A comparison of Latino and White citizen satisfaction with police

Latinos represent the fastest growing racial/ethnic population in the United States, yet paradoxically, are one of the least studied groups in the field of criminal justice (Schuck, Lersch, & Verrill, 2004). This study aimed to fill this gap by comparing citizen satisfaction with police among Latinos and Whites in the majority-minority city of San Antonio, Texas. Drawing upon prior research as a guide, the study modeled citizen satisfaction with police from a sample of 592 survey respondents that were contacted by telephone in the fall of 2005. Models across the two groups indicated that neighborhood disorder strongly influenced satisfaction and Latinos had slightly higher satisfaction levels when compared with Whites. Implications for future research are discussed regarding the enhancement of knowledge about ethnic differences in perceptions of police and the larger criminal justice system.     

Immigrants’ interaction with the police in Finland: Is it distorted or inflammatory?

One enduring conflict area in police–minorities relations is the distrust of the police by minorities and consequently, the low level of confidence in the police among racial minorities. This stems from the impact of race in policing; and the perception that racial discrimination is a feature of criminal justice systems across the world has intensified. Moreover, race controversy is not new in police work. It is against this background that many police establishments are becoming increasingly frustrated by ethnic minority /immigrant allegations that they are being singled out as easy targets for police stop and search practices. In Finland, however, only little is known about immigrants’ views of police interaction, and perceptions of police discrimination in the country. Moreover, the police force in Finland may also be characterised by discriminatory mechanisms which are found in police institutions of other Western states where there has been more extensive research on the issue. The aim of the present study is to examine the attitude of immigrants toward the police by seeking to place the patterns of immigrants’ interaction with the police into context using their experiences as the basis of the analysis. The study also evaluates the impact of “ethnicity” in immigrants’ police experiences in our attempt to better understand how immigrants are subjected to stereotypical behaviour within the criminal justice system despite the fact that the police are tasked with carrying out their mandate to protect every citizen in the country. Thus, the interactions of immigrants with the police are our focus of analysis in our quest to understand new challenges brought about by the new immigrants in Finland. One thing is certain, however: police are not immune from racial conflict; as they continue to operate within our societies regardless of the ethnic composition of the country must be considered as a major policy issue of legal analysis. Therefore, the cultural and contextual nature of immigrants’ interaction with the police and the author's analysis will serve as the basis for assessing what may be required to ensure that discrimination is eliminated from the criminal justice system in the country.     

THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SCHOOL PUNISHMENT AND THERAPY/MEDICATION ON SOCIAL CONTROL EXPERIENCES DURING YOUNG ADULTHOOD

The use of suspensions and expulsions by American public school administrators has increased dramatically over the past 40 years. Meanwhile, a growing number of childhood misbehaviors have been diagnosed by doctors as medical conditions and are being treated with therapy or medication. As these trends develop at different rates for boys of different racial and ethnic groups, the connection between childhood and adult social control remains untested empirically. By using a prospective panel of 3,274 White, Black, and Hispanic males (15,675 person‐years) and multilevel logistic models, I examine whether and how school punishment and/or the use of therapy or medication during childhood contributes to involvement in the criminal justice or mental health systems during young adulthood. The findings suggest that school punishment is associated with greater odds of involvement in the criminal justice system but not the mental health system. The use of therapy and/or medication during childhood is associated with higher odds of involvement in the mental health system but not the criminal justice system. Finally, although the relationship between school punishment and involvement with the criminal justice system is similar for White, Black, and Hispanic men, the relationship between medicalized social control during childhood and young adulthood is stronger for Whites than for non‐Whites.     

论刑事法律在西藏的变通实施

西藏作为一个少数民族聚居地区，其民族刑事习俗不可避免地影响和制约着刑事立法、司法和民族刑事政策的制定，致使基层司法人员在习惯与规则的边缘如履薄冰。在坚持刑事法制统一和充分尊重少数民族风俗习惯及生产、生活方式原则的前提下，进行刑事法律变通，是解决藏民族刑事习俗与刑法间冲突的有效径路，也是我国社会主义法治精神的重要体现。     

CYNICAL STREETS: NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL PROCESSES AND PERCEPTIONS OF CRIMINAL INJUSTICE*

Studies have found that African Americans are more likely to perceive racial biases in the criminal justice system than are those from other racial groups. There is a limited understanding of how neighborhood social processes affect variation in these perceptions. This study formulates a series of hypotheses focused on whether perceived racial biases in the criminal justice system or perceptions of injustice vary as a function of levels of moral and legal cynicism as well as of adverse police–citizen encounters. These hypotheses are tested with multilevel regression models applied to data from a sample of 689 African Americans located in 39 neighborhoods. Findings from the regression models indicate that the positive association between structural disadvantage and perceptions of injustice is accounted for by moral and legal cynicism. Furthermore, adverse police encounters significantly increase perceptions of injustice; controlling for these encounters reduces the strength of the association between cynicism and injustice perceptions. Finally, the findings reveal that cynicism intensifies the association between adverse police encounters and perceptions of criminal injustice. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for research regarding perceived biases in the criminal justice system and neighborhood social processes.     

