On Assessing the Mood of the Public Toward the Police - Some Conceptual Issues

• NCJ Number: 83320
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (1982) Pages: 211-230
• Author(s): M F White; B A Menke
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 20 pages
• Contract Number(s): 1062
• Sponsoring Agency: Washington Law and Justice Planning Office; Pullman Police Dept
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The use of attitudinal surveys has become a widely accepted method for the incorporation of public opinion in public policy decision, including those surveys aimed at assessing the mood of the public toward the police. A review of the literature reveals that the research findings about the public mood are contradictory and thus lack convergent validity.

Abstract

The findings of this study indicate that this lack of convergent validity in the images of the public toward the police can be explained on both methodological and theoretical grounds. More specifically, the findings indicate that the mood of the public is very different depending on the level of specificity of the items used to tap that mood. Items eliciting evaluations of a general nature show the public as supportive of the police, while items of a specific nature show much less public support. This apparent paradox is explained through the use of a theoretical framework developed by Easton (1965), which emphasizes diffuse and specific support as external influences on institutions. (Author abstract)