Rich R F, Sampson R J
Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois.
Violence Vict. 1990 Summer;5(2):109-18.
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.
在本文中，我们研究了公众对刑事司法政策的看法以及公众对受害者的态度。我们特别感兴趣的是探索社会科学数据的使用与影响犯罪受害者的公共政策的采用之间的关系。为此，我们分析了1983年芝加哥大都市区450多名居民的代表性样本。所研究的具体问题包括对强奸的态度（例如，是否由受害者的行为引起）、婚内强奸的起诉、认罪谈判、掠夺性犯罪者的量刑，以及康复、监禁和报复作为惩罚目标的相对重要性和有效性。总体而言，结果表明年龄和教育程度对公众对这些刑事司法政策的态度影响最大。令人惊讶的是，受害状况并未成为刑事司法认知的显著预测因素。我们呼吁更多地使用社会科学调查作为地方和联邦刑事司法政策决策的信息输入。
