NCJ Number
241641
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2013 Pages: 95-113
Date Published
January 2013
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effects of education on attitudes toward several criminal justice issues in college students enrolled in a senior-level forensic psychology course compared to a nonpsycholegal psychology course.
Abstract
Public policies related to the criminal justice system in the United States ultimately reflect the attitudes of its citizens. It is surprising, therefore, how few studies have investigated influences on attitudes about criminal justice issues and how narrow the scope of such investigations has been. In this study, we examined the effects of education on attitudes toward several criminal justice issues in college students enrolled in a senior-level forensic psychology course compared to a nonpsycholegal psychology course. Results indicated that education about public policy issues influenced students' attitudes toward the death penalty, prison reform, and the insanity defense. In addition, the study examined preexisting differences in these attitudes based on demographic and other status variables (i.e., race, gender, academic class standing) and found that these variables were associated with differences in attitudes about criminal justice issues in a much more complex way than previously considered in the extant literature. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.