NCJ Number
140437
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (January 1993) Pages: 5-28
Date Published
1993
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Using data from a 1991 public opinion survey of attitudes toward juvenile crime and juvenile justice, the authors explore the relation between demographic variables and opinions toward trying juveniles in adult courts, giving them adult sentences, and sentencing them to adult prisons.
Abstract
The Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor collected data for the study. Dependent variables addressed attitudes toward trying juveniles accused of serious crimes in adult criminal courts, giving juveniles the same sentences as adults, and sentencing juveniles to adult prisons. Independent variables included age, education, employment status, ethnicity, fear of being victimized by a violent crime, gender, and parental status. Of 1,000 respondents, 53 percent were female and 47 percent were male; 82 percent were white, 10 percent were black, 5 percent were Hispanic, 1 percent were Native American, and 2 percent were from Asian or other ethnic groups. Most respondents favored trying juveniles in adult courts for serious felonies. Punitive attitudes toward juveniles decreased up to about 50 years of age and then increased. Black parents were more supportive of punitive juvenile justice policies than other racial/ethnic groups, with and without children. In general, however, public opinion did not favor giving juveniles the same sentences as adults or sentencing them to adult prisons. Policy implications of the survey findings are discussed. 37 references, 3 notes, and 4 tables