SOCIAL REACTION TO SEVERAL TYPES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR - RESULTS OF A RESEARCH SURVEY IN TWO DIFFERENT REGIONS OF ROME, ITALY

• NCJ Number: 51477
• Journal: QUADERNI DI CRIMNOLOGIA CLINICA Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: (OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1977) Pages: 467-502
• Author(s): G MARBACH
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 36 pages
• Corporate Author: Ministero di Grazia E Giustizia
• Publication Format: Article
• Country: Italy

Annotation

A 1977 SURVEY OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD CERTAIN TYPES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR WAS CONDUCTED IN AN UPPER-CLASS, AFFLUENT SECTION AND A LOWER-INCOME, WORKING-CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD IN ROME, ITALY, WITH SIMILAR RESULTS IN BOTH AREAS.

Abstract

POLITICALLY CONSERVATIVE RESIDENTS OF THE EXCLUSIVE PARIOLI AND PINCIANO SECTIONS AND LEFTIST, SOCIOECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED FAMILIES LIVING IN THE PONTE MAMMOLO AND SAN BASILIO QUARTERS, CHOSEN BY THE RANDOM ROUTE METHOD, WERE POLLED ON THEIR RANKINGS OF SIX TYPES OF DEVIANT CONDUCT. HYPOTHESIZED DIFFERENCES OF OPINION AMONG THE 698 RESPONDENTS, EQUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN MEMBERS OF TWO WIDELY DIFFERENTIATED POPULATION STRATA, DID NOT MATERIALIZE. BOTH SURVEY POPULATIONS RANKED IN THE SAME DESCENDING ORDER THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE FOLLOWING CRIMES: DRUG TRAFFICKING, RAPE, FAILURE TO ASSIST ACCIDENT VICTIMS, MUGGING, VANDALISM, AND SHOPLIFTING. BOTH POPULATIONS ALSO ADVOCATED STRICTER AND MORE STRICTLY ENFORCED PENALTIES FOR ALL THESE CRIMES, EXCEPT MUGGING AND SHOPLIFTING. FAILURE TO REPORT SUCH CRIMES AS RAPE, MUGGING, AND SHOPLIFTING OCCURRED IN ALL THE RESIDENTIAL SECTIONS SURVEYED. IN THE AFFLUENT NEIGHBORHOODS ONLY ONE CASE OF SHOPLIFTING OUT OF EIGHT COMMITTED BY RELATIVES OR FRIENDS WAS TRIED IN COURT, AND OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENTS WERE COMMON. AMONG THE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, ONE CASE OF SHOPLIFTING OUT OF THREE WAS REPORTED TO THE POLICE. DIFFERENCES IN THE RESPONDENTS' AGES, RATHER THAN IN THEIR SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, DETERMINED INDIVIDUAL REACTIONS TO THE SIX TARGET CRIMES. A HIGHER DEGREE OF TOLERANCE WAS EXHIBITED BY YOUNGER PEOPLE IN BOTH TYPES OF NEIGHBORHOODS. PSYCHOSOCIAL, RATHER THAN SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, SUCH AS MORE TRUST OF THE POLICE BY UPPER-CLASS SUBJECTS AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF EDUCATION, ACCOUNTED FOR THE MINOR DIFFERENCES IN PERCENTAGES GIVEN TO THE CRIME RANKINGS. FOOTNOTES AND TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEXT. --IN ITALIAN.