The Impact of Demographic Variables on Public Opinion Regarding Juvenile Justice: Implications for Public Policy

Abstract

This article examines data from a 1991 national public opinion survey on attitudes toward juvenile crime/justice. Specifically, it explores the relationship between demographic variables and opinions toward trying juveniles in adult courts, giving them adult sentences, and sentencing them to adult prisons. The findings indicate that a majority of typical respondents favor trying juveniles in adult courts for serious felonies. Additionally, punitive attitudes toward juveniles decrease up to a certain age, usually around 50, and then increase. Findings also show that African-American parents are more supportive of punitive juvenile justice policies than other racial/ethnic groups with and without children.