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Monday January 9 th The Meaning of public Opinion What is a public A population a given group of people i e Tallahassee residents Definition centered on identity population Definition centered on behavior society Philosophical Society v population public society social organization tradition culture norms Crowd group of people temporary that are organized by an emotional response to something Group think de individualization Mass common motivation temporary but they don t know about it Migration black Friday Diverse people who act as individuals self interest not much sharing of ideas or emotions about the topic Public problematic issue that needs to be addressed so this comes into existence temporarily to address it Characterized by disagreement on the best way to solve the issue discourse Varies in size individuality is maximized Rational even if not intelligent Is there an American public No there is a multitude of publics Best you can do is type into each public to get the most broad scope of opinions Which groups count as members of the so called American public What constitutional amendment included women and minorities into the public Age 18 Must be a citizen and a non felon Varies with time White males in 1850 14th citizenship to slaves 15th minorities the right to vote 19th women s right to vote 5 Reasonable Definitions of Public Opinion 1 An aggregation of public opinion Collection of all opinions Average opinion Most common definition 2 Public opinion is a reflection of majority of beliefs What the norm is Mode of beliefs 3 Public opinion is found in the class of group differences Not defined by individual differences but by influence Blumer s critique 1948 All polls consider all people equally Not true not all have the same influence 4 Public opinion is media and elite opinion By showing an issue a lot on the media people will start to believe it i e Crime as a main issue 5 Public opinion is fiction Survey a biased population Change questions and uses priming Fake elections Why Is Public Opinion Important Democracy It influences voting and policy making Policies should reflect public opinion Boundaries of political permission Confrontational politics riot protests Legitimacy people who perceive the criminal justice system as legit are more confident and less likely to commit a crime Influence of behavior due to perception What will happen if people are confident Cooperation report crimes pay taxes juries being witnesses Culture as culture changes public opinion changes Solidarity people who don t trust the government have less social cohesion Health mental and physical Fear of crime reduces health Less likely to be outside and be active Stress Wednesday January 11 th Interest Knowledge Public opinion about crime and criminal justice is dynamic It is not fixed it can and does change over time and places Extent of public opinion studies in our field Large increase of public opinion studies since the early 90s We know what the public thinks and why The public is very interested in crime Crime is most focused on on TV Public thinks they know a lot but varies according to what you specifically ask They mostly know about police and courts They THINK they know They know the least about juvenile courts Opinion How much have crime rates changed in the past 10 years Most think crime rates have increased Pretty consistent across time and places Crime rates in the past decade have been decreasing Why the discrepancy The media Juvenile crime rates have declined as well Public has a negative opinion upon other negative things For example teen pregnancy and poverty rates People think negative things are getting worse People are risk averse and over estimate negative events Other public misconceptions about crime Overestimates violent crime Less than 5 of arrests are violent Public thinks 54 Overestimates black offenders Overestimates recidivism rates Most offenders don t specialize People think immigration is positively correlated with crime More immigration doesn t cause more crime People have little evidence but strong attitudes and opinions Public Perceptions of Justice Public punitive ness support for harsher punishments Public thinks courts are too lenient Across time and countries Even in the face if new policies Incarceration rates have gone up by about 500 Yet people still think we re not harsh enough Public believes the justice system favors the offenders rights over the victim rights TOO concerned Reason when offenders get off it gets put on TV more when the system fails Conceptual Issues Public Opinion Research Attitude summary evaluation of an object of thought Attitude object object of thought anything perceived or held in mind File drawer attitude is a long term construct it s a mnetal file you keep and consult to evaluate things Attitude as construction model attitudes are temporary constructions formed to evaluate something based on available evidence circumstance Do attitudes have to be long term Researchers disagree about this 3 components of attitude expression cognitive affective behavioral Cognitive belief about attitude object Affective elicited emotions and feelings Behavioral actions directed at attitude object The process of constructing attitudes can be effortful and controlled or spontaneous and automatic Explicit attitudes deliberately and consciously constructed To measure just ask people Implicit attitudes automatically activated unaware To measure use indirect indicators Explicit Attitudes Sometimes people won t answer honestly Example discrimination of blacks as criminals Video game black whites offender victim shooting game Racial resentment index Asks indirect questions some are racist Social desirability effect pretending to answer questions in the way you think they want to hear Pleasing researched Not wanting to look bad Implicit Attitudes Implicit association test measures response latency How long does it take you to answer Harvard study pictures Classifies blacks with bad and good How long it takes you to respond Affect Misattribution Procedure Face then symbol How pleasurable is the symbol Wednesday January 18 th Conceptual Issues in Public Opinion Research What function does attitude serve Knowledge helps you size up an object or event Helps to attain positive goals and avoid negative ones Helps with approach avoidance Symbolic Help with self identification and bolster self esteem In group out group helps you distance yourself from


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FSU CCJ 4938r - The Meaning of public Opinion

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