w .. c.« ,.¢ SOCEGECONOMEC STATUS AS RELATED TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD POLICE The-sis for the Degree of M. S. MiCHiGAN STATE UNIVERSITY KNOWLTON- W. JOHNSON 1969 LIBRARY L1 Michigan 5mm UniV€rsitY um: maymmmnwmmnmmmnmm ~ 319 01 136129 SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AS RELATED TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD POLICE By Knowlton w. Johnson AN ABSTRACT Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE School of Police Administration and Public Safety APPROVED Mr. . rash ars, Chairman %Z$/'V¢¢€4Léaew¢wqr hn H. MdN ra Iii/1M4“) . j/maélLL / Yohn E. Angellv ABSTRACT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AS RELATED TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD POLICE By Knowlton W. Johnson In reviewing the literature there is a controversy between those who feel that the socioeconomic group to which a youth belongs effects his attitude toward police, and those who deny the existence of any such relation- ship. A common thread in the previous research regarding the relationship in contention is that no study has con- centrated specifically on variation in adolescents' attitudes toward police across the social strata. In an effort to cast more light on this relation- ship, the author analyzed data collected for an evaluation of the Lansing Youth Citizenship project pertaining to socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police and possible extraneous variables. The evaluation of which the present study is a part, involved 1,095 ninth grade students from three junior high schools within the city of Lansing, Michigan. The author hypothesized that there is little or no difference in the attitude toward police of junior high school students from various socioeconomic groups. Knowlton W. Johnson To discover if this hypothesis could be accepted or rejected, the relationship between socioeconomic status and junior high school students was first determined. Secondly, the effect of possible extraneous variables was considered. The socioeconomic status level of each student was obtained by taking answers to open—ended questions and assigning a Duncan's socioeconomic index score to each response. Due to the importance of the independent variable, socioeconomic status, special attention was paid to validity and reliability consider- ations. The instrument used to determine youths' attitudes toward police consisted of a twenty-item scale constructed and verified on a junior high school popula- tion of Cincinnati, Ohio. The control variables--sex, ethnic group, positive police contact, negative police contact, church attendance, working mothers and broken home--were determined by having youth respond to Sstructured questions. The overall objective of the present study is to decide whether to reject or accept the original relation- ship. If socioeconomic status is accepted as casual, no attempt would be made to show how socioeconomic status is related to youths' attitudes toward police. This process is beyond the scope of the present research. The author's original hypothesis, that there is little or no difference in the attitudes toward police Knowlton W. Johnson of junior high school students from various socioeconomic groups was rejected. In rejecting the hypothesis the independent variable, socioeconomic status, was accepted as influencing the dependent variable——junior high school students' attitudes toward police. This influ- ence was found to be most pronounced among girls, non- whites, and youth with working mothers; weakest among males, whites, youth who have had positive police contact as well as those who have never been roughed up, and youths with mothers who do not work outside the home; and different among youth who have been roughed up by the police. The original hypothesis should read: Under specific conditions, as socioeconomic status increases, youths' attitudes toward police also becomes more positive. A corollary to the hypothesis should read: A higher percentage of low socioeconomic status youth who have been roughed up by the police tend to have more positive attitudes toward the police than do middle class youth who have experienced the same kind of negative police contact. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AS RELATED TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD POLICE By \I‘ 13d“ Knowlton W.”Johnson A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE School of Police Administration and Public Safety 1969 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A number of persons contributed to the successful completion of this study. The author wishes to express his most grateful appreciation to the following people: To his Major Professor and Graduate Committee Chairman, Benjamin S. Brashears for his willingness to provide assistance whenever called upon; To the other members of his Graduate Committee, Dr. John H. McNarama and Mr. John E. Angell; To Sandra Judy for her many hours spent typing the first draft; To his wife Harriet, for the many hours spent tabulating data, editing and typing parts of the manuscript, and without whose understanding this study could not have been completed on time. To his parents for instilling in him the value of education. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES Chapter I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM. Introduction to the Problem Statement of the Problem . . Importance of the Problem . . . Definitions of Some of the More Abstract Concepts, Plus Other Concepts. . . Statement of the Hypothesis and Its Rationale . . Rationales for Introducing Other Variables . . . . . . . II. LITERATURE SURVEY Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Various Dimensions of Human Conduct . . The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Behavior . Historical Perspective of the Term Attitude . . . . . Attitude Formation . . . Attitudes Toward Authority. Relationship of Socioeconomic Status to Attitudes. . . Relationship of Socioeconomic Status to Attitudes Toward Authority III. RESEARCH SETTING AND PROCEDURE An Evaluation of a Community Youth Citizenship Project . . . The Method and Instrumentation of the Present Study . . . . . . . IV. THE ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION Results of the Two-Dimensional Analysis 111 Page ii LUMP ll l2 13 15 l6 18 2O 21 23 23 31 A5 A7 Chapter Page Results of the Three Dimensional Analysis. . . . . . . . . . 50 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. . . . . . . . 68 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . 69 Recommendations for Future Research. . 72 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . 75 APPENDICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 iv Table 10. ll. l2. 13. 14. LIST OF TABLES Page Number of studentsvflm>completed a question- naire (frequencies and percentages) . . 3O SES as determined by father's occupation and planned high school curriculum. . . 3A SES as determined by father's occupation and attitude toward police . . . . . 3A Levels of socioeconomic status according to Duncan's socioeconomic index. . . . 37 Levels of youths' attitudes toward police . Al Socioeconomic status and attitudes toward police . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Socioeconomic status and attitudes toward police . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by sex . . . . . . . 51 Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by ethnic group . . . . 5A Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by positive police contact. 57 Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by negative police contact. 59 Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by church attendance. . . 61 Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by working mothers . . . 6A Socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police by broken homes . . . . 66 CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM Introduction to the Problem In the past few years, a keen awareness of juvenile delinquency in our country has caused scientists inter— ested in this field of study to look for new approaches to the problem. /Recently, one relatively unexplored area of police-juvenile relations has attracted some attention. It deals with the Examination of juvenile attitudes toward police. This approach concentrates on the entire juvenile pOpulation, not just a certain seg— ; 5 /‘ ment which is officially classified as deviant. In other / words, delinquents' attitudes toward law enforcement are not the primary concern, but rather the attitudes of adolescents who are a backbone of a democratic society. One important aspect that nearly always appears when examining the attitudes of adolescents toward legal authorities, is their position in the social structure. It is presently assumed by many researchers that a youth's socioeconomic status provides a framework for his attitudes. However, these assumptions are most often based on a "delinquent" or "criminal" sample from institutions (Chapman, 1965, and Lander, 195A). It is expected that only when a study concerning socioeconomic status and adolescents' attitudes toward legal authority is sampled from the whole adolescent population, can an adequate evaluation of the relationship between socioeconomic status and adolescents' attitudes toward legal authorities be determined. Statement of the Problem Up until now, only a few studies have concentrated specifically on adolescents' attitudes toward legal authorities. Of the studies found in the literature, only one had considered social class and attitudes toward legal authorities seriously (Clark and Wenninger, 196A). The other two studies found which dealt with attitudes toward police, considered socioeconomic status, but only partially analyzed its relationship to attitudes toward law enforcement (Bouma and Schade, 1967, and Portune, 1965—66). It is believed that an extensive analysis, which goes beyond the zero order relationship, of socioeconomic status as the independent variable, and, junior high school students' attitudes toward police as the dependent variable, will cast more light on the problem. There— fore, it is the purpose of this study to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status and junior high school students' attitudes toward the police, while holding other factors which may be effecting the rela- tionship, constant. Importance of the Problem In part, the theoretical importance of this study is, that it could add to the small body of evidence in support of the proposition that adolescents' attitudes toward authority cut across the social strata. In addition, a more complete analysis of socioeconomic status and adolescents' attitudes toward the police will generate precise questions for future research. These questions should enable future researchers to con- firm or refine the conclusions of studies in the rela- tively unexplored region of police—juvenile relations. This study's pragmatic importance rests on the fact that it will generate pertinent information which can be utilized in creating a program to improve the relationship between adolescents and police in the com- munity in which the sample was taken. Definitions of Some of the More Abstract Concepts, Plus Other Concepts \// Socioeconomic status.