Attitudes Toward Crime, the Police, and the Law: Individual and Neighborhood Differences

Racial and ethnic differences have been considered major factors in developing attitudes toward crime and the law. However, Attitudes Toward Crime, the Police, and the Law: Individual and Neighborhood Differences, a summary of research by Robert J. Sampson and Dawn Jeglum Bartusch, contends that beliefs are formed by neighborhood context, not race. One of many findings is that blacks' and whites' views toward the law were found to be similar after neighborhood disadvantage was taken into account. Neighborhood outlooks on tolerance of teenage deviance and cynicism toward the law are also discussed in this NIJ Research Preview.