Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T19:53:12.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Victimization, Types of Citizen-Police Contacts, and Attitudes Toward the Police

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Paul E. Smith  and
Richard O. Hawkins
Richard O. Hawkins
Affiliation:
Southern Methodist University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

One of the ironies of police-community relations is that the high visibility via the mass media of public reaction against police has created the impression that public attitudes are predominantly negative. Evidence from field surveys suggests the opposite—that attitudes are predominantly positive and supportive of police (Gourley, 1954; Cleaver, et al., 1966; Preiss and Ehrlich, 1966; Ennis, 1967; McCaghy, et al., 1968; Bayley and Mendelsohn, 1969; Smith, 1969). In a similar vein, police often view citizens as holding more hostile attitudes toward the police than is in fact the case (McNamara, 1967: 221; Wilson, 1968: 28; Bayley and Mendelsohn, 1969). This shared misunderstanding can have self-fulfilling consequences. Police expect a hostile citizen reception and hence take a more authoritarian attitude in order to assure that actions will be seen as legitimate and authority will not be questioned (Westley, 1953; Skolnick, 1966: 62; Werthman and Piliavin, 1967). The public, expecting the worst from the police, may alter their perceptions so that criticisms of police behavior are more likely. This shared misunderstanding produces more conflict between citizen and police. Instances of police brutality are covered by the media, and the cycle continues.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Fall 1973 , pp. 135 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © 1973 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

AUTHORS' NOTE: This study was made possible by NIMH, grant number 1 RO1MH14644-01 SSR. The authors wish to thank Roger Trent and Bruce Morton for computer programming assistance.

References

ANGELL, John E., et al. (1967) A National Survey of Police Community Relations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
AUCHINCLASS, Kenneth (1968) “The polls and the pols and the public,” Newsweek 72: 23-27 (July 8).Google Scholar
BAYLEY, David H., and Harold, MENDELSOHN (1969) Minorities and the Police. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
BIDERMAN, Albert D. and Albert J., REISS Jr. (1967) “On exploring the ‘dark figure’ of crime,” 374 Annals 1.Google Scholar
BIDERMAN, Albert D. and Albert J., REISS Jr., Louise A., JOHNSON, McINTYRE, J. and A. W., WEIR (1967) Report on a Pilot Study in the District of Columbia on Victimization and Attitudes toward Law Enforcement. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
BLOCK, Richard L. (1970) “Police action, support for the police and support for civil liberties.” Paper delivered at the American Sociological Association Meetings (September).Google Scholar
BLOCK, Richard L. (1971) “Fear of crime and fear of the police,” 19 Social Problems 91.Google Scholar
BLUMBERG, Abraham S. (1967) “The practice of law as confidence game: organizational cooptation of a profession,” 1 Law and Society Review 15.Google Scholar
BORDUA, David J. and Larry L., TIFFT (1971) “Citizen interviews, organizational feedback, and police-community relations decisions,” 6 Law and Society Review 155.Google Scholar
CHAMBLISS, William J. (1969) Crime and the Legal Process. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.Google Scholar
CLEAVER, Patrick T., A. D., MYLONAS and Walter, RECKLESS (1966) “Gradients in attitudes toward law, courts, and police,” 2 Sociological Focus 29.Google Scholar
COSTNER, Herbert L. (1965) “Criteria for measures of association,” 30 American Sociological Review 341.Google Scholar
CUMMING, Elaine, Ian, CUMMING and Laura, EDELL (1965) “Policeman as philosopher, guide and friend,” 12 Social Problems 276.Google Scholar
ENNIS, Philip (1967) Criminal Victimization in the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
GOLDSTEIN, Jeffrey (1971) “Crisis in blue: the police as a minority group,” in Edward, SAGARIN (ed.) The Other Minorities. Waltham, Massachusetts: Ginn and Company.Google Scholar
GOODMAN, Leo and William H., KRUSKAL (1963) “Measures of association for cross classifications: III. Approximate sampling theory,” 58 Journal of American Statistical Association 310.Google Scholar
GOURLEY, G. Douglas (1954) “Police public relations,” 291 Annals 135.Google Scholar
HAHN, Harlan (1971) “Ghetto assessment of police protection and authority,” 6 Law and Society Review 183.Google Scholar
HAWKINS, Richard (1970) Determinants of Sanctioning Initiations for Criminal Victimization. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Sociology, University of Washington.Google Scholar
HAWKINS, Richard (1973) “Who called the cops?: decisions to report criminal victimization,” 7 Law and Society Review 427.Google Scholar
JACOB, Herbert (1971) “Black and white perceptions of justice in the city,” 6 Law and Society Review 69.Google Scholar
KNUDTEN, Richard D. (1970) Crime in a Complex Society. Homewood, Illinois: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
McCAGHY, Charles H., Irving L., ALLEN and H. David, COLFAX (1968) “Public attitudes toward city police in a middle-sized northern city,” 6 Criminologica 14.Google Scholar
McNAMARA, John H. (1967) “Uncertainties in police work: the relevance of police recruits' background and training,” in D. J., BORDUA (ed.) The Police: Six Sociological Essays. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
POLK, R. L. (1967) Polk's Seattle City Directory. Seattle: R. L. Polk and Company.Google Scholar
PREISS, Jack J. and Howard J., EHRLICH (1966) An Examination of Role Theory: The Case of the State Police. An Examination of Role Theory: The Case of the State Police: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
REISS, Albert J. Jr. (1967) Studies in Crime and Law Enforcement in Major Metropolitan Areas (2 volumes). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
SCHUR, Edwin M. (1965) Crimes Without Victims. Crimes Without Victims: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
SHERRAND, Thomas J. (1968) “The ghetto disorders: a recommendation of post-riot remedies,” 21 University of Florida Law Review 84.Google Scholar
SKOLNICK, Jerome H. (1966) Justice Without Trial. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
SKOLNICK, Jerome H.. (1970) “The police and the urban ghetto,” in A., NIEDERHOFFER and A. S., BLUMBERG (eds.) The Ambivalent Force: Perspectives on the Police. Waltham, Mass.: Ginn and Company.Google Scholar
SMITH, Paul E. (1969) Attitudes toward Norm Enforcers: The Case of the Police. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Sociology, University of Washington.Google Scholar
WERTHMAN, Carl and Irving, PILIAVIN (1967) “Gang members and the Police,” in D. J., BORDUA (ed.) The Police: Six Sociological Essays. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
WESTLEY, William A. (1953) “Violence and the police,” 59 American Journal of Sociology 34.Google Scholar
WILSON, James Q. (1968) Varieties of Police Behavior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar