Prisoners' Attitudes Toward Components of the Legal and Judicial Systems

Abstract

Prisoners' attitudes toward components of the legal and judicial systems are reviewed and analyzed with data collected from prisoners in their first several days of incarceration. These data are analyzed within subgroups of the prison population. In general, attitudes toward the police are negative, attitudes toward the law and the judicial system are mixed, and attitudes toward lawyers are positive. However, preprison and prison status factors influence the attitudes held by prisoners, and these different patterns of influence are discussed.

Youth In Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment‐Custody Dichotomy

“…Whether punishment is effective may depend on how it is perceived by offenders: punishment is punishment only if it is perceived as such (Krohn, 1980). Most assessments of punishment have examined adults' attitudes, and often these studies have focused on the "front end" of the system, such as attitudes toward police, prosecutors, judges, and probation officers (Casper, 1972;Alpert and Hicks, 1977;Allen, 1985;von Voorhis, 1985). As Krohn (1980) points out, however, the attitudes of prisoners about their preconviction experiences and their experiences in prison are not necessarily related.…”

Criminal defendants' satisfaction with lawyers: perceptions of procedural fairness and effort of the lawyer

“…Although the lawyer has not received much attention in the procedural justice literature, satisfaction with lawyers has been examined before (Aalberts, Boyt, & Seidman, 2002b;Alpert & Hicks, 1977;Boccaccini & Brodsky, 2002;Nesdale, 1999;O'Brien, Pheterson, Wright, & Hostica, 1977). This literature suggests that several characteristics affect defendants' satisfaction with their lawyers.…”

Raising the minimum drinking age: Some unintended consequences of good intentions

“…A number of observers have noted that law and law enforcement can engender a sense of injustice (Alpert and Hicks 1977;Casper 1972;Giordano 1976;Krohn and Stratton 1978). Matza (1964:61) in particular has developed a framework describing how law "contains the seeds of its own neutralization."…”