen, et al. 2006 assess the public’s willingness to spend on crime control generally (examining willingness to pay for an array of policies and programs), Nagin, et al. 2006 focuses more explicitly on juvenile justice and finds that, gauged by willingness to pay for juvenile programs, the public are more supportive of rehabilitation than incarceration. Barkan and Cohn 2005, on the other hand, offers explanations for the racial and ethnic divides in spending preferences (whites are generally more willing to spend).
  279.  
  280. Barkan, Steven E., and Steven F. Cohn. 2005. Why whites favor spending more money to fight crime: The role of racial prejudice. Social Problems 52:300–314.
  281.  
  282. DOI: 10.1525/sp.2005.52.2.300Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283.  
  284. Investigates ties to support for more punitive policies. Barkan and Cohn examine the racial components of whites’ support of more punitive treatment of criminals.
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  286. Find this resource:
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  288.  
  289. Cohen, Mark A., Roland T. Rust, and Sara Steen. 2006. Prevention, crime control, or cash? Public preferences toward criminal justice spending priorities. Justice Quarterly 23:317–335.
  290.  
  291. DOI: 10.1080/07418820600869103Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  292.  
  293. Using survey responses from a nationally representative sample, the authors assess the public’s criminal justice spending priorities. This work finds overwhelming support for spending funds on criminal justice initiatives around youth crime prevention, drug treatment, and hiring more police.
  294.  
  295. Find this resource:
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  297.  
  298. Cohen, Mark A., Roland T. Rust, Saran Steen, and Simon T. Tidd. 2004. Willingness-to-pay for crime control programs. Criminology 42:89–110.
  299.  
  300. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00514.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301.  
  302. Offers an in-depth comparison of the costs of criminal justice policies and their crime control benefits. Authors use responses from a nationally representative sample to determine the public’s willingness to pay for crime prevention programs. The results show that a typical household would be willing to pay upwards of a hundred dollars for specific crime prevention programs proven to reduce crime.
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  304. Find this resource:
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  306.  
  307. Nagin, Daniel S., Alex R. Piquero, Elizabeth S. Scott, and Laurence Steinberg. 2006. Public preferences for rehabilitation versus incarceration of juvenile offenders: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey. Criminology & Public Policy 5.4:627–651.
  308.  
  309. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00406.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  310.  
  311. The findings in this study are useful for policymakers concerned with justifying expenditures for juvenile justice practices. Responses from the sample of 1,500 suggest greater support (measured in willingness to pay) for rehabilitation efforts than for incarceration.
  312.  
  313. Find this resource:
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  315.  
  316. Media, Public Opinion, and Politics
  317. As alluded to in Crime, Culture, and Politics Justice Policy, much has been made of the relationship between the media, policymakers, and public opinion. Exactly what role has the media played in the formation of public opinion and to what end? Surette’s Media, Crime and Criminal Justice (Surette 2010) offers a useful overview of the role of the media in shaping the public’s understanding of crime and criminal justice policy. In now-classic works on the relationship between the media, public opinion, and crime policy, Stinchcombe, et al. 1980 and Scheingold 1984 are each quite critical of the media, arguing that media misrepresentations of crime have brought attention to the crime issue, driven up fear, and been instrumental in the promotion of punitive criminal justice policies. Making Crime Pay (Beckett 1997) directly addresses the exploitation of public opinion by policymakers, arguing that the media has played the role of a crucial middleman between the public and politicians. In Beckett’s account, policymakers shape media coverage and in doing so have manipulated public opinion and drummed up public support for increasingly punitive policies (see also Punitiveness and Penal Populism and Penal Policy). Chiricos, et al. 1997 and Chiricos, et al. 2000 look at how media coverage of crime has affected public fear of crime. Examining public opinion around sentencing, Roberts and Doob 1990 also finds that the media’s perspective affects public opinion.
  318.  
  319. Beckett, Katherine. 1997. Making crime pay: Law and order in contemporary American politics. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  320.  
  321. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  322.  
  323. Beckett chronicles the punitive shift in crime control policy and posits that public opinion (or more accurately, political exploitation of public opinion) had a crucial role in the growth of increasingly punitive criminal justice policies. Beckett also addresses the growing problem of mass incarceration and examines the role of politics in the American criminal justice system.
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  325. Find this resource:
  326.  
  327.  
  328. Chiricos, Ted, Sara Eschholz, and Marc Gertz. 1997. Crime, news and fear of crime: Toward an identification of audience effects. Social Problems 44.3: 342–357.
  329.  
  330. DOI: 10.1525/sp.1997.44.3.03x0119oSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. While statistically controlling for race, gender, age, income, and victimization histories, the authors examine the relationship between fear of crime and consumption of media stories about crime.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336.  
  337. Chiricos, Ted, Padgett, Kathy, and Marc Gertz. 2000. Fear, TV news, and the reality of crime. Criminology 38.3: 755–785.
  338.  
  339. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00905.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  340.  
  341. A research article examining the effect of the media (in this case, televised news coverage) on perceptions of crime. The authors find that fear of crime is indeed conditioned by exposure to televised news coverage, particularly when that coverage matches the individual’s personal experience of crime.
  342.  
  343. Find this resource:
  344.  
  345.  
  346. Roberts, Julian V., and Anthony N. Doob. 1990. News media influences on public views of sentencing. Law and Human Behavior 14:451–468.
  347.  
  348. DOI: 10.1007/BF01044222Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349.  
  350. An article in which the authors report on a series of three studies examining the impact of the news media on public opinion about court sentencing processes. The findings suggest that media accounts of sentencing do indeed influence public opinion in the direction of making the public feel courts are too lenient.
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354.  
  355. Scheingold, Stuart A. 1984. The politics of law and order: Street crime and public policy. New York: Longman.
  356.  
  357. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  358.  
  359. In this seminal work examining the intersection of politics, public policy, and crime, Scheingold argues that the media have not only heavily influenced public perception of crime but have also driven up fear of crime and have been instrumental in the movement to implement increasingly punitive criminal justice policies.
  360.  
  361. Find this resource:
  362.  
  363.  
  364. Stinchcombe, Arthur L., Rebecca Adams, Carol A. Heimer, Kim L. Scheppele, Tom W. Smith, and D. Garth Taylor. 1980. Crime and punishment: Changing attitudes in America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  365.  
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367.  
  368. By reviewing time-series and cross-sectional data from several sources, the authors examine the dynamics of public opinion formation and explore the numerous connections between trends in crime, media attention to crime, and public reactions to crime. The discussions highlight the changing attitudes toward crime and crime policies as well as the variation in public opinion that exists between residents in America’s major urban centers and residents in other parts of the country.
  369.  
  370. Find this resource:
  371.  
  372.  
  373. Surette, Ray. 2010. Media, crime and criminal justice: Images, realities, and policies. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
  374.  
  375. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  376.  
  377. Frequently used in courses, Surette’s is one of the most popular books on the relationship between the media and popular images of crime and justice.
  378.  
  379. Find this resource:
  380.  
  381.  
