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ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POLICE AND THE LARGER ATTITUDE COMPLEX
Author(s) -
ALBRECHT STAN L.,
GREEN MILES
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1977.tb00049.x
Subject(s) - isolation (microbiology) , psychology , economic justice , social psychology , polarization (electrochemistry) , criminology , political science , law , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Abstract Growing concern with the effect of negative public attitudes toward the police on police‐community polarization and morale and effectiveness has led to numerous efforts to improve the image of the policeman and to facilitate more positive relationships with the community. It is proposed that the eflectiveness of such programs is hindered by their failure to consider that public attitudes toward the police do not exist in isolation, but are a part of a broader complex of attitudes toward the system of legal justice and its various representatives. Data from four different samples of residents of a western state provide some tentative support for this hypothesis. Implications of the data for programs designed to improve police‐community relationships are discussed .