——Socioeconomic status is one's position in the social structure, as measured by O. D. Duncan's socioeconomic index for all occupations. This approach is used to determine the occupational profile, by assigning index scores to the occupation of the respondent's parents. These index scores will be used to divide student's position in the social structure into four distinct status groups. Attitude toward the police.-—This is defined as a predisposed expression, by word or deed, of one's reaction toward the police. High school plans.--This involves whether or not an individual plans to enroll in an academic, vocational, commercial, or general curriculum in senior high school. Negative contact with the police.—-This implies negative interaction between an individual or a group of individuals and an officer(s) of the law. This contact with the police can have occurred at any past point in time, so long as the individual can recall the contact. Positive contact with thegpolice.—-This implies positive interaction between an individual or a group of individuals and an officer(s) of the law. This contact with the police can have occurred at any past point in time, so long as the individual can recall the contact. Working mother.--A mother who is either employed full-time or part—time outside the home, is considered a working mother. Broken home.—-This is a home in which the parents are either separated or divorsed. Sex.——This refers to whether the youth is male or female. Ethnic group.--This refers~to whether the youth is white, Negro, Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, Indian or Oriental. Church attendance.--Whether a youth attends church regularly seldom or never determines church attendance. Statement of the Hypothesis and its RationaIe The hypothesis states that there is little or no difference in the attitudes toward police of junior high school students from various socioeconomic status levels. The rationale for the foregoing hypothesis is based on pertinent information concerning socioeconomic status and attitudes toward the police that is found in the literature dealing with police—juvenile relations. In the early 1960's John Clark and Eugene Wenninger collected and analyzed data from 115A public school students from the sixth through twelfth grades in four different types of communities. The purpose of the study was to determine students' attitudes toward the law, the courts, and the police. When the researchers introduced socioeconomic class as a possible causal factor, it was found that this variable, per se, was not closely related to attitudes toward the legal institutions. Instead, a relationship was found between the different communities and attitudes toward legal institutions (Clark and Wenninger, 1964). In 1965-66, Dr. Robert Portune conducted a study of 1000 Cincinnati junior high school students with the purpose of investigating students' attitudes toward the police. The researcher failed to find conclusive evidence of a significant effect of socioeconomic level on attitude. Rationales for Introducing Other Variables According to Rosenberg (Rosenberg, 1968) control variables are introduced only if there is a theoretical or empirically based reason for assuming that they may account for the relationship, and if there is no evidence indicating that they are not related to the independent and dependent variables. In the present study theoreti- cal or empirically based reasons are reported for each control variable. In addition, each control variable has been cross tabulated with both the independent and dependent variables to make sure it is related to both. High school plans.--In our present secondary school systems a much higher percentage of those youths who are guided toward a college preparatory curriculum come from the middle and upper socioeconomic levels rather than from the lower status levels. Warner and Lunt found sharp differences in Yankee City among the class enrollment of early high school students in four curricula, Latin, science, general, and commercial. Approximately three—quarters of the lower—upper and upper-middle class students were enrolled in the college preparatory courses while a majority of the lower status levels youth favored either general or commercial curriculums. Hollingshead found much the same differentiation in Midwestern Elmtown when he correlated social class with three curricula, college preparatory, general and commercial (Brookover, 1955). It is believed that if the measure of socioeconomic status in the present study is valid, much the same dis- tribution by socioeconomic class in relation to the curricula as found above will exist. Direct contact with the police.--The effects of intergroup contact on the attitudes of persons involved in the contact situations have been of long—standing interest to the sociologist. Up until now though, research regarding the effects of contact has been done primarily in context of minority-majority group relation- ships or cross—cultural contacts. In the police field, Preiss and Ehrlich have been two of the few to consider the nature of the police-public contact situation. These researchers found that persons with no contact with the state po—ice manifested a consistently more favorable image of the police than persons of the other following three categories. Persons with some personal contact, classified as positive contact, are the group with the next most favorable attitude, while those who have had considerable negative contact appear to be more favorably inclined toward the police than those with some negative contact (Preiss and Ehrlich, 1966). These findings indicate that police contact is an impor- tant variable to consider when searching for some explana- tion of the relationship between people of different socioeconomic status levels and their attitudes toward legal authority figures. Broken homes and working mother.--These two variables are used extensively in research when adolescents are the populous being studied. Toby, Shaw and McKay, and Nye have studied these variables as they are related to socioeconomic status and deviant behavior among youth. It seems plausible to consider these variables in the present study, especially since there is disagreement in a number of these findings (Cicourel, 1968). Sex.-—Sex differences, among youth of today, are prevalent in our society. Boys have different goals in life, different means of achieving those goals, different attitudes toward various issues, and different sociali- zation processes than girls (Coleman, 1961). More specific sex differences have been found when adolescents attitudes toward police have been studied (Bouma, 1968). For the foregoing reasons, sex considerations will be included. Ethnicity.—-The dilemma which confronts the police in a pluralistic nation is a never ending one. Each group in the community has its conception of what the role of the police entails. First, because of these different conceptions, it seems plausible to consider the variable, ethnicity, as being important when study— ing youth's attitudes toward legal authorities. Secondly, it was found in a study of youth's attitudes toward police, that race was the most significant factor asso- ciated with differences in attitudes toward the police (Bouma, 1968). In addition to the foregoing evidence, one would think a high proportion of the minority groups being represented in the lowest socioeconomic status level would possibly affect the original relationship, socioeconomic status and youth's attitudes toward legal authorities. Church attendance.—-Religion's blueprint of life with very few exceptions, is a law—abiding one. It strives to keep each person within the rules and regu- lationsof society. This objective tends to facilitate social control, as well as attitudes toward various elements of social control even though the church does not consider this its principal function (Nye, 1958). In addition, it possesses general philosophies of love and obedience which would be expected to curtail the development of hostile attitudes toward authority 10 figures. If this institution has achieved the foregoing considerations, it is believed that this socialization experience should be studied. CHAPTER II LITERATURE SURVEY The following literature review in the general field reveals little material which focuses on the particular problem of the present investigation. Because of the lack of directly related material, this review will attempt first, to cover literature which deals with dimensions of socioeconomic status other than attitudes. After presenting some of the various dimensions of human conduct, material on attitudes will be dealt with explicitly. The term "attitude" will be traced through history: then, some conflicting results concerning attitude formation will be presented. Lastly, pertinent attitude studies will be reviewed and discussed. The approach to this review will be to group the material in the manner previously mentioned. Each group will be evaluated and interpreted according to its relevance to the present investigation. In the annotated bibliography, each entry will be followed by a brief exposition of the nature and content of the work, its value, and its relationship to the subject. This approach should provide a clear understanding of the literature pertinent to the present investigation. 11 12 Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Various Dimensions of Human Conduct L/ A number of studies have shown that socioeconomic status can help explain aspirations, occupational interests, social participation, personalities, intel— ligence, and values of youth.1 Other empirical findings tend to conflict with this theoretical expectation. For example, Rothman found that in each of eight factors he investigated, the differences between the two classes did not meet the criterion of significance (Rothman, 195A). Synder also found that responses to value orientation seem to cut across status levels. He pointed out that this lack of significant relationship is contrary to theoretical expectations, however, frequently in the past, theoretical expectations have been based on rela- tionships with only modest support (Snyder, 1966). Haller and Thomas came to the conclusion that their findings implied that socioeconomic status may affect a number of personality factors of adolescent males, but that its effects on any one such factor would be small (Haller and Thomas, 1962). The foregoing studies indicate that there is some disagreement among researchers as to which dimensions socioeconomic status can help explain, and lArchibald O. Haller and Thomas Shailer, 1962; V. P. Shah, 1966; Eldon E. Snyder, 1966; and R. A. Thayer, 1966. ' 13 the degree of validity of socioeconomic status as an explanatory factor. It appears at this point that a youth's position in the social structure may effect certain dimensions, while having little or no effect in other areas. The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Behavior There is a gradually increasing amount of evidence in the area of socioeconomic status and behavior that refutes previous findings that one social class has more deviant behavior than another. Porterfield's studies were pioneers in this area. He suggested that there is no direct association between delinquency and social status (Empey). Since Porterfield, other researchers have arrived at the same conclusion.2 Nye, Short and Olson pointed out that those studies that have found more juvenile delinquent activity in the working class, have used court records, police files, and other official records of delinquency, on which to base their research (Nye, Short and Olson, 1958). Cavan points out in her book that only about one- fourth of those youth that come into direct contact with the police are referred to the juvenile court. The greater proportion, approximately three-fourths, 2Ruth Shonle Cavan, 1962; LaMar Empey and Maynard L. Erickson, 1966; Edgar G. Epps, 1967; George Kupfer, 1966, Ivan F. Nye, James F. Short, Jr., and Virgil J. Olson, 1958. 