Attribution, Salience, and Attitudes toward Criminal Sanctioning

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCIS T. CULLEN ◽  
GREGORY A. CLARK ◽  
JOHN B. CULLEN ◽  
RICHARD A. MATHERS
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Justice System ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Attributional Processes ◽  
The Way

Building upon the work of Stinchcombe, Taylor et al., the present research attempts to assess the impact of victimization, salience, and attribution on four measures of criminal sanctioning: general punishment, rehabilitation, capital punishment, and the punishment of white-collar crime. Utilizing a sample drawn from Galesburg, Illinois, our analysis revealed that attitudes were not significantly influenced by being a victim or by crime salience. In contrast, our measure of attribution (what a person “attributed” the cause of crime to) had consistent effects across the scales, with those having a positivist orientation being less punitive and more in favor of rehabilitation. When members of criminal justice related occupations were included in the analysis, these results generally continued to persist. These findings thus suggest that attributional processes and, in particular, the way in which people explain crime may be important determinants of the attitudes that those both inside and outside the criminal justice system hold toward sanctioning policy.

Breaking the Carnival Mirror

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-379
Author(s):  
Kenneth R. Culton ◽  
José A. Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
The Rich

We present a reflexive paper assignment calling for students to report on their own family and/or personal experiences in order to answer the question, “From where does the greatest harm arise?” We find that, through the process of answering this question and sharing findings in class, students’ conception of criminality is broadened. Institutional forms of deviance and white-collar crime come to be understood as the real commonplace sources of harm while street crime is seen to be less common than typically imagined. The book The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class and Criminal Justice by Reiman and Leighton informs this assignment. The authors make the case that the criminal justice system presents to us a carnival mirror-like image of what causes the greatest harm to the society. The criminal justice system, through its policies and procedures, leads the public to conceive of only a narrow and distorted depiction of criminality. The typical crime is thought to be person to person, violent, and carried out by the typical criminal, who is assumed to be black, young, and urban. In opposition to this carnival mirror view, Reiman and Leighton explain that certain institutions cause immensely more harm than that caused by street criminality.

The Impact of Victimology on Criminal Justice Policy

1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Erez
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
International Level ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Unanticipated Consequences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

The emergence of victimology and the renewed interest in victims of crime led to many changes in the way the criminal justice system responds to victims. This article assesses the impact of victimology on criminal justice policy and examines some of the anticipated and unanticipated consequences of activities on behalf of victims. It addresses the various victims' needs, evaluates efforts by criminal justice agencies to meet them, and identifies barriers to implementing the programs. Proposals for constitutional amendments and activities on behalf of victims on the international level are also discussed. The article concludes with some of the problems emerging from activities on behalf of victims, and implications for criminal justice policy.

scholarly journals Book Review: Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia of Trends and Controversies in the Justice System

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 302
Author(s):  
Emily Lauren Mross
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
Crime And Punishment ◽  
Biological Explanations

The American criminal justice system affects people in all walks of life, from street crime to domestic violence to white collar crime. This two-volume set explores not only landmark cases and laws, but also covers prominent figures, policies, and scandals. Further, the set includes entries that explain broader issues such as “Biological Explanations for Crime” and “Sociological Explanations of Crime.”

‘A qualitative investigation into the impact of domestic abuse on women’s desistance’: A practitioner’s response

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-453
Author(s):  
Rachel Reed
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Domestic Abuse ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Qualitative Investigation ◽  
Desistance From Crime ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

This article is a response to Barr and Christian’s article ‘A qualitative investigation into the impact of domestic abuse on women’s desistance’. Based on the findings of two separate but interlinked projects considering women’s qualitative desistance experiences in the community, Barr and Christian argue for a reframing of desistance from crime as desistance from harm when working with women in the criminal justice system. This article seeks to consider this reframing in terms of probation practice and contemplates some of the structural and cultural barriers which may currently stand in the way.

scholarly journals Formal Approaches in Controlling White Collar Crime: The Criminal Justice System and the Regulatory System

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Julak Lee
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
Product Recalls ◽  
Prevention Theory

Unlike ordinary street crime, there are two formal systems of controlling white-collar crime. These systems are the criminal justice system and the regulatory system. The criminal justice system controls white-collar crime by using criminal law whereas the regulatory system depends mainly on administrative law and uses various ways such as financial penalties, product recalls, and warnings to control white-collar crime. In this paper two formal justice systems of white collar crime have been discussed. Although the criminal justice system, which is the traditional means to control white-collar crime, can be a strong way to control white-collar crime, it has some limitations. That is, the criminal justice system is difficult to apply to the corporate world and it is the reactive response against white collar crime. In contrast, although the regulatory system is the weak way to control white-collar crime, it has some strength. That is, the regulatory system is a proactive response against white collar crime and it can apply to the corporate as well as natural persons. The characteristics of the regulatory system make it better equipped to situational crime prevention theory compared to the criminal justice system.

Seeing Justice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Angela Bock
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Visual Media ◽  
The Way

Seeing Justice examines the way criminal justice in the United States is presented in visual media by focusing on the grounded practices of visual journalists in relationship with law enforcement. The book extends the concept of embodied gatekeeping, the corporeal and discursive practices connected to controlling visual media production and the complex ways social actors struggle over the construction of visual messages. Based on research that includes participant observation, extended interviews, and critical discourse analysis, the book provides a detailed examination of the way these practices shape media constructions and the way digitization is altering the relationships between media, citizens, and the criminal justice system. The project looks at contemporary cases that made the headlines through a theoretical lens based on the work of Michel Foucault, Walter Fisher, Stuart Hall, Nicholas Mirzoeff, Nick Couldry, and Roland Barthes. Its cases reveal the way powerful interests are able to shape representations of justice in ways that serve their purposes, occasionally at the expense of marginalized groups. Based on cases ranging from the last US public hanging to the proliferation of “Karen-shaming” videos, this monograph offers three observations. First, visual journalism’s physicality increases its reliance on those in power, making it easy for officials in the criminal justice system to shape its image. Second, image indexicality, even while it is subject to narrative negation, remains an essential affordance in the public sphere. Finally, participation in this visual public sphere must be considered as an essential human capability if not a human right.

scholarly journals Investigating the Impact of Jury Sentencing Recommendations Using Procedural Justice Theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianni Ribeiro ◽  
Emma Antrobus
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Frustration Effect ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Justice Theory ◽  
Perceptions Of Fairness ◽  
Sentencing Recommendations ◽  
The Impact

Public confidence in the criminal justice system is critical for the system to function effectively. Two studies investigated the impact of jury sentencing recommendations on public confidence using procedural justice theory. The first study (N = 80) manipulated the presence of jury involvement in sentencing (voice present versus voice absent) and the punitiveness of the minimum non-parole period (more punitive versus less punitive) to examine whether giving juries a “voice”—a key element of procedural justice—would increase public confidence in the courts, as well as perceptions of fairness and legitimacy. Contrary to predictions, results revealed that a more punitive sentence led to increased perceptions of legitimacy, which was associated with higher confidence. The second study (N = 60) examined whether manipulating the Judge’s agreement with the jury’s recommendation—as well as the Judge’s reason for disagreement—would elicit the “frustration effect,” leading to a decrease in confidence and perceptions of fairness and legitimacy. There was no evidence to suggest that the frustration effect was present. Results of both studies could suggest that jury sentencing recommendations may not effectively increase public confidence and perceptions of fairness and legitimacy in the courts, however alternate explanations are discussed.

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