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26 How. J. Crim. Just. 1 (1987)

handle is hein.journals/hjcj26 and id is 1 raw text is: The Howard Journal Vol 26 No 1. Feb 87 ISSN 0265-5527 Law and Order and the Causes of Crime: Some Police and Public Perspectives SANDRA JONES and MICHAEL LEVI Sandra Jones is Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Community and Race Relations, Brunel University Michael Levi is Lecturer in Criminology, Department of Social Administration, University College, Cardiff Abstract: The degree of congruence among the public and between 'police' and 'public' in attitudes to law and order has been a matter of considerable debate in England and Wales. This article presents some previously unpublished survey data in the context of a general review of research on this topic, and goes on to discuss police and public views about crime causation as a reflection of ideological 'domain assumptions' about the nature of offending. It concludes that although there are broad similarities in perspective between police and public, this homogeneity begins to break down when the data are disaggregated at a local level. It also questions the revival of a purely reactive model of policing as an 'ideal type'for the inner city. As the 'official' agents of order maintenance, crime prevention, and detection, the police are often at the forefront of the political debate about law and order. Much of the concern about the growing influence of the police has focused upon relationships between chief officers, politicians, and the media (Hall 1979; Norton 1984; Pearson 1983; Reiner 1985). However, without denying the significance of these changes, this article will concentrate upon the lower ground in reviewing two aspects of the law and order issue: public and police views about policing; and public and police views about crime causation. The justification for reviewing police-public disparities of views about policing is that they are critical not only to those who advocate greater accountability but also because even the most 'independent-minded' police officer would recognise that their existence creates a 'communications problem'. The justification for analysing views about crime causation is that they reflect the way different sectors of society allocate blame for 'the crime problem'. Irrespective of the 'correctness' of public (or police) opinions about crime causation, the blaming process both is the product of and influences responses to crime. Ideology and Public Opinion: Use and Misuse Great rhetorical significance is attached by politicians, criminal justice professionals, and radical activists to the importance of public views in I

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