Perception and misperception in urban criminal justice policy - The case of hate crime
Issue Date
2004-03Author
Haider-Markel, Donald P.
Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Format
274081 bytes
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Perceptions of an issue, problem, or policy might differ depending on the organizational context in which one is located. The importance of perception has been a concern for students of international relations, political institutions, organizational theory, and public policy, but less so for scholars of urban politics. This study contributes to the understanding of how organizational and community context influences perceptions by examining the perceptions of interest group leaders and police related to law enforcement activity on hate crime with survey data from each group in a sample of the 250 largest American cities. The author presents a basic theoretical framework for understanding how perceptions may differ depending on organizational and community context. He then tests for differences in perceptions using both simple and more advanced statistical methods, controlling for community context. The results suggest organizational and community context influence perceptions of law enforcement activity. The implications of the findings for urban politics and democratic political systems more generally are discussed.
Description
An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Political Science Association, March 2002.
Collections
Citation
Haider-Markel, DP. Perception and misperception in urban criminal justice policy - The case of hate crime. URBAN AFFAIRS REVIEW. March 2004. 39(4):491-512.
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.