Convicting the Innocent or Freeing the Guilty? Public Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Errors

2020 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2094468
Author(s):  
Yue Zhuo
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Innocent Person ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Judicial Errors

Two types of judicial errors—convicting an innocent person or acquitting a guilty person—challenge the integrity and legitimacy of criminal justice. How citizens view these errors plays an important role in criminal justice policy. Utilizing data from a national survey, this study applies the established Western theories to explore the correlates of public attitudes regarding the relative acceptance of wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals in contemporary China. The findings lend support to both constructionist/conflict and symbolic theories.

scholarly journals Wrongful Convictions and Erroneous Acquittals: Applying Packer’s Model to Examine Public Perceptions of Judicial Errors in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2110668
Author(s):  
Harley Williamson ◽  
Mai Sato ◽  
Rachel Dioso-Villa
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Judicial Errors

The fallible nature of the criminal justice system continues to see judicial errors—that is, wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals—undermine its integrity, efficacy, and legitimacy. Public perceptions of judicial errors are important contributors to criminal justice policy and reforms. The current study utilizes the 2016 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) dataset to examine public attitudes toward judicial errors. It applies Herbert Packer’s crime control and due process models to understand how concerns around procedural safeguards and public safety are associated with public perceptions toward judicial errors. Packer’s model has been challenged by studies, which theorize that the models are not mutually exclusive. Yet, they have not been empirically tested in this context, which is a gap this study seeks to fill. Findings show that due process and crime control concerns shape public attitudes toward wrongful convictions and challenge the notion that Packer’s models be applied on a continuum.

scholarly journals The Effect of Message Frames on Public Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Reform for Nonviolent Offenses

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 636-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Gottlieb
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Message Frames

In recent years, the rhetoric surrounding criminal justice policy has increasingly emphasized reform, rather than being “tough on crime.” Although this change in rhetoric is aimed at building public support for reform, little is known about its efficacy. To test the efficacy of reform rhetoric, I conducted an Internet experiment using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of six message conditions or to a control condition (no message) and then asked their views about eliminating the use of incarceration for select nonviolent offenses. Results from ordinal logistic regression models suggest that message frames that appeal to a respondent’s self-interest or emphasize the unfairness of the punishment (not who is punished) tend to be most effective.

Public Perceptions of Criminal Justice Policy: Does Victimization Make a Difference?

1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Rich ◽  
Robert J. Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Chicago Metropolitan Area ◽  
Justice Perceptions ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper we examine public perceptions of criminal justice policy and public attitudes toward victims. We are particularly interested in exploring the relationship between the use of social science data and the adoption of public policy affecting victims of crime. To do this we analyze a representative sample of over 450 residents of the Chicago metropolitan area in 1983. The specific issues examined include attitudes toward rape (e.g., whether caused by victim’s behavior), prosecution of marital rape, plea bargaining, sentencing of predatory offenders, and the relative importance and efficacy of rehabilitation, incapacitation, and retribution as goals of punishment. Overall, the results suggest that age and education have the most important influence on public attitudes regarding these criminal justice policies. Surprisingly, victimization status does not emerge as a salient predictor of criminal justice perceptions. We conclude with a call for greater use of social science surveys as information input into local and federal decision making on criminal justice policy.

Religion and the Military

2018 ◽  
pp. 535-552
Author(s):  
Leana A. Bouffard ◽  
Haerim Jin
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Period Effects ◽  
Offending Patterns ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter provides an overview of the literature examining the role of religion and military service in the desistance process. It also identifies outstanding issues and directions for future research. It first presents an overview of research examining the role of religion in desistance and highlights measurement issues, potential intervening mechanisms, and a consideration of faith-based programs as criminal justice policy. Next, this chapter covers the relationship between military service and offending patterns, including period effects that explain variation in the relationship, selection effects, and the incorporation of military factors in criminal justice policy and programming. The chapter concludes by highlighting general conclusions from these two bodies of research and questions to be considered in future research.

scholarly journals Exploring criminal justice policy transfer models and mobilities using a case study of violence reduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582199160
Author(s):  
William Graham ◽  
Annette Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Gang Violence ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Violence Reduction ◽  
Transfer Models

Although there is growing interest in criminal justice policy transfer, a dearth of empirical research in this area has been acknowledged. This article addresses this gap by presenting the results of research conducted on a case of policy transfer of a criminal justice programme, focused on group/gang violence reduction, from America to Scotland. Policy transfer models were used to develop, frame and conduct the analysis of what was considered a ‘successful’ programme transfer; however, it was found that no single model could fully account conceptually for a key finding of the research, namely a policy transfer ‘backflow’. This article details the key processes, mechanisms and outcomes of the policy transfer and in doing so reflects on the usefulness of orthodox and non-orthodox/social-constructionist policy transfer approaches in understanding the outcomes of this case of criminal justice programme transfer.

Evaluation and Criminal Justice Policy

1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Robert F. Coulam ◽  
Ronald Roesch ◽  
Raymond R. Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy
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