This paper sought to understand public attitudes and behavior toward criminal justice institutions in Brazil. Using a cross-sectional data from a sample of Brazilians, we made very important and intriguing observations about Brazilians’ attitudes. Among these observations is the finding that the presence of crime results in favorable attitudes toward the Brazilian judiciary. Also, sense of security, corruption (bribe solicitation), and citizens’ trust in the media predicted attitudes toward criminal justice institutions and officials. Given that this study is one of the few studies that have examined this issue in the Brazilian context, the findings serve as a starting point for discussion about improving the relationship between citizens and the system. Specific implications of the findings are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.