Attitudes of the Public Toward the Criminal Justice System and Offenders

The attitudes of the public can have a great impact on the success of individuals in the criminal justice system, but much of the literature is lacking when it comes to representing these attitudes. We used selfreport questionnaires to examine factors (e.g., political ideologies, opinions on social dominance, attitudes toward individuals of another race, experience with the justice system, safety concerns) that relate to the general public's attitudes toward individuals with criminal records and the justice system. Multiple regression results demonstrated that social dominance (Study 1: B = .29, SE = .07, experience with the justice system (Study 1: B = .33, SE = .13, 95% CI [.57, .08], attitudes toward individuals involved with the system. Furthermore, political views 95% CI [.20, .10], p < .001) and safety concerns (Study 1: B = .76, SE = .25, uniquely predicted attitudes toward the effectiveness of the system as a whole. Furthermore, some demographic differences were found. Implications for public policy are discussed.