  382. Fear of Crime
  383. Just as there has been a surge of literature on the intersection of media and public opinion, and politics, there is also a fairly extensive body of literature on fear of crime that speaks directly or indirectly to public opinion. The tenth-anniversary edition of Glassner’s Culture of Fear (Glassner 2010) puts American’s fear of crime in the context of increasing fear of all sorts of phenomena. Baumer 1978, and Clemente and Kleiman 1977 offer some of the earliest studies of fear of crime, while Chiricos, et al. 1997 and Chiricos, et al. 2000 offer more contemporary influential work. While Ferraro 1995 focuses specifically on the role of victimization (or, more properly, risk of victimization) on fear of crime, Nasar and Fisher 1993, and Warr and Ellison 2000 each examine quite specific aspects of fear of crime. Nasar and Fisher 1993 examines how hot spots of crime and victimization affect levels of fear in those places. Warr and Ellison 2000 also looks at the ways in which fear of crime might be more altruistic (for example, a fear for the safety of others) than personal. Each of these works has something to say either indirectly or directly about the role of fear of crime in the formation of public opinion about crime and justice issues.
  384.  
  385. Baumer, T. L. 1978. Research on fear of crime in the United States. Victimology 3:254–264.
  386.  
  387. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  388.  
  389. One of the earliest studies examining fear of crime in the United States. In this study, Baumer details and describes the variables related to crime. Findings aid scholars, students, policymakers, and the public on the dynamics of fear of crime in the United States.
  390.  
  391. Find this resource:
  392.  
  393.  
  394. Chiricos, Ted, Sara Eschholz, and Marc Gertz. 1997. Crime, news and fear of crime: Toward an identification of audience effects. Social Problems 44:342–357.
  395.  
  396. DOI: 10.1525/sp.1997.44.3.03x0119oSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  397.  
  398. While controlling for race, gender, age, income, and victimization histories, the authors examine the relationship between fear of crime and consumption of media stories about crime and attempt to pinpoint the traits most likely to produce fear of crime. One key finding suggests that “construction of fear from the messages of television news is limited to middle-aged white women.”
  399.  
  400. Find this resource:
  401.  
  402.  
  403. Chiricos, Ted, Kathy Padgett, and Marc Gertz. 2000. Fear, TV news, and the reality of crime. Criminology 38:755–785.
  404.  
  405. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00905.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  406.  
  407. Study probes the interconnections between the consumption of TV news, the social circumstances of the consumers of televised news, fear of crime, and reality of crime. Authors examine conditional effects of televised news.
  408.  
  409. Find this resource:
  410.  
  411.  
  412. Clemente, Frank, and Michael B. Kleiman. 1977. Fear of crime in the United States: A multivariate analysis. Social Forces 56:519–531.
  413.  
  414. DOI: 10.2307/2577738Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415.  
  416. An early study of fear of crime across the United States using a multivariate approach appearing in a special issue devoted to deviance and social control. The authors found that sex and city size were the strongest predictors of fear.
  417.  
  418. Find this resource:
  419.  
  420.  
  421. Ferraro, Kenneth F. 1995. Fear of crime: Interpreting victimization risk. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press.
  422.  
  423. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  424.  
  425. Juxtaposing public opinion survey results with crime and victimization data, Ferraro comprehensively examines the relationship between fear of crime and the risk of victimization. He discusses at length the implications of his findings from this empirical study.
  426.  
  427. Find this resource:
  428.  
  429.  
  430. Glassner, Barry. 2010. The Culture of fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. New York: Basic Books.
  431.  
  432. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  433.  
  434. In this tenth-anniversary edition, Glassner revisits his popular and influential work on fear in American culture. Although not exclusively about crime and justice, much of the focus is on fear of crime and related phenomena.
  435.  
  436. Find this resource:
  437.  
  438.  
  439. Nasar, Jack L., and Bonnie Fisher. 1993. “Hot spots” of fear and crime: A multi-method investigation. Journal of Environmental Psychology 13:187–206.
  440.  
  441. DOI: 10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80173-2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  442.  
  443. Examines the relationship between fear of crime and actual crime in places. Authors find hot-spot effects where actual incidents of crime, crime cues, and fear of crime converge.
  444.  
  445. Find this resource:
  446.  
  447.  
  448. Warr, Mark, and Christopher G. Ellison. 2000. Rethinking social reactions to crime: Personal and altruistic fear in family households. American Journal of Sociology 106:551–578.
  449.  
  450. DOI: 10.1086/318964Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451.  
  452. A unique contribution distinguishing between fear of crime as fear of personal victimization and the fear that others will be victimized (altruistic victimization). Authors argue that altruistic fear might be stronger than personal fear.
  453.  
  454. Find this resource:
  455.  
  456.  
  457. Law and Justice
  458. All of the studies in this section are concerned with how the public views various aspects of the legal or justice system. Both Brooks and Jeon-Slaughter 2001, and Flanagan, et al. 1985 are interested in public opinion/perceptions of the criminal courts. Brooks and Jeon-Slaughter 2001 focuses explicitly on the opinions of African Americans. Hans 1986, an influential article, examines perceptions (and misperceptions) of the public with regard to the use of the insanity defense in criminal courts. Work addressing public opinion around controversial issues such as the insanity defense and capital punishment is particularly important because it is in this work that public (mis)perceptions (and the lack of knowledge) with regard to criminal justice issues become really clear. Mears, et al. 2007 is also interested in perceptions of courts but concentrates on the juvenile court. The authors in this study develop a direct line of research questions gauging the public’s support for maintaining a separate system of justice for juveniles. Roberts 2003 examines international data on public opinion regarding mandatory sentencing and finds limited evidence of widespread support for these policies.
  459.  
  460. Brooks, Richard R. W., and Haekyung Jeon-Slaughter. 2001. Race, income, and perceptions of the U.S. court system. Behavioral Sciences & the Law 19:249–264.
  461.  
  462. DOI: 10.1002/bsl.442Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463.  
  464. Focuses on how African Americans view the court system and finds that middle-class African Americans doubt that African Americans get equal treatment in the courts, but they have more confidence in the courts than lower-income African Americans.
  465.  
  466. Find this resource:
  467.  
  468.  
  469. Flanagan, Timothy J., Edmund F. McGarrell, and Edward J. Brown. 1985. Public perceptions of the criminal courts: The role of demographic and related attitudinal variables. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 22:66–82.
  470.  
  471. DOI: 10.1177/0022427885022001004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  472.  
  473. Concerned with public perceptions of criminal courts. Authors use nationwide survey data with results showing that although demographic variables hold significant value in understanding public opinion, social attitudes are more important.
  474.  
  475. Find this resource:
  476.  
  477.  
  478. Hans, Valerie P. 1986. An analysis of public attitudes toward the insanity defense. Criminology 24:393–414.
  479.  
  480. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1986.tb01502.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  481.  
  482. Examines the realities and misperceptions of the insanity defense as used in the American criminal justice system. Although the main purpose is to assess public support for the insanity defense, Hans also reports on knowledge about this controversial legal process. Results from the study indicate that despite knowing little about the insanity defense, people are unsupportive of the defense and feel it is overused.
  483.  
  484. Find this resource:
  485.  
  486.  
  487. Mears, Daniel P., Carter Hay, Marc Gertz, and Christina Mancini. 2007. Public opinion and the foundation of the juvenile court. Criminology 45:223–257.
  488.  
  489. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00077.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  490.  
  491. Builds on similar studies examining the public’s perception of the juvenile system. The results clearly demonstrate that a majority of the public (80 percent) disapprove of abolishing the juvenile justice system. Other findings show support for racial threat and other conflict theories.