1A are handled by the police, sometimes with a reprimand, and sometimes through special police youth bureaus. Usually this last type of contact is not officially recorded. She went on to present a study by Dr. Sophia Robison which found in New York City that many upper-middle or upper—class children were under treat- ment at private agencies. These children were not included in court statistics (Cavan, 1962). The research method that has produced findings which are contrary to theoretical expectations is called the self-report approach. Instead of sampling from a population of official delinquents, the researchers draw their data from subjects in the public school system. This group of studies dealing with socioeconomic status and behavior reveals an additional area in which researchers tend to disagree on the importance of social class as an explanatory factor. The researchers who found delinquent behavior to cut across all social levels may cause a shift in the theoretical approach to the problem of delinquency. Up until now, nearly all theory in the area of juvenile delinquency has used the social structure as a springboard. Possibly, the foregoing evidence will help alter our present theoreti- cal orientation. Its value to the present investigation is also of significance. The preceeding findings offer an additional basis for investigation of the relation- ship between socioeconomic status and certain attitudes. 15 Historical Perspective of the Term Attitude Since the term attitude was introduced into our thinking a number of decades ago, it has become the basis for the investigation of a wide variety of social behavior. However, the term goes as far back in time as the seventeenth century. Then, it was used in a non— scientific context which made it more useful for the tasks of poets and novelists, than for the scientific analysis of human social conduct. Later, modern experimental psychology introduced the term to the behavioral sciences. Continuing to trace the concept through history, one can see that a third milestone for the term attitude was the emergence of social psychology. During this period, the concept as it is known today, as a term indicating a relationship between an individual and a socially significant object, became widely accepted. The fourth important stage in the development of the attitude concept begain in the 1920's when the measure- ment of attitudes became of growing concern. However, as researchers develOped attitude scales, each seemed to define the concept differently (DeFleur and Westie, 1963). Gustad's first impression gained from his early review of the literature, was that there is very little agreement in the definition of the term attitude (Gustad, 1951). l6 Bringing the concept attitude, up to date, modern behavioral sciences have somewhat resolved the foregoing conflict by creating two conceptions of attitude into which definitions of the term can fall. These two types of conceptions are called probability conceptions and latent process conceptions. The former emphasizes the consistency shown by subjects in responding in defined ways toward a certain stimulus, and the later assumes that such response consistencies are manifestations of "underlying variables," which also defines the form of attitudinal behavior (DeFleur and Westie, 1963). The concept, attitude, has withstood many tests of its importance to the scientific world. Today, some social scientists still consider attitudes to be a crude concept, however nothing has prevented an accumulation of a large number of studies on attitudes. This illustrates that many social scientists believe that attitudes are of importance in social research. Attitude Formation As in other areas discussed in this review, there are different schools of thought concerning the develop- ment of attitudes. Most of these differences stem from the question of the parent-child relationship as the major source for the formation of attitudes. Epstein found in the middle—class that the crucial role of the parent, especially the father, was very important in the 17 development of delinquent attitudes of many male adolescents (Epstein, 1966). Zunich also found the home environment as a source for the development of attitudes. However, he pointed out that while it is possible and presumptive that parental attitudes con- tribute to the formation of attitudes in their children, it is erroneous to exclude other factors-~for example, personality, physical and intellectual development, and influences outside of the home (Zunich, 1964). Other researchers have affirmed Zunich's doubts concerning the parents as the major influence for the development of attitudes. For example, Riesman and Mead have alleged "peer-group solidarity," conformity, and loyalty among adolescents. They also affirmed the rejection, after later childhood, of parental standards, values, guidance, and companionship (Musgrove, 1963). Hess suggested that early attitudes toward authority are altered by various processes such as imitation, direct teaching, identification and developmental change. However, he thought that much of this modification takes place at the pre-adolescent level (Hess, 1966). From the foregoing evidence, it can be seen that the home does play a part in the formation of adolescents attitudes. However, there is also evidence that the development of attitudes may not be largely influenced by the family. It appears that the home may be very l8 influential in the formation of certain attitudes, while the child may cast aside other preachings of the parents when he enters the adolescent stage of life. This leads to an investigation of attitudes relevant to the present study. Attitudes Toward Authority Many writers with as varied orientations as Freud, Piaget, Rogers, Newcomb, and Crutchfield, etc., all agree that attitudes toward parental authority are generalized, and manifest themselves as attitudes toward superiors in later life (Marsten and Coleman, 1961). Hess reviewed a series of studies which also regarded the family as the first authority system in which the child has experience. He said that this system prepares a child for dealing with institutions and groups outside the family (Hess, 1966). However, Marstern and Coleman found a lack of consistency in research findings. Their key finding was that attitudes of submission or opposition toward paternal authority are not generalized to non-parental authority figures (Marsten and Coleman, 1961). It seems that Marstern and Coleman's suggestions based on their findings, point away from the tradi- tional Freudian and behavioristic theory. The contended that their results support a more cognitive, insightful, and active view of man's transactions with his world. 19 Their findings are consistent with the new concept emerging in psychology: the View of the individual as capable of rational self-direction rather than being entirely at the mercy of his past and present environ- ment (Marsten and Coleman, 1961). In other words, the situation that a youth encounters may be as important or more important than what he or she was taught at home. Clark and Wenninger reported that, the internali- zation of values and experience of their reference group, together with any personal experience with legal authorities, may color adolescent's attitudes toward legal authorities (Clark and Wenninger, 1964). Other studies which have considered direct contact with legal authorities, have compared delinquents and nondelin- 3 .quents. It appears that delinquents are usually more hostile toward legal authorities, however Johnson and Stanley found no significant difference between delin- quents and non-delinquents, when they studied sex, power, and threat of authority figures, and attitudes toward authority (Johnson and Stanley, 1955). Recently, the adolescents' attitude toward the police has become important in a few American cities. It appears, from the available literature, that the concentration is not on the delinquents' attitude toward 3Ames W. Chapman, 1956; Orval G. Johnson and Julian C. Stanley, 1955; Wilbur Washburn, 1963. 20 police, but rather on the attitude of the average adolescent (Bouma, Williams and Schade, 1967). There is an increasing body of facts which centers its attention on the delinquent and the attitudes he holds toward those who represent authority. However, attempt- ing to find out the average adolescent's attitude toward legal authority is a relatively new area for research. So far, the studies in this area of research have made mostly general observations. Very few factors have been looked at in detail. This leads back to the purpose of the present investigation: to study the relationship of socioeconomic status to adolescents' attitudes toward the police. However, a discussion and an evaluation of the relationship of socioeconomic status to students' attitudes toward components, other than authority, seems warranted. Relationship of Socioeconomic Status to Attitudes The review of literature thus far has established evidence that the home may not be the major factor in the formation of attitudes. In fact, the adolescent's environment may not play the important role which social scientists have previously thought. Additional evidence supporting this is found in studies concerning socio- economic status and attitudes. It was found in five studies that there is no marked difference between social 21 class and attitudes toward certain items pertaining to the school and adults.“ Coster did find a significant difference between socioeconomic status and items related to interpersonal relationships, for example, social acceptance (Coster, 1958). A more complete analysis showed that the working—class student tends to tolerate certain apparent discriminations in the school system (Coster, 1959). This category offered findings that were relatively consistent. However, it is possible that some research has found results contrary to the data presented in this review. Relationship of Socioeconomic Status to Attitudes Toward Authority The possibility that adolescents' negative atti- tudes toward authority is distributed evenly throughout the socioeconomic strata, is supported by most of the 5 research in police-juvenile relations. However, Bouma's results disagree with the foregoing evidence. He found that an inverse relationship existed between social class and antagonistic attitudes toward police among adolescents. The significant factor that Clark and Wenninger found was that although there was no difference “John E. Coster, 1958 and 1959, A. B. Fitt, 1956; Aurora Abear Minoza, 1959; and F. Musgrove, 1963. 