Year: 2008
Type: report
Abstract: ObjectivesThe main objective of this study was to analyse citizens' attitudes towards the justice system and their determinants, both in the UK and internationally.Based on a literature review and an analysis of existing opinion data, it maps common reasons for dissatisfaction with the justice system in a number of Western countries, and summarises long-term trends in this context.The study analyses the factors that associate with attitudes towards the justice system, again on the basis of international comparisons.The findings have been used to consider the value of different types of survey and opinion research on the justice system to the task of improving confidence and legitimacy. MethodologyThe study has been based on secondary analysis of existing social surveys.First, findings from earlier research are summarised in chapter two.Chapter three summarises basic international data from the World Values Survey, Eurobarometer, and the European Social Survey, to map trends in confidence in the justice system in Western countries and the UK.The findings from chapter two are then used in chapter four to build a model for analysing data on 'trust in the legal system' from the European Social Survey for 19 European countries.Given the very general nature of the data and findings in chapter four, a more detailed analysis in chapter five uses data from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey to analyse attitudes towards particular elements of the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Key findingsEarlier international research on attitudes towards the justice system• Citizens in many countries are dissatisfied with the justice system's efficiency, its costs and tendencies towards bureaucratic procedures.• Yet, confidence in the justice system's fairness and outcomes remains generally high.• General attitudes towards the justice system appear to relate closely to attitudes towards other governmental institutions.• While the justice system often suffers from a bad image, professionals in the system often receive much better ratings.• Most of the published research has focused on criminal justice with relatively less attention paid to the comparable issues of civil justice.• Variables measuring citizens' direct experiences of the justice system are often too general in nature to support detailed understanding of underlying attitudes. Findings from international survey data• Confidence in the justice system has declined substantially in most Western countries compared with the early 1980s.• This decline seems to have been halted in the second half of the 1990s.• The United Kingdom is no exception to this trend.• In a wider European perspective, citizens' attitudes towards the justice system in the United Kingdom are close to the average.• The justice system is rarely among the most trusted institutions in any country. Determinants of trust in the legal system in European countries (European Social Survey data)• Multivariate statistical models containing variables such as gender, education, age, feelings of safety, interpersonal trust, life satisfaction, feelings of discrimination, political self-identification and political interest explain little of the variation in levels of trust in the legal system in European countries.This includes the UK.• People's trust in the legal system is positively associated with trusting other people and with being satisfied with one's life in almost all European countries.• In the UK, trust in the legal system tends to increase with levels of education, while higher life satisfaction, interpersonal trust and feelings of safety tends to associate with higher levels of trust in the legal system.• The sense of belonging to a group suffering discrimination associates with reduced trust in the legal system.• Variables such as gender, age, political self-identification and political interest do not correlate with levels of trust in the legal system in the UK.• Overall, however, the models do not explain well the variation in levels of trust in the legal system. Confidence in the CJS in the UK (British Crime Survey data)• Statistical models were used to explore differences in citizens' confidence in the CJS, looking specifically at ratings of the capability of the CJS to bring offenders to justice, to respect the rights of the accused, to deal with cases promptly and efficiently, and to reduce crime.Generally, these models provided poor explanation for variance in public confidence.It seems that we need to examine other factors in trying to explain attitudes towards the CJS.iii • Women and younger respondents are generally more confident in the effectiveness of the CJS in bringing offenders to justice.• Men are found to be more confident in the CJS's respect for the rights of the accused.Respondents' confidence in the CJS's respect for the rights of the accused appears to be influenced by different factors than other specific attitudes towards the CJS.An interesting finding was that those who had experienced being arrested by the police had less confidence in the capability of the CJS to respect the rights of people accused of a crime.• Despite these findings, the explanatory power of the models is very low. Professionals and agencies in the CJS (British Crime Survey data)• Analysis indicates that citizens generally believe the police to be doing a good job.Judges, magistrates, prisons, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the probation service tend to be perceived in a less positive way.Juvenile courts receive the most negative ratings.• Interestingly, younger respondents tend to perceive all agencies and professionals (with the exception of magistrates) in more positive light than their older counterparts • Feelings of personal safety are positively associated with evaluations of professionals and agencies in the CJS.• Attitudes towards prisons appear to be determined by other factors than do attitudes towards other agencies and professionals in the CJS.Women and those with higher education levels are less inclined to think that prisons are doing a good job, while the same groups generally perceive the other agencies and their practitioners more positively.
Source: Lirias
Authors: Steven Van de Walle, John W. Raine
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2170954686