  492.  
  493. Find this resource:
  494.  
  495.  
  496. Roberts, Julian V. 2003. Public opinion and mandatory sentencing: A review of international findings. Criminal Justice and Behavior 30:483–508.
  497.  
  498. DOI: 10.1177/0093854803253133Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  499.  
  500. Finds that despite a widespread belief in the popularity of mandatory sentencing legislation, public opinion on mandatory sentencing is actually quite divided.
  501.  
  502. Find this resource:
  503.  
  504.  
  505. Juvenile Justice
  506. The articles in this section are similar to those under Law and Justice but focus more explicitly on the juvenile justice system. Roberts 2004 is an influential survey article describing the consensus view that punitive public opinion has been instrumental in the development of increasingly punitive juvenile justice policies—such as transfer to adult court. Mears, et al. 2007, however, finds that despite a preference for juvenile transfer, the public still generally supports maintaining a separate juvenile justice system. Several of the other articles in this section explore public support for treating serious juvenile offenders as adults. Scott, et al. 2006 uses survey and experimental methods to gauge public support for the harsh punishment of juveniles. Although Stalans and Henry 1994 argues that juvenile transfer does not always comport with societal views of appropriate punishment for juveniles, Applegate, et al. 2009 finds that the public by and large does support juvenile transfer to adult court. Moon, et al. 2000 looks at public support for the juvenile death penalty (prior to its abolition) and finds that the level of support for the juvenile death penalty declines as respondents are offered an alternative. Finally, using the increasingly popular contingent valuation method, Nagin, et al. 2006 finds that when it comes to the punishment of juvenile offenders, the public is more “willing to pay” for rehabilitation than for punishment.
  507.  
  508. Applegate, Brandon K., Robin King Davis, and Francis T. Cullen. 2009. Reconsidering child saving: The extent and correlates of public support for excluding youths from the juvenile court. Crime & Delinquency 55:51–77.
  509.  
  510. DOI: 10.1177/0011128707308104Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  511.  
  512. A systematic assessment of the public’s willingness to transfer juvenile cases to the adult criminal justice system. The analysis revealed mixed support for transfers, with a majority of respondents favoring cautious use of transfers in select cases only.
  513.  
  514. Find this resource:
  515.  
  516.  
  517. Mears, Daniel P., Carter Hay, Marc Gertz, and Christina Mancini. 2007. Public opinion and the foundation of the juvenile court. Criminology 45:223–257.
  518.  
  519. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00077.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  520.  
  521. Develops a direct line of research questions gauging the public’s support for maintaining a separate system of justice for juveniles. The results clearly demonstrate that a substantial majority of the public (80 percent) disapprove of abolishing the juvenile justice system.
  522.  
  523. Find this resource:
  524.  
  525.  
  526. Moon, Melissa M., John Paul Wright, Francis T. Cullen, Jennifer A. Pealer. 2000. Putting kids to death: Specifying public support for juvenile capital punishment. Justice Quarterly 17:663–684.
  527.  
  528. DOI: 10.1080/07418820000094711Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  529.  
  530. Survey responses are used to assess to what extent and how sentencing alternatives influence the public’s support for juvenile capital punishment. The alternative of life without the possibility of parole was a substantial factor in the decision of whether or not to support the execution of juveniles.
  531.  
  532. Find this resource:
  533.  
  534.  
  535. Nagin, Daniel S., Alex R. Piquero, Elizabeth S. Scott, and Laurence Steinberg. 2006. Public preferences for rehabilitation versus incarceration of juvenile offenders: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey. Criminology & Public Policy 5:627–651.
  536.  
  537. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00406.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  538.  
  539. Taken together, the findings in this study are useful for policymakers concerned with justifying expenditures for punitive juvenile justice practices. Moreover, responses from the sample of 1,500 suggest greater support (measured in willingness to pay) for rehabilitation efforts over incarceration.
  540.  
  541. Find this resource:
  542.  
  543.  
  544. Roberts, Julian V. 2004. Public opinion and youth justice. In Crime and justice: A review of research. Vol. 31, Youth crime and youth justice: Comparative and cross-national perspectives. Edited by Michael Tonry and Anthony N. Doob. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
  545.  
  546. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  547.  
  548. Roberts examines twenty years of survey data from several Western nations and finds that most of individuals in these nations share common misperceptions about juvenile crime and justice issues. Roberts also investigates public attitudes toward rehabilitation and the public’s willingness to support less punitive reforms for juvenile offenders.
  549.  
  550. Find this resource:
  551.  
  552.  
  553. Scott, Elizabeth S., N. Dickon Reppucci, Jill Antonishak, and Jennifer T. DeGennaro. 2006. Public attitudes about the culpability and punishment of young offenders. Behavioral Sciences & the Law 24:815–832.
  554.  
  555. DOI: 10.1002/bsl.727Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  556.  
  557. Responses from several hundred adults were analyzed in an attempt to determine which traits have the strongest connection to public attitudes toward culpability and punishment of juvenile offenders.
  558.  
  559. Find this resource:
  560.  
  561.  
  562. Stalans, Loretta J., and Gary T. Henry. 1994. Societal views of justice for adolescents accused of murder. Law and Human Behavior 18:675–696.
  563.  
  564. DOI: 10.1007/BF01499331Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  565.  
  566. Focuses specifically on the decision to transfer juvenile homicide cases to the adult criminal justice system. Although there was no clear consensus of opinion, the authors suggest that automatic transfers are not in line with societal views, particularly in cases where there is evidence of abuse.
  567.  
  568. Find this resource:
  569.  
  570.  
  571. Policing
  572. The articles in this section all explore public opinion toward the police. Several of the articles look at the factors that are most likely to affect citizen perceptions of the police, including police misconduct (Weitzer 1999), interactions with the police (Brandl, et al. 1994, Maxson, et al. 2003). Hennigan, et al. 2002 examines how different research methods can affect research on attitudes toward the police. Sunshine and Tyler 2003 is particularly concerned with police legitimacy and how perceptions of legitimacy affect public attitudes toward the police. A subsection, Race and Policing, focuses more specifically on articles devoted to understanding the role of race in the formation of public opinion about the police.
  573.  
  574. Brandl, S., Frank, J. Worden, Robert Worden and Timothy Bynum. 1994. Global and specific attitudes toward the police. Justice Quarterly 11:119–134.
  575.  
  576. DOI: 10.1080/07418829400092161Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  577.  
  578. Researchers investigate the extent to which global attitudes toward the police change given specific interactions between citizens and the police. The role of specific assessments of police performance is also examined alongside global attitudes of police.
  579.  
  580. Find this resource:
  581.  
  582.  
  583. Hennigan, Karen, Cheryl Maxson, David C. Sloane, and Molly Ranney. 2002. Community views on crime and policing: Survey mode effects on bias in community surveys. Justice Quarterly 19:565–587.
  584.  
  585. DOI: 10.1080/07418820200095351Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  586.  
  587. Compares two modes of data collection and demonstrates the importance of selecting an appropriate mode when measuring community attitudes and perceptions toward police.
  588.  
  589. Find this resource:
  590.  
  591.  
  592. Maxson, Cheryl, Karen Hennigan, and David C. Sloane. Factors that influence public opinion of the police. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 2003.
