Convicting the Innocent or Freeing the Guilty? Public Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Errors

Two types of judicial errors—convicting an innocent person or acquitting a guilty person—challenge the integrity and legitimacy of criminal justice. How citizens view these errors plays an important role in criminal justice policy. Utilizing data from a national survey, this study applies the establ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhuo, Yue (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2021, Volume: 65, Issue: 4, Pages: 458-479
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Conflict
criminal justice errors
instrumental
Public attitudes
symbolic
China
Description
Summary:Two types of judicial errors—convicting an innocent person or acquitting a guilty person—challenge the integrity and legitimacy of criminal justice. How citizens view these errors plays an important role in criminal justice policy. Utilizing data from a national survey, this study applies the established Western theories to explore the correlates of public attitudes regarding the relative acceptance of wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals in contemporary China. The findings lend support to both constructionist/conflict and symbolic theories.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X20944684