5John P Clark and Eugene P. Wenninger, 196A; Robert G. Portune, 1965-66; and Elias Tuma and Norman Livson, 1960. f\ In |\) between socioeconomic status per se and attitudes toward legal authorities, there were differences between popu- lation areas. This could possibly reflect quality and quantity of community law enforcement (Clark and Wenninger, 196A). This concludes the review of pertinent literature that was found related to socioeconomic status and attitudes toward police. This survey reveals that there is a good deal of inconsistency in researchers' findings of studies in areas related to the present investigation. This appears to result from the present movement, in the behavioral sciences, away from theoreti- cal expectations that the social structure is the major explanatory factor in human conduct. This movement is highly prevalent in research concerning socioeconomic status and youth. As can be seen by this review, social scientists interested in attitudes, are also uncovering evidence which can strengthen the movement's validity. However, much evidence is needed before a theoretical change occurs. CHAPTER III RESEARCH SETTING AND PROCEDURE An Evaluation of a Community Youth Citizenship Prpject The present study is part of an evaluation of a citizenship program for youth being carried out in Lansing, Michigan. The following description of the setting and procedure pertains to that larger study. Pro ect In 1967, the Lansing school system and police department began discussing the possibility of a joint school-police project regarding the phenomena of ado- lescent hostility against authority. It was decided that it would be worthwhile to develop a project center- ing around classroom activity with all of the ninth graders in Lansing's five Junior High Schools. Through a coordinated effort by some of the school administra— tors and the Youth Bureau Personnel of the police depart- ment, a program was developed which basically covered the concepts of citizenship, law, and the functions of the various agencies in the criminal justice system. 23 24 Research Setting A team of researchers1 from Michigan State Univer- sity initiated the evaluation by setting up junior high schools one and two2 for the pilot study. In these schools, a questionnaire consisting of a background information sheet and one attitude-toward-police scale, constructed by Dr; Robert Portune of Cincinatti Univer- sity, were administered before and after the team of policemen came into the social studies classes. During the two four-week periods in which the police team was in the schools, the research staff also had an opportunity to observe the program in action. Research Design Since the research involved evaluating a particular treatment, the design would be experimental. Schools 3, 401 students, and 5, 3A0 students were selected as the experimental group. In these schools a more thorough questionnaire than the one used in the pilot study was administeredprior to and after the treatment. In junior high A, 470 students, the same questionnaire was administered, however, no treatment was given between Phase I and Phase II of this school. A control group, 1The research team accepting the evaluation assign- ment consisted of two members of the police administration faculty and two graduate students which included the writer. 2Junior high schools one and two were the first and second schools which received the police team. 25 a group with no treatment tends to minimize the effect of any extraneous events other than the treatment. This increases the researchers' confidence in his results. The three schools involved in the evaluation were chosen for several pragmatic reasons. First, these three schools were very similar in social class structure 3 The other two and minority group representation. junior high schools involved in the project were either predominantly working class with a large minority group representation, or a predominantly middle class with a small minority group representation. The second reason for using the last three schools in the evaluation, was that more time could be spent for the most important aspect of research, planning. Instrumentation Instead of constructing the various scales needed in the evaluation, the researchers compiled various instruments dealing with attitudes, perceptions, and values, which have been used successfully in previous research. The instruments“ used are as follows: 3Social class structure and minority group repre— sentation was determined by talking to the school ad— ministrators of the schools involved in the research. After the data gathering phase of the study, it became evident that the minority group representation was signifi- cantly smaller than the school administrators had said. “The Attitude Toward the Police Scale, and the Contact Survey will be discussed later in Chapter III. 26 a. Opinion Survey (police—teacher problems, and prestige rating scale). b. Sentence Completion Technique c. Attitudes Toward the Legal Institution Scale d. Value Survey e. Attitude Toward the Police Scale f. Police Contact Survey g. Self-reporting Delinquency Scale Pretest After the questionnaire was completed and run off by facilities provided by the Lansing Board of Education, the research staff administered the questionnaire to a small class of students at junior high school number one. The purpose of this pretest was to make sure the question— naire items were clear and that the student would have an ample amount of time to complete it. The group of students' responses indicated that the questionnaires presented no problem. Procedure 5 On February 12, 1968, the research team entered junior high school number three to administer the questionnaire to the first of two schools selected to 5Due to more social science classes being held in a period than there were researchers, the coordinator for the project administered questionnaires in one of the classes on several occasions. She was instructed as to what procedure to follow and the importance of neutrality. 27 be in the experimental group. Since a number of the items to which the ninth grade students would be responding would be directly and indirectly connected with the school system, it was believed that the students would be less inhibited if the teachers left the room and let the researcher assigned to his or her class take over. This procedure presented no problem in any of the schools.6 The average social studies class size filling out the questionnaire was around 27 students. The only exception to this average class size was a smaller group of slow learners in each school. There was a conscious effort to have the students work in a relatively close replica of the normal classroom situation,7 however, it was felt that by having a neutral person administer the questionnaire, the students would feel freer to answer the items accurately. To retain this neutrality, the staff did not attempt to discipline any student other than to channel his or her undesirable action into more productive behavior. Student anonymity 6Several of the teachers would remain part of the period at the back of the room doing school work. In no way did they interfere. 7Phase II of junior high school number three was the only exception to a class replica of the normal classroom situation. Here, the ninth grade students were split into groups of approximately 175 students and given the questionnaire on consecutive days. 28 was also stressed along with honest responses to the various items. Some contagion was inevitable among the students, however the staff felt that neutrality held precidence over contagion. All of the regularly scheduled class period was given over to administering the questionnaire. The general instructions were read aloud by the administrator to the group. With the exception of the slow learner groups, individual instrument instructions were left for the students to read.8 The students were encouraged to bring forth any questions which he or she was not sure about. The answers to any questions were passed on to the whole groups. Because of the slow learners inability to read all of the instructions, they were read to them. This procedure required an additional class period. In the Lansing junior high school system, this additional class period presented no problem since the slow learners have one double period each day, con- sequently they responded to the questions during this period rather than their regular social science period. 8Phase I of school number three was an exception regarding the reading of instructions. Here, the ad- minister read aloud all instructions. Because this particular procedure increased the administers time to an additional period the following day as well as going too slow for a majority of the students, it was eliminated. It was also necessary to use codes in order to get a student's own questionnaire back to him or her the following day. It was a troublesome method, however, it is believed that the procedure did not threaten the student's anonymity. 29 If any student did not finish in the allotted time, he or she would be asked to put their names on a 5 x 3 index card. Around 5% of the total population did not finish in one period. The student then would staple the index card to his or her questionnaire. If the student appeared reluctant to trust the administer, they were given an opportunity to seal their question- naires by stapling around the edges. No student who failed to finish in one period refused to follow the foregoing procedure. Some contagion was evident from first period to the last period of the day. However, the research staff felt that administering the question— naire to small groups held precidence over any con- tagion that might be a result of administering to small groups throughout the school day. Only those students who were absent on the day that the questionnaire was administered failed to complete one. The following table shows the frequencies and percentage of students who completed a questionnaire during Phases I and II. At various times during the four week period in which the team of officers was in each school, the research staff visited the classrooms in an effort to obtain additional qualitative information. These observation periods provided the staff with an oppor- tunity to obtain a tremendous insight as to the 30 TABLE l.