  593.  
  594. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  595.  
  596. This National Institute of Justice (NIJ)–sponsored report investigates factors believed to have the most significant role in guiding public perceptions of the police. Factors assessed include residents’ demographic makeup, residents’ formal and informal interactions with the police, and the role of the media.
  597.  
  598. Find this resource:
  599.  
  600.  
  601. Sunshine, Jason, and Tom R. Tyler. 2003. The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law & Society Review 37:513–548.
  602.  
  603. DOI: 10.1111/1540-5893.3703002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  604.  
  605. The authors investigate the role of police legitimacy in shaping sentiments toward police. Their secondary purpose is to precisely identify what factors the public consider most important for an appropriate assessment of the police. Findings point to fairness by the police and of police procedures as most indicative of legitimacy.
  606.  
  607. Find this resource:
  608.  
  609.  
  610. Weitzer, Ronald. 1999. Citizens’ perceptions of police misconduct: Race and neighborhood context. Justice Quarterly 16:819–846.
  611.  
  612. DOI: 10.1080/07418829900094381Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  613.  
  614. Uses in-depth interviews of residents from different social economic and racial backgrounds to examine the divide in how citizens perceive the police. The results reveal that within a neighborhood, race and class do have significant effects on residents’ perceptions of and encounters with the police.
  615.  
  616. Find this resource:
  617.  
  618.  
  619. Race and Policing
  620. While the articles in the section on public opinion around policing focus on policing generally, the articles in this subsection are particularly concerned with the impact of race on public opinion about or toward the police. Chermak, et al. 2006 collects two waves of survey data and analyzes them for differences in citizens’ attitudes before and after a celebrated police misconduct trial. Schuck and Rosenbaum 2005 uses structural equation modeling to examine attitudes toward the police and emphasizes the importance of distinguishing global from specific attitudes. Sullivan, et al. 1987 uses a novel response-clustering technique to get at the variable attitude structures among respondents of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. Weitzer and Tuch 1999, Weitzer and Tuch 2004, and Weitzer and Tuch 2006 offer a series of authoritative works on the role that race plays in public opinion toward the police. Brunson 2007 describes the interactions between the police and young African American males. Chermak, et al. 2006 examines the impact of media coverage of police brutality and misconduct on opinions about the police.
  621.  
  622. Brunson, Rod K. 2007. “Police don’t like black people”: African American young men’s accumulated police experiences. Criminology & Public Policy 6:71–102.
  623.  
  624. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2007.00423.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  625.  
  626. Brunson draws from qualitative interviews of forty African American men between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. Despite being focused and somewhat narrow, the study offers insight into the group of people most likely to have problematic interactions with the police. Suggestions including a call for citizen review boards and policy implications are specified.
  627.  
  628. Find this resource:
  629.  
  630.  
  631. Chermak, Steven, Edmund McGarrell, and Joseph Gruenewald. 2006. Media coverage of police misconduct and attitudes toward police. Policing 29:261–281.
  632.  
  633. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  634.  
  635. An assessment of the media’s influence on public perception of police. Chermak and colleagues collect two waves of survey data and analyze it for differences in citizens’ attitudes before and after a celebrated police misconduct trial.
  636.  
  637. Find this resource:
  638.  
  639.  
  640. Schuck, A. M., and Dennis P. Rosenbaum. 2005. Global and neighborhood attitudes toward the police: Differentiation by race, ethnicity, and type of contact. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 21:391–418.
  641.  
  642. DOI: 10.1007/s10940-005-7356-5Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  643.  
  644. Structural-equation modeling is used to assess four aspects of citizens’ attitudes toward the police. Results suggest a strong need to differentiate among global perceptions of the police from the attitudes assessed at the neighborhood level.
  645.  
  646. Find this resource:
  647.  
  648.  
  649. Sullivan, Peggy S., Roger G. Dunham, and Geoffrey P. Alpert. 1987. Attitude structures of different ethnic and age groups concerning police. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 78:177–196.
  650.  
  651. DOI: 10.2307/1143579Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  652.  
  653. Sullivan, Dunham, and Alpert address limitations of previous attempts to measure and compare attitude structures of different ethnic and age groups concerning police. Noting the problems with composite scales, the authors use a different analytic approach involving the comparison of unique clustering of responses of various groups.
  654.  
  655. Find this resource:
  656.  
  657.  
  658. Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven Tuch. 1999. Race, class, and perceptions of discrimination by the police. Crime and Delinquency 45:494–507.
  659.  
  660. DOI: 10.1177/0011128799045004006Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  661.  
  662. Weitzer and Tuch test a class-based variant of conflict theory using a nationally representative sample of adults living in the United States. Findings indicate intraracial class effects on the relationship between the police and the public.
  663.  
  664. Find this resource:
  665.  
  666.  
  667. Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven A. Tuch. 2004. Reforming the police: Racial differences in public support for change. Criminology 42:391–416.
  668.  
  669. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00524.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  670.  
  671. Weitzer and Tuch use the “group-position thesis” to examine the determinants of public support for reforming policing practices. Consistent with the group-position thesis, the authors find that race continues to be a strong factor in understanding citizens’ views of police.
  672.  
  673. Find this resource:
  674.  
  675.  
  676. Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven A. Tuch. 2006. Race and police in America. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  677.  
  678. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511617256Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  679.  
  680. Using multiple studies, the authors provide a systematic analysis of the profound racial divide on public perceptions of the police. The authors also make use of qualitative and quantitative data from a representative sample of whites, blacks, and Hispanics in the continental United States. Topics covered include the mass media’s reporting on the police, racial profiling, and ideas for police reform.
  681.  
  682. Find this resource:
  683.  
  684.  
  685. Punishment and Corrections
  686. The articles in this area all address public opinion around or support for correctional programs. Cullen, et al. 2000 is an influential and frequently cited survey article on public opinion about corrections. Applegate, et al. 1997 and Cullen, et al. 1998 each find that the public continue to support correctional treatment, rehabilitation, and early intervention programs. Hirschfield and Piquero 2010 examines attitudes toward ex-offenders. Three of the articles (Immerwahr and Johnson 2002, Krisberg and Marchionna 2006, Eagleton Institute of Politics 2002) focus on how the public feels about the increasingly important topic of prisoner reentry. Roberts and Hough 2005, and Skovron, et al. 1988 look explicitly at public opinion on prisons and the problem of overcrowding.
  687.  
  688. Applegate, Brandon K., Francis T. Cullen, and Bonnie S. Fisher. 1997. Public support for correctional treatment: The continuing appeal of the rehabilitative ideal. The Prison Journal 77:237–258.
  689.  
  690. DOI: 10.1177/0032855597077003002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  691.  
  692. Applegate and colleagues find that despite a demonstrable preference for harsh punishment, the public still believes in the rehabilitative ideal and supports the development of treatment programs and other alternatives.
  693.  
  694. Find this resource:
  695.  
  696.  
  697. Cullen, Francis T., Bonnie S. Fisher, and Brandon K. Applegate. 2000. Public opinion about punishment and corrections. In Crime and justice: A review of research. Vol. 27. Edited by Michael Tonry, 1–79. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
  698.  
  699. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  700.  
