Informing the Public: Impact of the Presence and Type of Information Provided on Laypersons' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward the Criminal Justice System.

摘要

Public thinking on controversial issues is important to measure, given its impact on citizens' attitudes and voting preferences. Research has demonstrated that the general public holds little faith in the criminal justice system, tending to view it as too lenient with those who violate the law. It appears that the expressed dissatisfaction may be due to a lack of accurate information about the system, the proliferation of inaccurate or distorted information, and a misrepresentation of public thinking by conventional polling practices. The current study empirically explored whether the provision of information about sentencing and corrections influenced laypersons' knowledge about, satisfaction with, and support for aspects of the criminal justice system. In addition, this study investigated the impact of an opportunity to integrate and apply this information in one's own decision-making on one's knowledge, attitudes, and support. The results suggested that although participants attended to the information provided, this information did not affect respondents' knowledge of attitudes about, and support for the criminal justice system.