NCJ Number
48341
Date Published
1976
Length
50 pages
Annotation
THIS PERSPECTIVE ILLUSTRATES THE DOMINANT THINKING OF AMERICANS AND HOW THEY VIEW THE DOMESTIC POLITICAL SCENE IN 1976.
Abstract
THE SURVEY RESEARCH ANALYSIS WAS BASED ON A NATIONAL SAMPLING OF 1,071 AMERICANS. PUBLIC CONCERNS REFLECTED A DESIRE FOR A BETTER STANDING OF LIVING, GOOD PERSONAL HEALTH, AND A HAPPY FAMILY LIFE. INFLATION, THREAT OF WAR AND SOCIAL DECAY WERE THE AREAS ABOUT WHICH FEAR WAS EXPRESSED. A HOPE FOR PEACE WAS FOUND SYSTEMATICALLY THROUGHOUT THE CROSS-SECTION OF THE POPULATION. AMERICANS WERE ALSO FOUND TO BE VERY DISTURBED ABOUT CRIME, VIOLENCE, AND RELATED ISSUES OF DRUGS AND DRUG ABUSE. EFFORTS TO COMBAT THESE PROBLEMS ARE NOT WELL VIEWED AND INCREASED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS THOUGHT TO BE A SOLUTION. THE SURVEY REVEALED A NOTICEABLE HARDENING OF THE PUBLIC'S ATTITUDE TOWARD CRIMINALS. IN COMPARISON TO OTHER MAJOR PROBLEMS FACING THE NATION, THE CONDITION AND PROBLEMS OF BLACKS DID NOT RANK ESPECIALLY HIGH. MOST AMERICANS ASSIGN A HIGH PRIORITY TO GOVERNMENT SPENDING TO ALLIEVIATE THE PROBLEM. THE LOWER- TO MIDDLE-INCOME URBAN WHITES ARE MOST ADAMANT ABOUT GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE TO BLACKS. IN EXAMINING THE STATUS OF WOMEN, SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE THAT AN IMPROVED STATUS IS GENERALLY DESIRED, BUT WHETHR OR NOT THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT IS THE APPROPRIATE MEANS TO ACHIEVE IT IS NOT A POINT OF AGREEMENT. BECAUSE OF THE RECENT ADVANCES OF WOMEN IN THE WORKING WORLD, WOMEN TENDED TO FEEL MORE POSITIVELY ABOUT THEIR STATUS THAN IN PREVIOUS SURVEYS, WHILE MEN TENDED TO FEEL SOMEWHAT MORE NEGATIVELY. DESPITE THE REFLECTIONS IN THIS SURVEY, NO TREND FOR RADICAL REORGANIZATION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WAS UNEARTHED. THE PUBLIC APPEARS TO BE INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR SOLUTIONS WITHIN PRESENT CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS. TABULAR DATA AND GRAPHS ARE PROVIDED. (JSP)