  701. Engages in a comprehensive examination of public perceptions of punishment and corrections. This extensive review of literature draws on multiple data sources to present seven main conclusions regarding public opinion and American crime policies. One general finding is that Americans, although punitive, are progressive in how they would like to see punishment administered.
  702.  
  703. Find this resource:
  704.  
  705.  
  706. Cullen, Francis T., John P. Wright, Shayna Brown, Melissa M. Moon, Michael B. Blankenship, and Brandon K. Applegate. 1998. Public support for early intervention programs: Implications for a progressive policy agenda. Crime and Delinquency 44:187–204.
  707.  
  708. DOI: 10.1177/0011128798044002001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  709.  
  710. Assesses public attitudes toward early intervention programs. The findings suggest the public supports early intervention programs and other alternatives to incarceration.
  711.  
  712. Find this resource:
  713.  
  714.  
  715. Eagleton Institute of Politics. 2002. Prisoner reentry: The state of public opinion. New Brunswick, NJ: Eagleton Institute of Politics, Center for Public Interest Polling.
  716.  
  717. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  718.  
  719. Summarizes findings regarding public support for prisoner reentry programs. Focuses on public opinion in New Jersey.
  720.  
  721. Find this resource:
  722.  
  723.  
  724. Hirschfield, Paul J., and Alex R. Piquero. 2010. Normalization and legitimation: Modeling stigmatizing attitudes toward ex-offenders. Criminology 48:27–55.
  725.  
  726. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00179.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  727.  
  728. Examines public attitudes toward ex-offenders and finds that whites, conservatives, and those that live in the South tend to have more negative views. They further find that personally knowing an ex-offender can soften those negative and stigmatizing views.
  729.  
  730. Find this resource:
  731.  
  732.  
  733. Immerwahr, John, and Jean Johnson. 2002. The revolving door: Exploring public attitudes toward prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
  734.  
  735. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  736.  
  737. Working paper for the Urban Institute’s Prisoner Reentry Roundtable. Relays findings from three sets of focus groups covering diverse populations in the Philadelphia area.
  738.  
  739. Find this resource:
  740.  
  741.  
  742. Krisberg, Barry, and Susan Marchionna. 2006. Attitudes of US voters toward prisoner rehabilitation and reentry policies. Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
  743.  
  744. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  745.  
  746. Summarizes findings from a national Zogby public opinion poll commissioned by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency asking the public about support for prisoner reentry and rehabilitation programs. Also examines public opinion about the barriers to successful prisoner reentry.
  747.  
  748. Find this resource:
  749.  
  750.  
  751. Roberts, Julian V., and Mike Hough. 2005. The state of the prisons: exploring public knowledge and opinion. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 44:286–306.
  752.  
  753. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2311.2005.00373.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  754.  
  755. Focusing largely on data from Great Britain, Roberts and Hough explore what the general public knows and believes about the prison system.
  756.  
  757. Find this resource:
  758.  
  759.  
  760. Skovron, Sandra Evans, Joseph E. Scott, and Francis T. Cullen. 1988. Prison crowding: Public attitudes toward strategies of population control. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 25:150–169.
  761.  
  762. DOI: 10.1177/0022427888025002004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  763.  
  764. Examines public support for alternative approaches for the control of prison populations.
  765.  
  766. Find this resource:
  767.  
  768.  
  769. Capital Punishment
  770. There is perhaps no area of criminal justice public opinion more researched than opinion around the death penalty. Ellsworth and Gross 1994, and Warr and Stafford 1984 set the context for this type of research by offering some historical and philosophical background, respectively. Another important article, Ellsworth and Ross 1983, offers a depiction of the differences between those who would abolish and those who would retain the death penalty. Sandys and McGarrell 1995 looks at the effect that introducing the life without parole alternative has on death penalty support. Barkan and Cohn 1994, and Unnever and Cullen 2007 each look at the role of race in the public opinion on capital punishment, and both find that race (and racial prejudice) play a key role in support for the practice. Messner, et al. 2006 uses General Social Survey data (see Data Sources) to demonstrate that the race of the respondent mediates the effect of level of government distrust on death penalty support. Baumer, et al. 2003 looks to contextual predictors to explain variations in capital punishment support across different geographical areas. See also the article Capital Punishment.
  771.  
  772. Barkan, Steven E., and Steven F. Cohn. 1994. Racial prejudice and support for the death penalty by whites. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 31:202–209.
  773.  
  774. DOI: 10.1177/0022427894031002007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  775.  
  776. An in-depth investigation of the precise reasons for the racial divide that exists in support of capital punishment. As hypothesized, the study finds that racial prejudice against blacks is the driving force behind whites’ support of capital punishment.
  777.  
  778. Find this resource:
  779.  
  780.  
  781. Baumer, Eric, Steven F. Messner, and Richard Rosenfeld. 2003. Explaining spatial variation in support for capital punishment: A multilevel analysis. American Journal of Sociology 108:844–875.
  782.  
  783. DOI: 10.1086/367921Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  784.  
  785. Authors use multilevel modeling to investigate the contextual predictors of death penalty support. One of the key findings suggests that localities with higher homicide rates are more supportive of capital punishment.
  786.  
  787. Find this resource:
  788.  
  789.  
  790. Ellsworth, Phoebe C., and Samuel R. Gross. 1994. Hardening of the attitudes: Americans’ views on the death penalty. Journal of Social Issues 50:19–52.
  791.  
  792. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1994.tb02409.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  793.  
  794. Ellsworth and Gross examine historical shifts in support for capital punishment among Americans. In addition to describing various factors explaining American attitudes toward capital punishment, the authors also document the major shifts, including the decline in support during the 1950s and the steady increase that took place during the mid-1960s.
  795.  
  796. Find this resource:
  797.  
  798.  
  799. Ellsworth, Phoebe C., and Lee Ross. 1983. Public opinion and capital punishment: A close examination of the views of abolitionists and retentionists. Crime and Delinquency 29:116–169.
  800.  
  801. DOI: 10.1177/001112878302900105Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  802.  
  803. Authors report on results from a survey exploring attitudes and support for capital punishment among those who would retain and those who would abolish capital punishment. Ideological self-image proved to be one of the main determinants of one’s decision to support or oppose capital punishment.
  804.  
  805. Find this resource:
  806.  
  807.  
  808. Messner, Steven F., Eric P. Baumer, and Richard Rosenfeld. 2006. Distrust of government, the vigilante tradition, and support for capital punishment. Law & Society Review 40:559–590.
  809.  
  810. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5893.2006.00273.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  811.  
  812. General Social Survey data are used to investigate the formation of punitive attitudes. The authors pay particular attention to the effect of racial and cultural differences in the level of government distrust (and the effect of that distrust on attitudes toward capital punishment). Multilevel statistical modeling finds racial and geographic differences in levels of capital punishment support.
  813.  
  814. Find this resource:
  815.  
  816.  
  817. Sandys, Marla, and Edmund F. McGarrell. 1995. Attitudes toward capital punishment: preference for the penalty or mere acceptance? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 32:191–213.
  818.  
  819. DOI: 10.1177/0022427895032002004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  820.  
  821. Authors demonstrate the shift in public support for capital punishment given the possibility of various sentencing alternatives. The study finds that although capital punishment generally enjoys strong support, the formation of public support varies depending on demographic and numerous other variables.
  822.  
  823. Find this resource:
  824.  