--Number of students who completed a question- naire (frequencies and percentages). School Phase I Phase II Total No. Students Students of Completing Completing Students a Questionnaire a Questionnaire Freq. % Freq. % 3 401 375 9A 354 88 A A70 AO6 86 UO3 86 5 BAD 312 92 298 88 TOTAL 1211 1095 1055 effectiveness of the program. Being more specific, the researchers looked at the relationship between the policemen and students, teachers and students, and finally between the policement and teachers. Attention was also paid to the project curriculum, for the pur- pose of seeing if something should be eliminated in the future. These observation periods coupled with the quantitative data received from the questionnaires should make this evaluation of an unique, joint police-school program, one of the most thorough of its kind. 31 The Method and Instrumentation of ' the PreSent Study This study involves a single aspect of the broader investigation approached from an entirely different perspective. Where the evaluation of the youth- community Citizenship Project is concerned with de- scribing any change of subject's attitudes, perceptions, and values due to the citizenship program-—the present study attempts to explain the relationship between social class and youth's attitudes toward police prior to the treatment. This approach calls for a nonexperi- mental design involving only the data collected from phase one of the larger study. With this design no comparative groups are needed. The data from each of the schools will be treated equally. Measures Socioeconomic Status.-—In sociological research, occupation is used extensively as an indicator of the socioeconomic standing of respondents involved in surveys. Sociologists have frequently pointed out though with differing justifications, the sig- nificance of occupation as a measure of position. For Davis and Moore, Parsons, and similar writers this comes as the logical consequence of a larger theoretical analysis. It is presented by others as an empirical finding in studies where stratification position was determined by criteria other than occupation. In still other research the dominant role of occupation is taken as given. None of these has claimed occupation to 32 be a sufficient criterion of relative position, but all are in substantial agreement that it is a usable and valid index for most purposes (Reiss, ed., Hatt, 1961). When studying adolescent populations, the occu- pation of the father is usually utilized as the index of socioeconomic standing of the respondents. The primary rationale for solely depending on the occupation of the father for determining SES of youth is that the father is the "head of the household" in our society. Consequently his occupation determines the family's spot on the social ladder. Secondly, techniques of assigning specific occupations to stratification positions, are developed from data on males in the experienced labor force. In the present study socioeconomic status was determined primarily by the father's occupation. However, in cases where the father's occupation was not given or not readable, the mother's part— or full- time occupation provided the ranking. In examining the literature only one study was found that used the mother's occupation in the absence of a father surrogate (Wallin and Waldo, 1964). There was no dis- cussion regarding the question of how valid indexes of occupational socioeconomic status based on the male working force may do for females. However there is intuitive justification, as well as empirical evidence 33 found by the author for using the mother's occupation where the father's occupation is not known. First of all, in the present study, it was found that in a majority of the cases where there was substitution, it was also plausible to assume that the female was the head of the household.9 Thus, one could argue that her position in the working world somewhat determines the family's socioeconomic status. Secondly, if there is some dis- tortion due to substituting the mother's occupation in place of the father's type of employment, this distor- tion should be minimized when the socioeconomic classi— fication of occupations was collapsed into broad categories (Table A). The empirical evidence for the use of mother's occupation with absence of father surrogate was found by determining the direction and magnitude of the relationship between father's occupation (with and without substituting mother's occupation) and two external criteria, planned high school and youth attitude toward police (Table 2 and Table 3 respectively). The variable, planned high school, was used because of the established direction and magnitude of the relationship between SES and youth enrollment in high school course work (Brookover, 1966). In Table 3 it 9There were fifty—three cases where the father's occupation was not given and twenty-five cases where the father's type of employment was not readable. By using the mother's occupation in the above cases reduced the percentage of unuseable cases from 18.4% to 11.3%. 3A TABLE 2.--SES as determined by father's occupation and planned high school curriculum. Not Using Mother's Using Mother's Occppation Occupation Low High Low High PHS** 1 2 3 A 1 2 3 A * 90 15A 138 80 97 163 1A8 80 1 36.7 5A.2 69.7 89.9 35.7 53.8 69.8 89.9 * 155 130 60 9 175 1A0 6A 9 2 63.3 A5.8 30.3 10.1 6A.3 A6.2 30.2 10.1 2A5 28A 198 89 272 303 212 89 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% *1 = CollegefPreparatory 2 Business, Vocational, General **Planned high school TABLE 3.--SES as determined by father's occupation and attitude toward police. Not Using Mother's Using Mother's Occupation Occupation Low High Low High ATP* 1 2 3 A 1 2 3 A 1A5 1A2 93 32 167 156 97 32 Low 51.2 A6.u 43.7 3u.u 52.8 A7.6 u2.5 3A.u Hi h 138 16A 120 61 1A9 172 131 61 8 A8.8 53.6 56.3 65.6 u7.2 52.2 57.5 65.6 283 306 213 93 316 328 228 93 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% * Attitude toward police. 35 it can be seen that using mother's occupation made little difference in the relationship. These results were also found when SES was cross-tabulated with the present study's dependent variable, Attitudes of Youth Toward Police. It is apparent that by using mother's part- or full-time employment in the absence of a father surrogate affects neither of the foregoing relationships. At the same time more useable cases should enhance further explanation of the data. The method of occupational classification used in the present study consisted of a socioeconomic index constructed by Otic D. Duncan, from 1950 census informa- tion on detailed occupations.lO In constructing the index, Duncan used education and income to measure the socioeconomic status of an occupation (Reiss, 1961). Other sociologists, such as Alba Edwards, who have 10The formula for estimating the prestige ratings for each of the "missing" occupations in the census list is the following multiple regression equation: SEI score = 0-59X1 + 0.55X2 — 6.0 in which X1 is the percentage of males in the particular occupation with incomes of $3500 per year or more, with X2 being the percentages of males in the particular occupation who are high school graduates or better according to 1950 census data, and corrected for differences in age distributions. The almost equal weights and the con- stant value in this equation were calculated from the original NORC data. The criterion variable was the percentage of excellent plus good responses for each occupation. The predictor variables were the income and education percentages reported in the 1950 U.S. Census for each occupation. These were selected due to their high correlations with the North-Hatt scores, and their availability (Haug and Sussman, 1968). 36 developed systems for classifying occupations contend that education and income are important variables in the classification of occupations. In Edwards' View, "Education is a very large factor in the social status of workers and wage or salary income is a very large factor in their economic status." Educational status and income levels of the incumbents of various occupa- tions are also found to be highly correlated with prestige ratings of the various occupations (Reiss, 1961). Along with precedent justification for using a classification of occupations which includes prestige, education, and income considerations, one can also present a pragmatic rationale for using Duncan's index in the present study. For instance, other systems for classi— fying occupations which consider education and income, ask the questionnaire respondent for his or her respec- tive levels or in the case of an adolescent population, ask them to put down their parent's levels of education and income. It is debatable whether or not junior high school students can estimate with any degree of accuracy their parent's level of income (Nye, F. Ivan, 1958). Duncan's idea of using census data on detailed occupational characteristics to prepare a socioeconomic classification of occupations, appears to relieve the respondents of having to estimate their parent's income. Subsequently this increases the researcher's confidence when classifying parent's occupations. 37 The procedure for using Duncan's socioeconomic index (SEI) is as follows. The index was used to place the various occupations of subject's parents into four ordinal status groupings. These four groupings were established by dividing Duncan's index, 0-99, into quartiles (Table 2). TABLE A.--Levels of socioeconomic status according to Duncan's socioeconomic index. SES Level SEI Low I 0 — 2A II 25 — A9 III 50 — 7A High IV 75 - 99 Dividing the Duncan's socioeconomic index into the respective categories was dependent upon the size of the increments between individual indicies assigned to Duncan's listings of A5 broad classifications of occupations. In other words the divisions were made at those points where the largest gaps exist. The assigning of index scores to the occupation of subject's parents was done by directly looking up the most appropriate category in Duncan's list of AA6 38 occupational titles.ll Additional criteria for occupa- tional classification were developed to assist the coder where ambiguity resulted due to Duncan's broad occupational classification (Appendix A).12 The coding procedure for father's and mother's occupation can be found in Appendix B. The case for the validity of the socioeconomic index in the present study rests first of all on the suitability of education and income as indicators of socioeconomic status, and the high correlation with occupational prestige. Secondly, categorizing the index values into only four ordinal groupings tends to heighten the measure's validity. Supporting evidence can be found in a study which checked the consequences of various occupation coding procedures. These researchers found that categorizing Duncan's SEI scores into fewer cate- gories tended to minimize differences between Duncan's "direct look up procedure" and McTavish's procedure which used the census six-digit occupation/industry codes as an intermediate coding step (McTavish, 196A). 11This list is made up of both specific and general occupational titles. Examples of specific and general titles respectively are clergymen, and managers of retail tnade-—salaried (Reiss, 1961). 12On numerous occasions, the Dictionary of All Occupational Titles was used in order to identify various specific occupations in which the coder was unfamiliar. The State Department of Labor and local industry also assisted in describing various job titles. 