A comparison of bail amounts for hispanics, whites, and african americans: A single county analysis

Using 1996 data on defendants accused of felony offenses derived from a district court in a Midwestern jurisdiction, the authors employ bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine for significant differences between Hispanics and other racial and ethnic groups in the dependent variable, bail amount set by judge. To predict differences in the bail amount set by judges for Hispanic and other defendants, the multiple regression controls for two independent “legal” variables, prior arrest and seriousness of the instant offense, and for the “extra-legal” variables of age, gender, type of attorney, residency, and race. Our research shows that Hispanics receive higher bail amounts than White or African Americans; leading the authors to cast doubt on the tenets of “legal theory” which has gained attention as a model for explaining why members of racial or ethnic minorities receive harsher treatment at various stages of the criminal and juvenile justice system.     

Differences in assessments of relative prestige and utility of criminal justice and criminology journals

Several articles have been written about the relative prestige of journals in criminology and criminal justice. Almost uniformly, however, those rankings have focused on sociology and criminology journals and have generally reflected a sociological orientation. If criminal justice is indeed a separate discipline, such approaches are tantamount to asking psychologists to rate sociological journals within a list of psychology journals. Our approach is first to separate respondents by their degree of identification with criminal justice and their educational orientation. Second, we compile a list of responses to questions about prestige and utility to practitioners across the range of criminal justice and criminology journals. Analyses of these data indicate that there are differences in the way scholars rate journals, based on their identity with criminal justice and their educational orientation. These differences, however, are found in specific journals and in types of journals (i.e., police, corrections, criminal justice) rather than in aggregate perceptions of all criminal justice and criminology journals.     

Ethnic identity and attitudes toward the police among African American juvenile offenders

Although there is a knowledge base regarding theoretical and empirical research on attitudes toward the police, this line of research has not fully examined the sources of such attitudes, and in particular the extent to which attitudes toward the police are influenced by ethnic identity. The present study examined the role of ethnic identity in African American adolescent offenders' perceptions of general police discrimination, direct police contact, procedural justice, and police legitimacy. Analyses showed that youth with a stronger sense of ethnic identity perceived more police discrimination but reported more positive beliefs about police legitimacy. The findings underscore the importance of considering processes that may make legal socialization experiences more salient for adolescents, and demonstrate the complex role that ethnic identity plays in relation to discrimination.     

Applying Black's theory of law to crack and cocaine dispositions

Since crack cocaine first appeared on the streets of the United States, the criminal justice system has been overwhelmed with poor, minority drug offenders. This situation can be attributed in part to the existence of mandatory minimum sentences that treat violations associated with crack cocaine more harshly than those associated with powder cocaine. Using data from New York City, the present study uses Black's theory of law to help understand discrepancies in crack and cocaine dispositions. Results show mixed support for Black's propositions. Racial minorities are more likely to be charged with a felony and receive longer prison sentences compared to Whites. Implications of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Sexual assault nurse examiners' perceptions of the revictimization of rape victims

While Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs have improved the treatment of rape victims by offering more compassionate and thorough treatment, SANEs believe victims continue to face revictimization by the medical, criminal justice and legal systems. The purpose of this research is to explore SANEs' perceptions of the revictimization of rape victims by the police, legal system and medical system. Data from interviews with 39 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners from four East Coast states reveal that most SANEs believe that the medical, criminal justice, and legal systems wield the power to revictimize rape victims. SANEs were more likely to cite the criminal justice system as a source of revictimization, followed by the medical system and legal system. According to SANEs, police contribute to victims' distress through failure to ask questions in a sensitive manner, failure to proceed with investigations, and by asking victim-blaming questions. Revictimization by the legal system results when charges are never filed, cases are postponed or dropped, plea bargains are unsatisfactory, and victims' character and credibility are questioned. Revictimization by the medical system is marked by long waits for medical attention.     

