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.

Investigating the Impact of Child Maltreatment Histories on Drug Court Outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 799-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley R. Zettler ◽  
Amaia Iratzoqui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Drug Court ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Type Of Failure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Although child maltreatment, mental illness, and substance abuse are significantly correlated, only the relationship between mental illness and substance abuse has been documented as potentially affecting the implementation of criminal justice policy. The current study considers the influence of child maltreatment histories in addition to mental health and substance abuse issues in predicting the success of participants in a large drug court in the Southwestern United States. Results indicated that child maltreatment was not predictive of overall court failure. However, child maltreatment had an indirect effect on type of failure, through its effects on mental illness and substance abuse diagnoses. Implications for these findings within drug court and for general criminal justice policy are discussed.

scholarly journals Sentencing and Plea Bargaining

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyrus Tata ◽  
Jay M. Gormley
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Presumption Of Innocence ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
The Relationship

In the daily work of criminal justice, the relationship between plea decision-making and sentencing is important. Meanwhile in the academic and policy literatures, it is one of the most controversial. This essay appraises the international empirical literature and the moral arguments surrounding this plea-dependent (guilty/not guilty) “sentence differential.” Sentence differential is the morally neutral term used here to denote practices variously termed as “sentence discount,” “trial tax/penalty,” “guilty plea discount/reduction,” and “sentence bargain/negotiation.” Section II analyzes whether the sentence differential undermines the presumption of innocence. Section III investigates whether the sentence differential violates legal equality. Section IV assesses the three main justifications for the differential. Section V scrutinizes measurement of the sentence differential. Section VI proposes an agenda for future research, including the need for deeper research into the experiences of and interpretations by defendants of the justice process.

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.

A System of Pleas

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Supreme Court Justice ◽  
Defense Attorneys ◽  
Majority Opinion

The title of this work references a majority opinion from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy noting that the U.S. criminal justice system is no longer focused on trials but has become a system of pleas; that the system’s processes and protections need to adapt from trial protections to plea protections. Social science research likewise needs to expand beyond the courtroom and the jury room to address the multitude of factors involved in plea decisions and the influences at work on the various legal-system players (e.g., defendants, defense attorneys, prosecutors). This work is both a culmination of the current state of plea bargaining research and a call to action for future researchers. All of the areas addressed—from innocents pleading guilty, to prosecutors charging decisions, to mass incarceration and felon disenfranchisement—merge to create a picture of the current U.S. criminal justice system as it really is, and how social science can move forward within it.

Moral Disengagement and Attitudes about Violence toward Animals

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Vollum ◽  
Dennis Longmire ◽  
Jacqueline Buffington-Vollum
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Moral Disengagement ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Perceived Severity ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Criminal Justice Response

AbstractDespite a growing body of evidence linking nonhuman animal cruelty to violence toward humans and increasing knowledge of the pain and suffering that animals experience at the hands of humans, research on violence toward animals is relatively sparse. This study examines public attitudes about violence against animals and the criminal justice response to such acts. The study included, as part of a statewide survey, questions of Texas residents gauging the perceived severity of numerous violent acts against nonhuman animals as well as the preferred criminal justice response. The paper presents descriptive analyses and employs OLS Regression to assess the relationship between Bandura's (1990, 1999) mechanisms of moral disengagement and violence toward animals. The paper discusses implications for future research on animal cruelty and animal abuse.

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.

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.

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