39 Finally, the SES of the youth were found to be strongly associated with an external criterion, high school curriculum plans (Table 2). Approximately ninety per cent of the youth in the highest socioeconomic group plan to take college courses as compared to about thirty-six per cent of the youth from the lowest socio- economic strata. Intercoder reliability was established by having a member of the university faculty take a 20% systematic random sample of the questionnaires collected, and place the various occupations of the subject's parents into the four ordinal categories. The instructor used the Duncan compilation of occupational titles and the addi- tional criteria developed by the author. Agreement was calculated in terms of the percentage of occupations of both parents, placed in the same category by both the author and the faculty member. Disagreement regarding the placing of either the father's or mother's occupa- tion constituted an error. In this study, out of a possible 219 errors, only 11 occurred, giving a 95% 13 agreement. This was deemed satisfactory for subse- quent use. 13On several occasions during the development of the additional criteria for placing respondents into appropriate categories, the writer conferred with the faculty member doing the co-checking on very ambiguous responses. It is believed that this bias possibly affected the high reliability but not to the point of discrediting the check. A0 ~The Measure of Attitudes Toward Police The Attitude Toward Police Scale used in the present study was developed by Robert S. Portune of the University of Cincinnati (Appendix C). The scale con- struction was in accordance with Thurston-Chave judging methods, using 105 original statements and 100 youth judges. Thurston's standard method of deciding which statements are highly discriminating is called "the method of equal appearing intervals." The final scale- is composed of 20 highest discriminating items, and is scored by the Lidert method, with the subjects indicating the degree to which they agree or disagree with state— ments praising or condemning the police. The validity of the scale was further enhanced when it was compared with an external criterion-interview results. The reliability of the scale checked by the split—half method came out to be .90 (Portune, 1965). Each respondent's total score was determined by sumating his response to the twenty items in the scale. If a respondent failed to mark one or more of the items, his mean score was substituted. 0f the 1095 respondents, twenty—five failed to mark any of the items in the scale. These observations were not used. The lowest possible score on the attitude toward police scale is twenty while the highest score which can be obtained is 100. Since the data are so skewed Al toward the most favorable attitude toward police, the group's mean being 75, it was decided that four cate- gories would be established according to the normal population distribution. Subsequently, the percentage of the pOpulation which fell into the four categories were controlled. The limits established are as follows: TABLE 5.--Levels of youths' attitudes toward police. Lowest Highest Level 1 2 3 A Total Scores 20—60 61-75 76—85 86-100 % of Sample 15.6 32.00 35.00 16.00 Number 167 3A9 377 177 The Measure of Prior Contact with Police The population of this study was asked to respond to several items which denoted the degree and kind of prior contact the subjects had had with the police. Other than minor revisions made by the author,lu these items are a product of the Youth Service Corps, Detroit, Michigan (Youth Service Corps Evaluation, 1966). It is believed that a number of items pertaining to 1“The revision made by the author amounted to only rewording several of the seven items. A2 various situations, as opposed to one item will tend to maximize adolescent recall of any prior interaction with the police. Two statements, one denoting favorable and one denoting unfavorable contact, will be considered for analysis. Limitations of Socioeconomic Status Measure' One of the major limitations of using the father's occupation as reported by the junior high school student as an indication of socioeconomic status, is getting the youth to be specific enough in responding to the item pertaining to the father's or mother's occupation. unless the subject gave his or her father's place of employment along with the exact job title, that par- ticular response may not be accurately classified.15 Secondly, the occupational classification accord— ing to Duncan's socioeconomic status index can be further validated by examining the association between the father's occupation and other indicators of socio- economic status. Large associations would increase the author's confidence in the use of the father's occupation as an indicator of socioeconomic status (Hirschi and Selvin, 1967). 15Edmund W. Vaz used size of organization in which father works as one of the indicators which help established socioeconomic level (Vaz, 196A). A3 In the present study the writer found large associations between SES and a variable high school curriculum plans. This variable has been found to be highly correlated with social status. There are also some limitations of the Duncan technique itself of which the reader should be aware. First, there are a number of occupations with a wide range of class and status meanings. For instance, a farmer can be barely existing or a very prosperous agriculturalist; a service man may be a private or a general; a manager may head a large corporation or a small struggling business. Yet the SEI does not allow for these occupational distinctions, and since the small farmer, the enlisted serviceman, and the small business man predominate, their characteristics lower the score of the entire category, and downgrade the upper class positions in the occupation (Haug and Sussman, 1968). It should be noted that the criteria developed by the author attempted to minimize the source of error (Appendix A). Another source of error in Duncan's technique is the factor of relatively sex-specific occupations. All SEI values are computed from data on males in the experienced labor force. Thus, such occupations as nurse, librarian, and social worker, which are pre- dominantly female occupations, have been rated on the AA basis of their male minorities. This results in such curiosities as student professional nurses rating five points higher than professional nurses, mainly because male student nurses, more often than working male nurses, have completed high school. It is claimed that respondents to the original NORC survey that produced the criterion values, were "think(ing) in terms of males" because of the way the questions were worded. Even if this assumption is accepted, it does not answer the question as to what error has been introduced, and in what direction it is, from rating the largely feminine occupations according to the education and earning levels of a few men job holders (Haug and Sussman, 1968). A possible additional source of error in the socioeconomic status measure used, could result from the using of the husband's occupation alone to determine either the class or status of a family. Duncan was only concerned with the male working force. Since over 1A million married women are presently employed, it seems feasible to consider the phenomenon of the working wife (Haug and Sussman, 1968). CHAPTER IV THE ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION The task of survey analysis is to manipulate such non-experimental data after they have been gathered in order to separate the effects of the independent variables from the effects of the extraneous causal factors associated with them (Selvin, 1966). The foregoing statement established the format for the analysis of the results of the present study. The form of the analysis will be precentaged contingency tables1 with no test of significance2 to assist interpre- tation of the differences between the values of the various variables studied. 1The primary reason for using tables as the device of presentation is that the present researcher has worked with this kind of multivariate analysis much more than some of the more elaborate techniques. Subsequently being familiar with technique use to analyze the result should enhance the interpretations of the findings. A second reason for using tabular analysis is that both the lay reader and the professional social scientist should find them easier to understand (Hirschi and Selvin, 1907 . 2According to Morrison and Henkel (1908) signifi— cance tests are not legitimately used for any purpose other than that of describing some population on the basis of a probability. Such tests can tell nothing about the magnitude of the relationship or difference being studied, so provide clues as to its theoretical or other interpre- tations. A5 A6 The first step in the analysis is to examine the original relationship between social economic status, an independent variable and youths' attitude toward police, the dependent variable.3 Next, a third variable will be introduced. This third variable "elaboration" as is called by Lazersfeld, involves the reexamination of a two—variable association for the separate values, sub-groups of youth, of the third variable (Selvin, 1966). The reason for continuing the investigation beyond the original relationship is to find out whether it is based on an accidental connection with selected associated variables. This process will consist of holding seven extraneous variables, sex, ethnic group, positive police contact, negative police contact, church attendance, working mothers, and broken homes, constant while the relationship between social economic status and attitudes toward police is left to vary.“ The final step in the analysis will consist of reporting the results with a discussion and interpretation 3Throughout the analysis the relationship between socioeconomic status and youths' attitude toward police will be referred to as the original relationship. ”This concludes the objective of the present study: that is to decide whether or not to reject the original relationship. Hirschi and Selvin (1967) call this process "explanation." If the original relation is accepted as causal, no attempt will be made to show how the two variables in the original relationship are connected. This process is beyond the sc0pe of the present research. 147 Results of the Two—Dimensional Analysis The examination of the data began with a look at the association between socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police in a four by four table (Table 6). It appears that the higher the youths' socioeconomic status, the more favorable are their attitudes toward police. The association in the original relationship does not appear to be that strong, however, socioeconomic status does seem to be effecting youth's attitudes toward police. Table 7 shows what happens to the original rela- tionship when the four levels of youths' attitudes toward police are collapsed into two categories.5 Collapsing the four categories of the dependent variable into two increases the differences of youths' attitudes toward police among the various levels of socioeconomic status, 53% of the youth in the lowest socioeconomic status appear to have low attitudes toward police, while only 3A% of the youth in the highest socio- economic group fell into the low category. The per- centage difference between these two levels of socio- economic status is 19% (to the nearest tenth 18.6%). 