NCJ Number
56129
Date Published
1977
Length
235 pages
Annotation
THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS ON BLACK CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENTS AT THREE UNIVERSITIES ARE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THEIR WHITE COUNTERPARTS.
Abstract
THE COLLEGE STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE WAS ADMINISTERED TO 194 CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS (CHICAGO CIRCLE), AND LINCOLN UNIVERSITY (JEFFERSON CITY, MO.). ANALYSIS OF 182 RESPONSES INDICATES THAT THE GREATEST DIFFERENCE IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS EXISTS BETWEEN BLACKS AND LOWER-CLASS WHITES. UPPER-CLASS WHITES OFTEN SHARE VIEWS WITH LOWER-CLASS BLACKS, ALTHOUGH UPPER-CLASS WHITES TEND TO BE LESS INTENSE IN THEIR VIEWS THAN DO BLACKS. IN GENERAL, BLACK CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENTS ARE MORE POLITICALLY LIBERAL, MORE SOCIALLY SENSITIVE AND CONCERNED, MORE INDEPENDENT OF THEIR PEERS, LESS INDEPENDENT OF THEIR FAMILIES, MORE SKEPTICAL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE FIELD, AND LESS APT ACADEMICALLY THAN THEIR WHITE COUNTERPARTS. PREDOMINANTLY BLACK SCHOOLS APPEAR TO ATTRACT A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BLACK STUDENT THAN IS FOUND AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE SCHOOLS. THE BLACK STUDENT (AND ALSO THE WHITE STUDENT) AT A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK SCHOOL MAY BE LESS LIBERAL, LESS SOCIALLY SENSITIVE, LESS INDEPENDENT OF PEER GROUP PRESSURES, AND LESS ACCEPTING OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE FIELD THAN ARE STUDENTS AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE SCHOOLS. HOWEVER, BLACK STUDENTS AT PREDOMINANTLY BLACK SCHOOLS, ARE STILL MORE LIBERAL, SOCIALLY SENSITIVE, AND SKEPTICAL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAN ARE WHITES AT PREDOMINANTLY BLACK SCHOOLS. IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS FOR RECRUITMENT AND CURRICULUM DESIGN IN SCHOOLS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ARE DISCUSSED. THE RESULTS OF INDEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH 42 BLACK STUDENTS ARE REPORTED IN DETAIL. ALSO INCLUDED ARE A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF BLACK FOLK MUSIC, LITERATURE, AND HUMOR, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AN ITEM ANALYSIS OF SURVEY RESPONSES, AND SUPPORTING TABULAR DATA. (LKM)