Personal and Vicarious Experience with the Criminal Justice System as a Predictor of Punitive Sentencing Attitudes

This study examined the impact of prior personal or vicarious experience with the criminal justice system on sentencing attitudes. Existing research on sentencing attitudes has examined factors such as race, gender, income level, political affiliation, and education level, but few research studies have focused on actual contact with the criminal justice system and its influence on perceptions of sentencing as either too harsh or too lenient. The current study utilized data collected by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Over 1,500 respondents were surveyed nationwide in 2006 regarding sentencing attitudes. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to assess the impact of factors of interest on sentencing attitudes. Results indicated that individuals who had been charged with a crime (personal experience), or who had an immediate relative or close friend who had been charged (vicarious experience), were more likely to perceive the criminal justice system as too harsh, regardless of race/ethnicity.     

Intimate partner violence, relationship status, and protective orders: does "living in sin" entail a different experience?

The legal status of women's intimate relationships may allow for different experiences with intimate partner violence (IPV) and the protections received from the criminal justice system. There has been limited research examining differences in IPV and protective orders for women in marital and cohabiting intimate relationships. This study examines differences in experiences with IPV and factors related to protective orders: stipulations, violations, and perceived efficacy in a sample of married (n = 392) and cohabiting (n = 307) women with protective orders. Results suggest (a) married and cohabiting women are significantly different on a number of demographic characteristics; however, after controlling for these demographic differences, (b) married and cohabiting women's experiences with IPV are similar in almost all dimensions, except with the psychological tactic of degradation; and (c) married and cohabiting women receive similar protective order stipulations, experience similar rates of violations, and have the same overall perceptions of safety, freedom, and effectiveness pertaining to the domestic violence order. Implications for policy are discussed.     

Procedural Justice and Psychological Effects of Criminal Proceedings: The Moderating Effect of Offense Type

It is well-established that victims of crime have numerous preferences when encountering the criminal justice system. Often, research examines these preferences in terms of procedural justice, asserting that elements such as voice, respect, and fair treatment may lead to greater satisfaction and more positive experiences. Positive experiences also entail preventing secondary victimization by the legal system. Much of the research surrounding this topic, however, discusses victims of crime as a single entity. The current research examines if differences among crime victims, namely whether they suffered sexual or non-sexual victimizations, influence their legal preferences. Victims of sexual assault have undergone particularly traumatic and stigmatizing experiences that may warrant a greater need for expression and understanding of their harm. It is hypothesized that for victims of sexual assault, there will be a stronger association between procedural justice and negative psychological effects of criminal proceedings. Therefore, type of offense is examined as a moderator variable of this relationship. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that there is in fact an interaction effect for procedural justice and psychological effects, suggesting that these preferences are more desired by victims of sexual assault.     

Meeting the enemy: American exceptionalism and international law

Howard Zinn has been classified in a number of ways for his many social contributions. However, despite the breadth of his work, he has never been considered a criminologist. It is likely that this is the result of the inaccurate perceptions many Americans have about crime being a predominantly street‐level social problem. Zinn maintains that the social harms caused by those in positions of political and economic power are in fact crimes against humanity that are far more destructive and violent than the actions our legal system has historically deemed criminal. He also points to the ways our criminal justice system is unjust and ineffective, and has demonstrated how social inequality ensures that the disadvantaged will be further subordinated by the criminal justice system. Zinn’s critical contributions about the most significant sources of social harm, the unjust nature of the American justice system, and the influence of social inequality offer an unorthodox criminological perspective that deserves special consideration. His unconventional criminology calls for increasing social justice by means of political dissent, social resistance, and civil disobedience.     

Sex/gender‐based decision‐making in the criminal justice system as a possible (additional) explanation for the underrepresentation of women in official criminal statistics — a review of international literature

This article represents an analysis of the literature on sex‐based selection processes in the criminal justice system. It is only since the feminist wave of the sixties that sexual discrimination has been considered as an issue of importance in the study of the criminal justice system and that female criminality has been looked at more thoroughly. The article deals with the different assumptions and hypotheses which have come forward in the debate on the possible discrimination of men and women in the criminal justice process. In the first part of the article the various theoretical models are outlined: the chivalry and evil women hypotheses, the legal or etiological model, the social control theory, the family‐based justice model, and a multifactoral model. In the second part of the article, the results of empirical research relevant to these hypotheses are presented. American, British, Belgian, Dutch and some German literature has been taken into account. The review of the literature shows that the chivalry hypothesis cannot offer an all‐embracing explanation for the possibly perceived preferential treatment of women. Similar conclusions can be drawn for the explanatory value of the legal model. Although a more lenient treatment of women can sometimes be explained by legal factors, these factors can offer no more than a partial explanation for observed sex differences in the criminal justice system. Especially in the case of pre‐trial release and sentencing, more particularly when deciding whether or not to send a defendant to prison, a noticeable sex‐effect can still be found. In the literature we find strong suggestions — although not always confirmed — that an (initially observed) more lenient treatment of women at these stages can be explained by stereotypes and expectations about the personality of women as less dangerous and the specific role which women fulfill in western society.     

