NCJ Number
216741
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 6 Dated: 2006 Pages: 653-660
Date Published
2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
In understanding the values and attitudes that are distinct to the police subculture, this study examined whether police officers and students held similar or different attitudes towards the Miranda warnings.
Abstract
The results of this study showed that the students involved in the study perceived the Miranda warnings differently from the police chiefs in the study. Students were more likely than the police chiefs to see the warnings as useful. The results suggest that many of the attitudes and values characteristics of the police culture arise from being part of that culture. In terms of the Miranda warnings, police may develop more negative attitudes about offenders’ rights simply from exposure to instances in which the warnings appeared to create obstacles for them. To help determine whether attitudes are imported into the police subculture from the collegiate experience or whether the subculture fosters law and order attitudes among officers, this study examined the similarities and differences between students’ and law enforcement officers’ attitudes about the Miranda warnings. A survey instrument was developed and included a series of statements about the Miranda warning. The survey was completed by 97 police chiefs in Virginia and 320 students enrolled in sociology and criminal justice courses at a large urban university. Tables, references