NCJ Number
228543
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 411-432
Date Published
July 2009
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether criminal justice students differ in their attitudes toward wrongful conviction.
Abstract
Prior research investigated the attitudes of criminal justice majors in a variety of domains; results from prior research suggest that criminal justice students may have more conservative attitudes than other university students. Results from this study suggest that third-year criminal justice students are more sensitive than their peers to issues surrounding wrongful conviction and that a particular program of study within the year that the study takes place affects how students feel about specific aspects of wrongful conviction. Criminal justice education seems to have a liberalizing influence on attitudes toward wrongful conviction. This is positive for those dedicated to preventing and rectifying wrongful convictions. Data were collected from 279 first- and third-year undergraduate students at a small laptop-based university in Canada. Tables, references, and appendix