Race,Ethnicity, and Perceived Minority Police Presence: Examining Perceptions of Criminal Injustice Among Los Angeles Residents

Although the conventional wisdom holds that increasing the number of minority officers will enhance residents' perceptions of police and the criminal justice system, further systematic investigation of this hypothesis may be needed. Building on the group‐position thesis, the representative bureaucracy theory, and prior research, this study investigates whether perceived minority police presence within residents' neighborhoods affects residents' perceptions of criminal injustice, whether this effect is more pronounced for minority residents and in minority neighborhoods, and whether perceived minority police presence has a stronger effect on perceptions of criminal injustice for minority residents in more integrated and white neighborhoods than minority residents in minority neighborhoods. Analyses of data collected from Los Angeles, CA, show that residents perceive a lower level of criminal injustice when they report that officers in their neighborhoods are not white‐dominated, and this finding is not dependent on the respondent's race/ethnicity or the racial/ethnic composition of the neighborhood. In addition, perceived minority police presence seems to have a weak to no effect on residents' perceptions of criminal injustice for Hispanic communities. We discuss these findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy.     

The interaction of criminal procedure and outcome

Procedural quality is an important aspect of crime victims' experiences in criminal proceedings and consists of different dimensions. Two of these dimensions are procedural justice (voice) and interpersonal justice (respectful treatment). Social psychological research has suggested that both voice and respectful treatment are moderated by the impact of outcomes of justice procedures on individuals' reactions. To add to this research, we extend this assertion to the criminal justice context, examining the interaction between the assessment of procedural quality and outcome favorability with victim's trust in the legal system and self-esteem. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that voice, respectful treatment and outcome favorability are predictive of trust in the legal system and self-esteem. Further investigation reveals that being treated with respect is only related to trust in the legal system when outcome favorability is high.     

Courts and sentencing research on contemporary China

As a leading player in the international community and the projected economic powerhouse in the twenty-first century, China's significance in the international community has been recognized around the world. The construction of its legal system, particularly the criminal justice system, has also received increasing global attention. As the cornerstone of the criminal justice system, the courts and sentencing laws and practices underlie many of the fundamental ideas of a fair and just legal system. This article reviews research on courts and sentencing in contemporary China published after 1990, focusing on the following three areas: (1) research on law and legal reforms with regard to courts and sentencing; (2) research on the determinants of criminal sentencing; and (3) research on capital punishment.     

Examining Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Corporate Offending and Beyond‐Compliance Behavior: The Efficacy of Direct and Indirect Regulatory Interactions

Tom Tyler's Procedural Justice Theory has received support in a variety of studies using criminal justice authorities as the research focus. To date, the theory has not been empirically tested using corporate malfeasance as an outcome, despite evidence that procedural justice is important in achieving regulatory compliance. This study uses factorial survey methods to examine whether corporate behavior is predicted by professionals' perceptions of procedural justice and legal legitimacy. We find that procedural justice and legitimacy considerations are salient only when managers have direct contact with regulatory authorities. This supports John Braithwaite's argument that effective regulation is enhanced by microlevel interactions in which procedural justice can be effectively leveraged to promote compliance.     

POLICE,MINORITIES, AND THE FRENCH REPUBLICAN IDEAL*

This paper examines the strained relationship between French police agencies and ethnic minorities and discusses evidence of ethnic discrimination by the police and the criminal justice system. Until recently, the idea that ethnic composition of a police force ought to reflect, to some degree, the community it polices, seemed odd in France. We argue that there are two main reasons for this viewpoint: first, a conception of the role of the police in the State as accountable to the government rather than to the citizens; secondly, a conception of Republic and citizenship denying any political significance to the personal identities of citizens. We conclude that ethnic diversification of police forces is but one aspect of a more encompassing struggle against discrimination that requires a degree of accommodation with the present legal and statistical invisibility of racial/ethnic groups.