NCJ Number
59913
Journal
Criminologie Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (1979) Pages: 66-77
Date Published
1979
Length
12 pages
Annotation
THE ATTITUDES OF CANADIAN CITIZENS TOWARD VIOLENCE AND ITS CONTROL ARE ASSESSED ON THE BASIS OF SEMISTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH 54 REPRESENTATIVE INHABITANTS OF QUEBEC.
Abstract
SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE THAT VIOLENCE IS DEFINED AS VICTIMIZATION OR AS A TYPICAL RESPONSE OF A CRIMINAL, WITH OFFENDER INTENTION ANF VICTIM CONSENT AS DETERMINANT FACTORS. INTERVIEWEES ABHOR PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, BUT UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN VICTIMS THEY CONSIDER THEMSELVE IMMUNE. SERIOUSNESS OF VIOLENT ACTS IS JUDGED BY CITIZENS ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF VIOLENCE, CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE DEED, OFFENDERS' AND VICTIMS' CHARACTERISTICS, AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACT. IN THE EYES OF THE PUBLIC, THE MOST SERIOUS CRIMES DO NOT NECESSARILY CALL FOR THE MOST SEVERE PENALTIES, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ARE AMBIVALENT. CRIMINALS ARE VIEWED BY UNIFORMED CITIZENS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN VICTIMS AS MONSTROUS INDIVIDUALS WITH WHOM HONEST CITIZENS CANNOT IDENTIFY. THE ACTIVITIES OF THE POLICE TO CONTROL TRADITIONAL CRIMINAL VIOLENCE, ALTHOUGH NOT SOCIAL VIOLENCE, ARE REGARDED POSITIVELY; POLICE INEFFICIENCY IS ATTRIBUTED TO POLICE POWERLESSNESS BEFORE INFLUENTIAL CRIMINALS AND COMPETITIVE AGENCIES. COURTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR RECIDIVISM AND FOR FURTHER NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES TO VICTIMS. PENAL INSTITUTIONS ARE SEEN AS A NECESSARY EVIL, FOR CONDITIONAL RELEASE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS THOUGHT TO BE COMPOSED OF SEPARATE AGENCIES WHOSE OBJECTIVES AND METHODS ARE INCOMPATIBLE. COMPARISON OF THESE RESULTS WITH RESULTS OF OTHER SURVEYS SHOWS THAT THE PUBLIC LACKS ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT CRIME, THE FUNCTION OF THE COURTS AND PRISONS, AND THE RELATIVE MERITS OF VARIOUS PENALTIES; THAT CITIZENS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND RESEARCHERS' VOCABULARY; AND THAT INTERVIEWERS TEND TO JUDGE THE SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES BY THEIR OWN STANDARDS. DESPITE APPEARANCES, THE PUBLIC DOES NOT ACTUALLY DEMAND A REPRESSIVE SOCIETY AND PUNISHMENT FOR ALL CRIMES. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)