Delinquents' Attitudes toward the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

The study investigated (1) the differences in attitudes toward legal agencies between white and black delinquents, (2) group differences on anomie scales and (3) intergroup correlational analyses among attitudes toward legal agencies and anomie scales. A random sample of delinquents (73 white and 73 black) were administered measures of attitudes toward the police, juvenile court, probation and anomie. t tests of significance and z tests using Fisher's r to z transformation assessed group differences. White delinquents had more unfavorable attitudes toward the juvenile court while black delinquents had more hostile attitudes toward the police. White delinquents had more feelings of valuelessness and hopelessness. Black delinquents had more of powerlessness. Correlations suggest that attitudes toward legal agencies and those of anomie may be acquired independently.

The Widening Mistrust between Youth and Police

“…Third, youth also evaluate police competency and performance much lower (Walker, Richardson, Williams, Denyer, & McGaughey, 1972;Hadar & Snortum, 1975), and express less confidence in the police than do their adult counterparts (Feagin 1974). Negative encounters with the police lead most young people to have unfavorable attitudes towards them (Woodbury, 1972;Sagi & Wellford, 1972;Wellford, 1973;Piliavin & Briar, 1964). For example, the Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety surveyed 968 high school students and found that 84% of the students "reported either being treated disrespectfully by police or seeing others treated disrespectfully" (Wisby, 1995).…”

Black and white differences in the perception of justice

“…Although some studies have found that African Americans have a more negative view of the police (Berman, 1974(Berman, , 1976Woodbury, 1973), these studies primarily focused on individuals who had direct contact with the police. Some of the information was obtained from respondents after the police had taken them into custody, while others judged the police after calling for assistance.…”