Citation

Vogel BL. J. Crim. Justice 1998; 26(3): 227-236.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0047-2352(97)00083-4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

One of the primary findings in the perception of crime seriousness literature is that widespread consensus exists regarding attitudes toward crime seriousness. This finding has been challenged as more sophisticated analyses have been used. Also, specific racial populations have not been examined to determine whether or not widespread agreement exists among attitudes toward crime. This study examines the responses of 621 African Americans residing in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D.C. to six hypothetical crime scenarios. A special case of a two-way analysis of variance was utilized to determine the extent of consensus within this sample. Results indicated that there was very little consensus within the sample regarding the seriousness of the crime scenarios. Further analyses describe the nature of the dissensus in terms of the harm done and the motive provided in each scenario.