NCJ Number
70721
Journal
Tijdschrift voor criminologie Volume: 21 Dated: (May/June 1979) Pages: 117-128
Date Published
1979
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This attitude survey attempts to ascertain whether class justice, the differential treatment of offenders from different socioeconomic groups, is actually practiced in the Dutch justice system and whether class justice values characterize attitudes of the public.
Abstract
The objective of the study is to measure the informal public reaction to criminal behavior and to test a number of interpretive hypotheses based on the interaction theory. Determinants of the social reaction considered are social characteristics of the offender, the social characteristics of the victim, the seriousness of the offense, and the social characteristics of the judge. Social status of offenders and victims are measured by profession, seriousness of the offense by consequences for the victim, and social status of the judge by a number of dimensions. A nine-step scale ranging from warnings to prison terms of 6 years or more classifies reactions. Respondents are 160 residents of Amsterdam. The questionnaires contain descriptions of eight scenes, four of which are relevant to the experiment. Offenses described are poisoning, hit-and-run, theft, and intentional collision. The results are analyzed using contingency tables and they indicate that the intensity of the informal reaction is greater when the offense is very serious. The reaction is affected little by the social status of the offender or the victim and least of all by the social status of the judge. It is concluded that class justice basing criminal decisions on irrelevant factors is not characteristic of attitudes held by the Dutch population at large. Tables and a 10-item bibliography are supplied.