NCJ Number
241169
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 371-389
Date Published
December 2012
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the results of a survey that asked 1,084 undergraduates from 9 colleges to evaluate the intrusiveness and reasonableness of searches conducted by police and other agents of social control.
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a survey that asked 1,084 undergraduates from 9 colleges across the Northeastern United States of America to evaluate the intrusiveness and reasonableness of searches conducted by police and other agents of social control. Five versions of the survey tool, a self-administered questionnaire, were created. Each of the five versions varied the target/nature of the search, and participants received only one version of the survey. The five variations varied scenarios with the participant as the target of the search, with another unspecified person as the target, and with search specifically directed towards drugs, crimes against children, and homeland security. The current analysis focused on a subset of the sample addressing perceptions of 17 search scenarios targeting homeland security, immigration control, and border security. Participants' attitudes towards homeland security searches were also compared to similar searches directed against oneself to provide insights into whether participants rate searches directed against themselves as more intrusive than searches conducted for homeland security purposes. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.