NCJ Number
86371
Date Published
1981
Length
257 pages
Annotation
Perceptions of criminal behavior in Nigeria as held by a sample of 250 Nigerian students in the United States were investigated, as was the extent to which their stereotypes of criminals vary with social distance.
Abstract
The study expected that (1) subjects would react negatively or positively to persons they regard as criminals, (2) social reactions to criminals would vary by cultural characteristics of the students, and (3) social relations with labeled criminals would vary by attitude directions and the degree of perceived social distance between respondents and the labeled criminals. The study found that respondents' attitudes toward criminals were influenced by social background and liberalism-conservatism tendencies. It was also found that the degree of disapproval with which a form of criminal behavior is regarded will have a strong influence on a respondent's reaction to such offenders, on the kinds of labels given, and the amount of interaction they will permit between the criminals and other citizens. Crimes against persons and property were more highly disapproved of than victimless crimes. All respondents were lenient toward beggars, for instance. In addition, respondents were more likely to keep a social distance between themselves and murderers and rapists, for example, than prostitutes and beggars. Tabular data and about 165 references are provided.