  825.  
  826. Unnever, James D., and Francis T. Cullen. 2007. Reassessing the racial divide in support for capital punishment: The continuing significance of race. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 44:124–158.
  827.  
  828. DOI: 10.1177/0022427806295837Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  829.  
  830. Unnever and Cullen broaden their line of research in the area of public opinion and crime policies. In this particular study, the authors examine the racial divide in support of capital punishment, and how race, class, and localities shape views of support for capital punishment. Findings are based on General Social Survey data.
  831.  
  832. Find this resource:
  833.  
  834.  
  835. Warr, Mark, and Mark Stafford. 1984. Public goals of punishment and support for the death penalty. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 21:95–111.
  836.  
  837. DOI: 10.1177/0022427884021002002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  838.  
  839. Warr and Stafford attempt to pinpoint the motives behind public support for capital punishment. Survey responses were analyzed to determine which of the goals of punishment was strongest in predicting support for capital punishment. Results show that retribution, followed by incapacitation, was most frequently used to justify support of the death penalty.
  840.  
  841. Find this resource:
  842.  
  843.  
  844. Punitiveness
  845. The most punitive criminal justice policies of the past thirty years, including mandatory sentences, three-strikes-and-you’re-out policies, truth in sentencing, sex-offender registration, residency restrictions, and post-confinement civil commitment, have all enjoyed widespread popular support. Indeed, some have argued these policies have been enacted in part because of their public appeal (see Frost 2010 and works listed under Penal Populism and Penal Policy). Public opinion and criminal justice policy are both frequently described as overly punitive (though see Matthews 2005 for a contrary view). All of the works in this section examine the basis of or explanation for punitive public opinion. There has been much work in this area of late, but only a handful of important works could be included in this section and under Penal Populism and Penal Policy. Chiricos, et al. 2004 finds that racial typification, or believing that race and crime are essentially one and the same, significantly predicts punitiveness, and Cohn, et al. 1991 finds that punitive attitudes develop for different reasons based on the race of the respondent, with white punitiveness coming at least in part from racial prejudice. Hogan, et al. 2005 similarly finds evidence that race matters in the development of punitive attitudes, finding some evidence of an “angry white male” phenomenon. Cullen, et al. 1985 and Langworthy and Whitehead 1986 suggest that victimization experiences are not particularly predictive of punitiveness. Cullen, et al. 1985 argues that attributions about the causes of crime matter, while Langworthy and Whitehead 1986 finds evidence that victimization experiences might be important to punitive public opinion indirectly through fear of crime. Johnson 2009 introduces emotions to the equation with its work on the role of anger in the development of a punitive orientation.
  846.  
  847. Chiricos, Ted, Kelly Welch, and Marc Gertz. 2004. Racial typification of crime and support for punitive measures. Criminology 42: 359–389.
  848.  
  849. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  850.  
  851. A study testing the thesis that those who typify crime as inextricably related to race are more punitive than those who do not consider crime directly related to race. Authors find that racial typification significantly predicts punitive attitudes independent of other factors.
  852.  
  853. Find this resource:
  854.  
  855.  
  856. Cohn, Steven F., Steven Barkan, and William A. Halteman. 1991. Punitive attitudes toward criminals: Racial consensus or racial conflict? Social Problems 38:287–296.
  857.  
  858. DOI: 10.1525/sp.1991.38.2.03a00110Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  859.  
  860. A study finding that reasons for punitiveness differ across racial lines, with white punitiveness grounded in racial prejudice and black punitiveness coming from fear of crime.
  861.  
  862. Find this resource:
  863.  
  864.  
  865. Cullen, Francis T., Gregory A. Clark, John B. Cullen, and Richard A. Mathers. 1985. Attribution, salience and attitudes toward criminal sanctioning. Criminal Justice and Behavior 12:305–331.
  866.  
  867. DOI: 10.1177/0093854885012003003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  868.  
  869. A study finding that the salience of crime and actual victimization experiences could not explain variations in attitudes about sanctions but that attributions as to the causes of crime could.
  870.  
  871. Find this resource:
  872.  
  873.  
  874. Frost, Natasha A. 2010. Beyond public opinion polls: Punitive public opinion and criminal justice policy. Sociology Compass 4:153–168.
  875.  
  876. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  877.  
  878. In a survey article written for a broad audience, Frost describes a number of competing theories about the relationship between punitive public opinion and punitive public policy.
  879.  
  880. Find this resource:
  881.  
  882.  
  883. Hogan, Micahel J., Ted Chiricos, and Marc Gertz. 2005. Economic insecurity, blame and punitive attitudes. Justice Quarterly 22: 392–411.
  884.  
  885. DOI: 10.1080/07418820500219144Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  886.  
  887. Finds that those who have negative perceptions of welfare, immigration, and affirmative action tend to be the most punitive. Authors find some evidence of an “angry white male” phenomenon.
  888.  
  889. Find this resource:
  890.  
  891.  
  892. Johnson, Devon. 2009. Anger about crime and support for punitive criminal justice policies. Punishment & Society 11:51–66.
  893.  
  894. DOI: 10.1177/1462474508098132Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  895.  
  896. A study looking at the role of emotions in punitiveness. Johnson finds that anger about crime significantly predicts support for punitive criminal justice policies.
  897.  
  898. Find this resource:
  899.  
  900.  
  901. Langworthy, Robert H., and John T. Whitehead. 1986. Liberalism and fear as explanations of punitiveness. Criminology 24: 575–591.
  902.  
  903. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1986.tb00391.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  904.  
  905. Langworthy and Whitehead used data from a national public opinion poll to examine correlates of punitive public opinion. While personal criminal victimization experiences were not directly related to punitiveness, they were indirectly related through fear of crime.
  906.  
  907. Find this resource:
  908.  
  909.  
  910. Matthews, Roger. 2005. The myth of punitiveness. Theoretical Criminology 9.2: 175–201.
  911.  
  912. DOI: 10.1177/1362480605051639Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  913.  
  914. Important for its opposition to the notion that we have become more punitive.
  915.  
  916. Find this resource:
  917.  
  918.  
  919. Penal Populism and Penal Policy
  920. In the section Punitiveness, works attempting to isolate the correlates of punitive public opinion were described. Several of the works in this section examine either how that has been exploited or how it has translated into punitive penal policy. Pratt 2007 and Roberts, et al. 2003 provide comprehensive and authoritative work on the rise in what has typically been called “penal populism.” These scholars argue that politicians use the crime issue to their advantage and pander to an overly punitive public. These politicians advance popular and populist policies with little regard for their effect or side effects. The other works in this section focus more explicitly on public opinion around penal policy. While Roberts and Hough 2002 provides an edited collection of international work related to opinion around punishment policy, Zimmerman, et al. 1988 looks specifically at public opinion here in the United States, drawing on findings from a national punishment survey. Tyler and Boeckmann 1997, and Zimring, et al. 2001 both offer thorough and authoritative works on the very populist “three strikes” policies that emerged in the mid-1990s. With its test of three competing explanatory models, Unnever and Cullen 2010 is one of the more recent works attempting to explain punitiveness among the public.
  921.  
  922. Pratt, John. 2007. Penal populism. London: Routledge.
  923.  
  924. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  925.  