5This was done by dividing the groups' attitudes toward police at the mean. The rationale for collapsing the four by four table into a 2 X A one is to make sure there are enough cases in each cell when a third variable is introduced. A8 TABLE 6.--Socioeconomic status and attitudes toward police. Socioeconomic Status ATP* Low High Total % 1 2 3 A (Number) Low 1 18% 15% 13% 7% 16% (167) 2 35% 32% 30% 28% 33% (3A9) 3 3A% 35% 37% A5% 35% (377) High A 13% 18% 20% 20% 17% (177) Total % 100 100 100 100 100 Number (328) (228) (93) (1070) (316) A: * Attitudes toward police TABLE 7.——Socioeconomic status and attitudes toward police. Socioeconomic Status ATP* Low High Total % l 2 3 A (Number) Low 53% A8% A3% 3A% A9% (516) High “7% 52% 57% 65% 51% (554) Total % 100 100 100 100 100 Number (316) (328) (228) (93) (1070) A9 At this point in the analysis an asymmetrical relationship exists.6 In other words, youths' socio- economic status may be one variable which affects their attitude toward representatives of the law. One logical explanation of the foregoing finding is that youth of the lower socioeconomic stratas have a greater opportunity to see the police in "action." These youth observe good policemen and bad carrying out their duties in their immediate neighborhood. The higher social class youth usually only see policemen downtown, over at the shOpping center or at school. They very seldom interact with the police near their home. Consequently, by not having much contact with policemen, coupled with the parents' teaching them to respect authority, these youth tend to have an idealistic conception of the police. One could conclude then that youth from the low socioeconomic status group tend to have more realistic conceptions of the police, thus causing their attitude toward these authority figures to be lower than those high status youth who may have idealistic conceptions of the police. However, a decision to accept the above 6The term asymmetrical is applied to the type of relationship where one of the variables is influencing the other (Rosenberg, 1968). 50 finding should not be made solely on the results of a two variable relationship. Results of the Three Dimensional Analysis A method of determining whether dubious results are actually sound is to introduce possible extraneous variables. There may be no inherent link between socio- economic status and junior high school student's attitudes toward police, but simply a common association with a third variable. This relationship in contention could turn out to be strong, weak or different according to specific conditions. Sex Sex is the first variable which is held constant while differences among youths' attitude toward police according to various socioeconomic status levels are observed. Table 8 shows that both low status level boys and girls are more likely to have low attitudes toward police than those in a higher socioeconomic status group (57.3% to A6.5% and A7.1% to 2A.6% respectively). 7 However, among boys, the magnitude of the relationship between socioeconomic status and attitude toward police 7The magnitude of the original relationship is determined by comparing the low socioeconomic status youth and high socioeconomic status youth attitudes toward the police. The difference in percentage of youth of these two levels of SES determines the rela- tionship's strength. 51 AmOsv Homo HmHHO AOOHV HOMHO Asmsv Amsv AOHHO HOOHO AOHHO Amnesz OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH a Hapoe Assmv Asmmv m.Om O.Os s.HO O.sm O.mm s.sO m.mm O.mm O.~O s.mO cme AOOHV AOONO O.OO O.Om m.mm m.m: H.~O m.mm m.OO :.OH s.mm m.sm 26H Wammmme.‘. a ., m m H Mummmwmv O m m H *OBO nupmpm OHEOCOOOOHoom mHmEom mspmpm owEosoomOHoom mam: .xom an moaaom pmmzop woodpappm .mnpsom can maumpm oHEocooooHoomnl.w mqm<9 52 reduces from 18.6% in the original relationship (Table 7) to 10.8% (Table 8). Among girls, one can see that the strength of the relationship in contention increases to 23.1%. Implications are that the conditions under which the original relationship is lower or higher is "specified."8 Greater distinctions of junior high school girls' attitudes toward police according to socioeconomic status than boys, may be the result of more pronounced dif- ferential contact with police among girls. Boys of all social levels may have greater opportunities to interact with representatives of the law, while girls are kept somewhat closer to home. Even though girls are "protected" more than boys by their parents, young females of the lower socioeconomic status levels are more likely to interact with policemen, good and bad ones, in close proximity to their home than girls from the higher status groups. Girls from the lower socio- economic group are more likely to see police in a less idealistic light due to this mixture of contact with the police. Junior high school girls of the high status 8Where the relative size of the contingent asso- ciations differ, that is where it is found that "the original relationship is more pronounced in one sub- group than in the other," it is spoken of as conditional relationship. More specifically, the purpose of examin— ing such relationships is called specification. In other words, one wishes to specify the conditions under which the original relationship is strengthened or weakened (Rosenberg, 1968). 53 levels tend to look at the policeman from a more idealistic point of View; hence this causes them to have very positive attitudes toward police. Ethnicity Among whites as well as nonwhites, Table 9 shows lower socioeconomic status youth are more likely to have less favorable attitudes toward the police than those youth from a higher socioeconomic status group (A7.3% to A0.8% and 8A.A% to 55.6%).9 However, among whites the strength of the original relationship is less pronounced as compared to nonwhites (6.7% to 28.8%). The original relationship has been weakened among whites, however not to such a degree as to reject the associa~ tion. Among nonwhites there is a more pronounced change in the percentage difference between low and high status youths' attitudes toward the police. Again one can infer that conditions under which the original relationship is lower or higher are "specified." A plausible explanation for a weaker relationship between socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police among whites is the high prOportion of the minority group being represented in the lowest 9Because of a small number of nonwhites in socio— economic status groups 3 and A, the two categories were collapsed and the percentages were recalculated. In order to compare white population with nonwhite, the author also collapsed socioeconomic status groups 3 and A of the white subgroup. mGdoaLmE¢ cmflcmam can moonwmz *** .Ummdmaaoo who: a w m mao>ma .mSHMpm OHEocoooOHoom swan CH mommo cwsoco o>mc ou pmomo CH ** OOHHOO Osage» OOOOpra . * 5A Ammo HOV Ammo Amsv AOHOO AOOmO Asmmv AOHNV Amnezz OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH a HOOOO AHHV AmOOO m.ON O.s: s.Om O.mH m.Om m.Om m.mm O.mm zmHm AOOO Ammmv m.ms O.mm m.ms 2.2m s.m: m.mO m.:: 0.00 36H Ahmneszv ALmQEszv & Hmpoe **z w m m a R Houoa **: a m m H *me< mSHMBm anocoomOHoom ***mpH£3Icoz mSHMBm OHEooooooHoom opficz .asonm oasnpm an ooaaoa ULmZOp moOSBprm .mcpsoz cam mapmpw OHEosoomOHoomll.m mqmmn 0:3 cpsow CMEmOHHoo m can o>mc on: cpdow .uompcoo moHHoQ o>HpHmoa mp oOHHoa Upmzou mOUSBprw .mnpsom com mapmpm OHEooooooHoomll.oa mqmmH .mspMCm anoCoooOHoOm CmHC CH .oomomHHoo 6C63 mmwmo CmCOCo m>mC ou macho CH OOHHOO OAOzOO 6656HOO<** if AHOO AmHV Ammv.. Ammo Ammmv Azomv AHomV Amsmv Amnssz OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH a Hapoe HOV HmOmv m.O O O.~H H.O O.Om O.NO m.mm O.Hm CmHm AmOO HHOmV m.HO OOH O.NO O.mO H.ms m.sm m.:O N.O: 36H 0/ 5, Asoheszv Asoneszv a HOOOO **s O m m H a HOOOO **O O m m H *mB< mspmpm oflEOCooOOHoom ooaaom up a: cmaCOC Como o>mC 0C3 Cpsow mspmum OHEoCoooOHoom mOHHoo an a: UmaCOC Coon Cm>mC m>mC 0C3 Cpsow .pomuCoo ooHHoo m>HummmC an moaHoo oCESOC mmoCqupw .mesoz UCm mspmpm OHEoCoomOOOOmII.HH mqm<9 60 this negative contact than the youth from the low socio— economic group, but not to the extent that one can overlook the fact that being roughed up has a tremendous effect on youth of the low class. One can conclude that when youth are roughed up by the police, it creates resentment, thus causing these youths to have low attitudes toward the police. An explanation for the higher percentage of middle class youth resenting being roughed up, could result from their not being used to anyone "man handling" them. This type of treatment shatters their image of police— men. On the other hand, "man handling" tactics tend to be part of the low class culture. Even though middle class youth tend to be more resentful of being roughed up, one could conclude that being roughed up has a tremendous effect of youth regardless of their social class. Church Attendance The examination of the original relationship according to youth who attended church regularly and those that never or seldom attended, proved to affect the original relationship only slightly. Table 12 shows that A5.A% of the lower status youth who attend church regularly have less favorable attitudes toward the police as compared to 27.7% of the church attending youth who are of the higher status levels. Among those 61 .OOHHOO OAOBOO mOspHpsa * AqHOV Ammv AHmv Ansz AHmHv Asqmv Ammv AmmHv AOmHV AmmHv OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH a HOOOO AAOHV AmHmO m.sO 0.0m O.Om O.Hm H.Om O.sm m.ms O.OO m.mm O.sm emHm AsHmO Ammmv O.mm 0.0m H.m: 0.0s 0.00 s.m: s.sm 0.0: 0.00 O.mO 36H ACoCEsz ACOQECZV . O m m H a m m H a Hapoe a HOOOO *mea mspwpm OHEOCOOOOHoom mspmpm OHEOCoomOHoom mCmoC6pp< CoCCColCoz Co Eooamm mCmoC6pp4 CoCCCo Cmaswom .moCmoCoppw CoCCCo an moaaoa UCm30p moospflppm .mesoz UCC mzpmpm OHEOCoocOHoomII.mH mqmmH .mzpmpm OHEOCOOOOHoom CwHC CH memmo CwCOCo o>mC on CmOCo CH ** mOHHOC OCOCOp monsqup< * Awmsv AOONV AOOmO Ammmv AOHNO Ammv . Assv HOOV Amnszz OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH R Hepoe AOHHV AHOO O.Om H.NO O.Om m.Hm H.mO H.AO m.OO O.Om OmHm Ammmv AmmHO O.m: 0.0m H.m: m.w: m.mm m.om m.mm 0.00 30H WLMMMMWV *x: w m m H WLMMMMMV *x: w m m H *m9< mspmpm OHEOCoomOHoom mspmpm OHEoCOOOOHoom Umpmsmdmm Co Umopo>HQ poz mpCmCmm Umumhmdmm Co OmoCo>HQ muCosmm .mmEoC CoxoCn mp oOHHOQ OC630p mmOCpprm .mesom OCm mspmum OHEOCoomOHoomII.:H mquB 67 homes 6A% of the youth in the low socioeconomic status level have low attitudes toward police as compared to 50.9% of the high status levels. There exists a 13.1% difference between the youths' attitudes toward police in the low socioeconomic status group and the high status category. Among the homes which are intact, the ratio is A8.7% to 37.9% respectively. Within this group, the original relationship's magnitude decreases from 18.6% to 10.8%. Due to the fact that the strength of the original relationship decreases about the same, but still persists in both subgroups, broken homes and nonbroken homes, one could infer that the association between youths' attitudes toward police and socioeconomic status is modified by the recognition of the effect of the control variable. From the foregoing data one can conclude that youth from broken homes are more likely to have low attitudes toward the police regardless of socioeconomic differences, however, whether or not this accounts for the change in the magnitude of the original relation- ship is unclear. