RELIGION,DISCRIMINATORY ATTITUDES AND THE ORIENTATIONS OF JUVENILE JUSTICE PERSONNEL: A RESEARCH NOTE*

Advancements in the understanding of racial and gender disparity in case outcomes are evident in the theoretical and empirical refinements that emphasize the contingencies of decision making. In this article, we argue that a conservative world view reflects a patterning of attitudes that includes interrelationships among beliefs in a literal interpretation of the Bible and racial and gender stereotyping. Our hypothesis is that this conservative resonance will predict more punitive correctional orientations among a sample of juvenile justice personnel. The findings provide support for the existence of a conservative patterning of attitudes that predict punitive orientations. The resonance is less effective in explaining rehabilitative philosophies. The results have implications for assessing the issue of racial and gender bias in the juvenile justice system.     

PLEA BARGAINING AND THE RESEARCH DILEMMA

Plea bargaining has been traditionally assumed to play no part in the administration of criminal justice in England. Research conducted by the authors casts serious doubts on this assumption. Their report on this research provoked a vituperative response from leaders of the English legal profession who attempted to suppress its publication. Some implications of this reaction for the independent conduct of research are examined in this article.     

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR "LAW AND ORDER": Interrelationships with System Affirmation and Attitudes Toward Minorities

This study deals with interrelationships among system affirmation, intoler-ance of minorities or minority viewpoints. and support for a tough role for the police and courts in the criminal justice system. Using data from a survey of “Middletown” (Muncie, Indiana), all three of these concepts are-as expected-moderately highly interrelated. Those high in system affir-mation are also high in intolerance, and they are high in support for a tough role for the police and courts. Further, combining system affirmation and intolerance measures into typologies accentuates the independent effects of these concepts on a hard-line approach to “law and order” issues.