  926. Part of a “key ideas in criminology” series, Pratt’s work on penal populism focuses on the relationship between the public, the media, and trends in contemporary crime policy. His work focuses on crime policies most exploited in the media, including those related to sex offending, youth crime, and persistent chronic offending.
  927.  
  928. Find this resource:
  929.  
  930.  
  931. Roberts, Julian V., and Mike Hough, eds. 2002. Changing attitudes to punishment: Public opinion, crime and justice. Oxford: Willan.
  932.  
  933. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  934.  
  935. An international and eclectic collection of chapters exploring public opinion of punishment across contexts and geographical areas.
  936.  
  937. Find this resource:
  938.  
  939.  
  940. Roberts, Julian V., Loretta J. Stalans, David Indermaur, and Mike Hough. 2003. Penal populism and public opinion: Lessons from five countries. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  941.  
  942. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  943.  
  944. The foremost source on penal populism. Though not the first to raise the issue of penal populism, Roberts and his colleagues quite literally wrote the book on the subject.
  945.  
  946. Find this resource:
  947.  
  948.  
  949. Tyler, Tom R., and Robert J. Boeckmann. 1997. Three strikes and you are out, but why? The psychology of public support for punishing rule breakers. Law and Society Review 31:237–265.
  950.  
  951. DOI: 10.2307/3053926Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  952.  
  953. In this widely cited article, Tyler and Boeckmann argue that punitiveness is not driven by instrumental concerns but rather from concerns about moral decline and a perception that the social bond has weakened.
  954.  
  955. Find this resource:
  956.  
  957.  
  958. Unnever, James D., and Francis T. Cullen. 2010. The social sources of Americans’ punitiveness: A test of three competing models. Criminology 48:99–129.
  959.  
  960. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00181.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  961.  
  962. An article that uses National Election Survey data to test three competing models of punitiveness (escalating crime–distrust model, moral decline model, and racial animus model). The authors find some support for each of the three models, with racial animus offering the most consistent support.
  963.  
  964. Find this resource:
  965.  
  966.  
  967. Zimmerman, Sherwood E., David J. Van Alstyne, and Christopher S. Dunn. 1988. The national punishment survey and public policy consequences. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 25:120–149.
  968.  
  969. DOI: 10.1177/0022427888025002003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  970.  
  971. Addresses public preferences about punishment and the potential policy implications of these preferences.
  972.  
  973. Find this resource:
  974.  
  975.  
  976. Zimring, Franklin E., Gordon Hawkins, and Sam Kamin. 2001. Punishment and democracy: Three strikes and you’re out in California. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  977.  
  978. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  979.  
  980. An influential book that closely examines the history and development of the populist “three strikes” law in California. The authors explain how public opinion, evidenced by voting behavior, led to the passage of the harshest three-strikes law in the country.
  981.  
  982. Find this resource:
  983.  
  984.  
  985. Race and Public Opinion
  986. In examining the determinants of punitiveness, Barkan and Cohn 2005 finds that racial prejudice is a consistent predictor of support for more punitive sanctions, and Barkan and Cohn 1994 finds that it is a consistent predictor of support for the death penalty in particular. Barkan and Cohn 2005 finds a strong correlation between white perceptions of African Americans and their willingness to pay for crime control measures. Johnson 2008 finds the sources of punitive attitudes differ for whites and blacks, and argues that prejudice and perceived injustice can explain much of the racial gap in punitive attitudes. Hagan and Albonetti 1982 compares the perceptions that Latino, white, and African American youth have of the criminal justice system. Hurwitz and Peffley 1997 and Hurwitz and Peffley 2005, examine the role of stereotypes and racialized code words, respectively, and Peffley and Hurwitz 2002 looks at how racial concerns affect the way Americans form their opinions about allegedly race-neutral crime policy. Taylor 1998 uses census and General Social Survey data to examine how whites’ opinions are affected by increasing black populations in their communities. Last but not least, Unnever and Cullen 2010 provides some cross-national work on how race and public opinion interact in its test of the minority group threat thesis with regard to the death penalty.
  987.  
  988. Barkan, Steven E., and Steven F. Cohn. 1994. Racial prejudice and support for the death penalty by whites. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 31:202–209.
  989.  
  990. DOI: 10.1177/0022427894031002007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  991.  
  992. An in-depth investigation on the precise reasons for the racial divide that exists in support of capital punishment. As hypothesized, the study finds that racial prejudice against blacks is the driving force behind whites’ support of capital punishment.
  993.  
  994. Find this resource:
  995.  
  996.  
  997. Barkan, Steven E., and Steven F. Cohn. 2005. Why whites favor spending more money to fight crime: The role of racial prejudice. Social Problems 52:300–314.
  998.  
  999. DOI: 10.1525/sp.2005.52.2.300Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1000.  
  1001. Investigates ties to support for more punitive policies. Also examines the racial components of whites’ support for more punitive treatment of criminals.
  1002.  
  1003. Find this resource:
  1004.  
  1005.  
  1006. Hagan, John, and Celeste Albonetti. 1982. Race, class, and the perception of criminal injustice in America. American Journal of Sociology 88:329–355.
  1007.  
  1008. DOI: 10.1086/227674Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1009.  
  1010. Hagan and Albonetti use advanced methods and analytic techniques to understand the contextual effects of racial integration in one of America’s major urban centers.
  1011.  
  1012. Find this resource:
  1013.  
  1014.  
  1015. Hurwitz, Jon, and Mark Peffley. 1997. Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes. American Journal of Political Science 41:375–401.
  1016.  
  1017. DOI: 10.2307/2111769Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1018.  
  1019. Hurwitz and Peffley test the hypothesis that the more negative the stereotypes of African Americans, the greater the willingness to support more punitive crime policies.
  1020.  
  1021. Find this resource:
  1022.  
  1023.  
  1024. Hurwitz, Jon, and Mark Peffley. 2005. Playing the race card in the post–Willie Horton era: The impact of racialized code words on support for punitive crime policy. Public Opinion Quarterly 69:99–112.
  1025.  
  1026. DOI: 10.1093/poq/nfi004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1027.  
  1028. Hurwitz and Peffley build on their previous investigations of the links between racial beliefs and crime-policy attitudes. A systematic analysis of the impact of racialized code words on public attitudes of anticrime policies. Responses from a nationwide random sample of 602 non-Hispanic whites were analyzed.
  1029.  
  1030. Find this resource:
  1031.  
  1032.  
  1033. Johnson, Devon. 2008. Racial prejudice, perceived injustice, and the black-white gap in punitive attitudes. Journal of Criminal Justice 36:198–206.
  1034.  
  1035. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.02.009Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1036.  
  1037. Johnson’s study explains why whites tend to be more punitive than blacks. She argues that racial prejudice explains punitiveness among whites and perceived injustice explains punitiveness among blacks.
  1038.  
  1039. Find this resource:
  1040.  
  1041.  
  1042. Peffley, Mark, and Jon Hurwitz. 2002. The racial components of “race-neutral” crime policy attitudes. Political Psychology 23:59–75.
  1043.  
  1044. DOI: 10.1111/0162-895X.00270Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1045.  
  1046. Peffley and Hurwitz follow up on earlier investigations of factors affecting support for race-neutral crime policies. Specifically, the authors examine how negative stereotypes of African Americans drive support for more punitive crime policies, including the use of “three strikes” laws, mandatory sentencing, and capital punishment.
