Views on Aspects of the Criminal Justice System (From Crime and Its Impact: A Study in a Black Metropolitan Area, P 184-237, 1990, J M Lotter, L B G Ndabandaba, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-129203)

• NCJ Number: 129208
• Author(s): R Esterhuysen
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 54 pages
• Sale Source: South African Human Sciences Research Council
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: South Africa

Annotation

Based on interviews with an adult sample (677) of the general public in the black townships of KwaMashu and Umlazi (South Africa), this study examines public attitudes toward the police, the courts, and corrections.

Abstract

Particular attention was given to respondents' willingness to obey laws; their views on the fairness of laws, police action, courts and sentences, imprisonment, and alternatives to imprisonment; the ways in which they obtain crime-prevention information; and their views on the impact of crime factors on sentencing. Eighty-two percent of the respondents disagreed with the view that lawbreaking is only serious if you are caught, and 62 percent agreed that the law protects law-abiding citizens and punishes offenders. Respondents were almost evenly divided on positive and negative views of police effectiveness. Many wanted a greater police presence in their communities and tougher police action. The single largest percentage of respondents (38.5 percent) felt that sentences were generally too light. 46 references, 9 tables, and the interview questionnaire