期刊名称：Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences
印刷版ISSN：1944-1088
电子版ISSN：1944-1096
出版年度：2012
卷号：4
期号：4
页码：790-821
出版社：Guild of Independent Scholars
摘要：Previous literature suggests there is partial support for the effects of demographic characteristics on crime-reporting behavior and attitudes toward the police. In an attempt to redefine rival research finding and to expand the dialogue on the effect of demographic variables, we tested five research hypotheses in this study. The findings of this study suggest that of the three selected demographic variables we tested (e.g., gender, race, and socio-economic status), gender and race were the best predictors of crime-reporting behavior, the main dependent variable. Both these two variables had a significant and substantial effect on crime-reporting behavior. Regarding race/ethnicity, the findings of this research study are quite unique. We found evidence contrary to theoretical prediction about the effect of race on crime-reporting behavior. Additionally, this study shows that an increase in socio-economic status (i.e., from poor to lower middle-class or from lower middle-class to middle-class) is manifested with an increase in the reporting of crimes in general and with a slightly higher increase on the reporting of property crimes, in specific.
关键词：police; crime-reporting behavior; attitudes toward the police