  1047.  
  1048. Find this resource:
  1049.  
  1050.  
  1051. Taylor, Marylee C. 1998. How white attitudes vary with the racial composition of local populations. American Sociological Review 63:512–535.
  1052.  
  1053. DOI: 10.2307/2657265Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1054.  
  1055. An important article using GSS data to document the hardening of white attitudes when black populations increase in the local community. Interestingly, the effect is not found with the increasing presence of other minorities.
  1056.  
  1057. Find this resource:
  1058.  
  1059.  
  1060. Unnever, James D., and Francis T. Cullen. 2010. Racial-ethnic intolerance and support for capital punishment: A cross-national comparison. Criminology 48:831–862.
  1061.  
  1062. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00203.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1063.  
  1064. Using multiple datasets, Unnever and Cullen examine the issue of death penalty support cross-nationally, covering more than fifteen countries. They provide support for the minority group threat thesis, finding that racial-ethnic intolerance explains support for capital punishment nationally.
  1065.  
  1066. Find this resource:
  1067.  
  1068.  
  1069. Religion and Public Opinion
  1070. The three articles in this section all look at the role of religion in shaping public opinion. Grasmick and McGill 1994 tests and finds support for its hypothesis that adherence to conservative Christian beliefs has a significant impact on the tendency to attribute juvenile crime to dispositional causes. Unnever and Cullen 2006 and Unnever, et al. 2006 examine the effect of Christian fundamentalism and strong religious convictions, respectively, on support for capital punishment. A budding area of criminal justice research, work addressing the role of religion and religious beliefs in the formation of opinions around criminal justice issues will likely continue to grow into the future. The articles cited in this section are examples of exemplary work in this developing area.
  1071.  
  1072. Grasmick, H., and A. McGill. 1994. Religion, attribution style, and punitiveness toward juvenile offenders. Criminology 32:23–46.
  1073.  
  1074. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1994.tb01145.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1075.  
  1076. One of the first studies to offer strong evidence of the relationship between conservative Christian religious beliefs and attribution style.
  1077.  
  1078. Find this resource:
  1079.  
  1080.  
  1081. Unnever, James D., and Francis T. Cullen. 2006. Christian fundamentalism and support for capital punishment. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 43:169–197.
  1082.  
  1083. DOI: 10.1177/0022427805280067Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1084.  
  1085. Explores the role of religion on attitudes toward crime control. The authors search for differences in support for capital punishment between denominations that hold moderate and conservative religious beliefs. Christian fundamentalism is a main focus of this study, since its particularly conservative beliefs seem to justify the use of capital punishment.
  1086.  
  1087. Find this resource:
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090. Unnever, James D., Francis T. Cullen, and John P. Bartkowski. 2006. Images of God and public support for capital punishment: Does a close relationship with a loving God matter? Criminology 44:835–866.
  1091.  
  1092. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00065.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1093.  
  1094. Using 2004 General Social Survey data, Unnever and colleagues test their hypothesis that Americans with strong religious convictions are less likely to support capital punishment for convicted murderers.
  1095.  
  1096. Find this resource:
  1097.  
  1098.  
  1099. Victims and Offenders
  1100. A number of researchers have looked at the role victimization has on opinions about crime. Garofalo 1977 uses National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data, and Hough and Moxon 1985 use British Crime Survey data to compare the attitudes of those who had been victimized with those who had not. It makes sense to expect that personal experiences with crime might affect opinion about crime, but much of the research suggests that victimization experiences have at best an indirect impact on public opinion. Research suggests that general disposition (Seltzer and McCormick 1987), attributions about the causes of crime (Cullen, et al. 1985), and fear of crime (Langworthy and Whitehead 1986) are more important predictors of attitudes than actual victimization experiences. Both Unnever, et al. 2007, and King and Maruna 2009 test the thesis that liberals are simply liberal because they have not yet been victimized. Unnever, et al. 2007 tests this thesis in the American context, and King and Maruna 2009 tests it in the British context, but neither find any support for such a thesis.
  1101.  
  1102. Cullen, Francis T., Gregory A. Clark, John B. Cullen, and Richard A. Mathers. 1985. Attribution, salience and attitudes toward criminal sanctioning. Criminal Justice and Behavior 12:305–331.
  1103.  
  1104. DOI: 10.1177/0093854885012003003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1105.  
  1106. A study finding that actual victimization experiences could not explain variations in attitudes about sanctions, but attributions as to the causes of crime could.
  1107.  
  1108. Find this resource:
  1109.  
  1110.  
  1111. Garofalo, James. 1977. Public opinion about crime: The attitudes of victims and nonvictims in selected cities. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
  1112.  
  1113. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1114.  
  1115. Using data collected as part of the 1973 National Crime Victimization Survey, the author examines public concern about crime in terms of crime trends, fear of crime, attitudes toward local police, crime, and behavior.
  1116.  
  1117. Find this resource:
  1118.  
  1119.  
  1120. Hough, Mike, and David Moxon. 1985. Dealing with offenders: popular opinion and the views of victims. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 24:160–175.
  1121.  
  1122. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2311.1985.tb00526.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1123.  
  1124. Hough and Moxon draw on two years of survey data from the British Crime Survey in their attempt to offer a more exhaustive depiction of the opinions of the general public and of crime victims about the punishment of offenders.
  1125.  
  1126. Find this resource:
  1127.  
  1128.  
  1129. King, Anna, and Shadd Maruna. 2009. Is a conservative just a liberal who has been mugged? Exploring the origins of punitive views. Punishment & Society 11:147–169.
  1130.  
  1131. DOI: 10.1177/1462474508101490Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1132.  
  1133. A test of the thesis that victimization impacts punitive attitudes using a British sample. Authors find that global concerns and anxieties explain punitive attitudes far more than personal victimization experiences.
  1134.  
  1135. Find this resource:
  1136.  
  1137.  
  1138. Langworthy, Robert H., and John T. Whitehead. 1986. Liberalism and fear as explanations of punitiveness. Criminology 24:575–591.
  1139.  
  1140. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1141.  
  1142. Langworthy and Whitehead used data from a national public opinion poll to examine correlates of punitive public opinion. While personal criminal victimization experiences were not directly related to punitiveness, they were indirectly related through fear of crime.
  1143.  
  1144. Find this resource:
  1145.  
  1146.  
  1147. Seltzer, R., and J. McCormick. 1987. The impact of crime victimization and fear of crime on attitudes toward death penalty defendants. Violence and Victims 2:99–114.
  1148.  
  1149. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1150.  
  1151. Study based on data from a 1983 telephone survey of over 600 respondents. This project investigates to what extent actual victimization and fear of victimization condition the public’s willingness to impose the death penalty, and finds that general disposition is more important.
  1152.  
  1153. Find this resource:
  1154.  
  1155.  
  1156. Unnever, James D., Francis T. Cullen, and Bonnie S. Fisher. 2007. A liberal is someone who has not been mugged: Criminal victimization and political beliefs. Justice Quarterly 24:309–334.
  1157.  
  1158. DOI: 10.1080/07418820701294862Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1159.  
  1160. Using data from the General Social Survey, this study finds no support for the thesis that victimization influences punitive attitudes or support for conservative crime-control policies.
  1161.  
  1162. Find this resource:
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