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Summary Criminological literature reveals that there is a Controversy between those who feel that the socio- economic group to which a youth belongs effects his attitude toward police, and those who deny the existence of any such relationship. One of the major reasons the controversy exists is because of the lack of empirical findings regarding the relationship in contention. In an effort to cast more light on this relation- ship, the author analyzed data collected for an evalua- tion of the Lansing Youth Citizenship project pertaining to socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police and possible extraneous variables. The evalua- tion of which the present study is a part, involved 1095 ninth grade students from three junior high schools in the city of Lansing, Michigan. The author hypothesized that there is little or no difference in the attitudes toward police of junior high school students from various socioeconomic groups. To discover if this hypothesis could be accepted or 68 69 rejected, the relationship between socioeconomic status and junior high school students was first determined. Secondly, the effect of possible extraneous variables was considered. The socioeconomic status level of each student was obtained by taking answers to open-ended questions and assigning a Duncan's socioeconomic index score to each response. Due to the importance of the independent variable, socioeconomic status, special attention was paid to validity and reliability consider- ations. The instrument used to determine youths' atti- tudes toward police consisted of a twenty-item scale constructed and verified on a junior high school popula- tion of Cincinnati, Ohio. The control variables--sex, ethnic group, broken home, working mother, church attend- ance, positive police contact and negative police con- tact—-were determined by having youth respond to close- ended questions. The overall objective of the present study was to decide whether to reject or accept the original relation- ship. If socioeconomic status was accepted as casual, no attempt would be made to show how socioeconomic status is related to youths' attitudes toward police. This process is beyond the scope of the present research. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that the author's original hypothesis, that there is little or 70 no difference in the attitudes toward police of junior high school students from various socioeconomic groups, has to be rejected. This decision is based on the following findings: 1. 18.6% more youth from the low socioeconomic group than from the high status group have low attitudes toward the police. This percentage difference does not give one a high degree of confidence in the magnitude of the original relationship. However, it shows that there is an association between the two variables in contention. 2. In order to guard against erroneous or mis- leading interpretation, possible extraneous variables were introduced. It was found that under specific conditions1 the original relationship was confirmed. Under other conditions, the magnitude of the original relationship was reduced, thus causing a decrease in one's degree of confidence. Under still other condi— tions, the asSociation between socioeconomic status and youth's attitude toward police was called into question. Finally, there are conditions where the original rela- tionship was modified due to the effect of a control variable. lSpecific conditions refers to where control variables are held constant and the relationship be- tween socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police is left to vary. 71 The magnitude of the original relationship increased in strength among junior high school girls, nonwhite youth, and youth who have mothers working outside the home. The original relationship was not affected among youth who had never had policemen be nice to them, and youth who attend church regularly. The strength of the original relationship decreased among male youth, white youth, youth who had had policemen be nice to them, youth who have never been roughed up by policemen, and youth who do not have working mothers outside the home. In the specific condition under b, the association between socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police weakens, however, the relation- ship still persists. The original relationship reverses when youth who have had negative police contact are looked at separately among youth who have been roughed up. Middle class youth are more likely to have low attitudes toward the police than low class youth. Under this specific condition, the interpretation of the original relationship is called into question. 72 e. When the variable broken home is introduced as a control variable, the magnitude of the original relationship was reduced about equally. This finding modifies the original relationship, however, to what extent this variable is effecting socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police is not clear. The foregoing conclusions lend support to the theoretical expectation that the social structure helps explain junior high school students' attitudes toward police. It appears that families of various socio- economic status prepare a child differently for dealing with authority figures. Coupled with the importance of what he or she was taught at home, situations in which youth are involved with law enforcement officers also tend to affect their image of the police. One could conclude that individuals are somewhat at the mercy of their past and present environment, however, not only because of the part which the home plays in the forma- tion of adolescents' attitudes, but also because of or a lack of contact with "reality." Recommendations for Future Research Below are the author's suggestions to researchers interested in conducting studies similar to the one presented: 73 l. The search should be continued to find those factors which could be affecting the relationship be- tween socioeconomic status and youths' attitudes toward police. 2. It is felt that under these specific condi- tions in which socioeconomic status has been found to be affecting youths' attitudes toward police, an attempt should be made in future research to continue beyond the present investigation to find intervening variables which link the variables in contention together. 3. In the future it may prove fruitful to hold two or more of the control variables introduced in the present study constant simultaneously. A. More specifically, the result of considering broken homes as a possible extraneous variable may be made more meaningful by also considering unhappy un- broken homes as broken homes. 5. Fruitful information could be obtained re— garding kinds of police contact by asking the student whether any of his friends had ever had a policeman be nice to them or rough them up. 6. The validity of socioeconomic status could be enhanced by introducing another indicator of socio- economic status for comparison with parent's occupation. 7. The instrument used to determine youths' atti- tudes toward police should be tested for reliability within the same population which is to be studied. 7A Finally it is believed that future researchers who deal with socioeconomic status can make use of the present study's findings regarding the use of mother's occupation in the absence of a father surro— gate. ANNOTATED BI BLI OGRAPHY 75 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Bouma, Donald H., and Williams, Donald. Youth Atti- tudes Toward the Police. (A report of the pre- liminary findings of a study of youth in Kalamazoo Public Schools April, 1968). This report presents the findings of a study designed to determine the extent and development of negative attitudes toward police and law enforcement of junior high schools of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Findings relevant to the present study are: (1) Race was the most significant factor associated with differences in attitudes toward the police with Negro students showing markedly more antagonism, (2) Males showed a less favorable attitude toward police than fe- males, (3) Students who have had less police contact had less favorable attitudes, (A) The higher the occupational status, the more posi- tive the attitude toward police. *Bouma, Donald; Williams, Donald; and Schade, Thomas. "Youth Attitudes Toward the Police: A Study of Two Michigan Cities." Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, co-sponsored by Michigan Crime Commission, 1967. The data for this study were based on an atti- tudinal survey of just under 2,000 junior high students from the public schools of Grand Rapids and Muskegon Heights. This investigation's pur- pose was to reveal general attitudes of junior high school students toward the police. The conclusion showed that non-whites tend to be more hostile, and that as age increased, so did the antagonism. A partial analysis of occupa- tional status and antagonistic attitudes toward police, found an inverse relationship. Brookover, Wilbur B. A Sociolpgy_of Education. New York: American Book Company, 1955. Chapter 5 is concerned with several classes within our educational system. First, *An asterisk indicates that this bibliography was used in the literature review. 76 77 considerations regarding the social class struc- ture in America are discussed. Secondly, the various relationship between the class structure and the educational system are examined. Finally, implications of social class analysis for educa- tional policy are suggested. *Cavan, Ruth Shonle. Juvenile Delinquenpy. Phila- delphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1962. Chapter 2 This chapter consists of: the chief sources of statistics, what they include, and what they tell about juvenile delinquency. Cicourel, Aaron V. The Social Organization of Juvenile Justice. New York, London, Sydney: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1968. Chapter 2. This book presents a detailed view of the every- day practices of the police probation officials, and the court, and points out how these agencies actually generate delinquency by their routine encounters with youths. Some of the studies used by Cicourel for illustration purposes were also referred to in the present study. *Chapman, Ames W. "Attitudes Toward Legal Authorities by Juveniles." Sociology and Social Research, A0:l70-l75, September-October, 1956. It was the purpose of this study to investigate the attitudes of delinquent and non-delinquent boys toward legal agencies of authority. The conclusion revealed that attitudes of delinquent boys tend to be more hostile toward legal agencies of authority than those of comparable groups of non-delinquent boys. The degree of hostility is greatest toward the police than toward other agencies. With the exception of the police, there was no significant difference found between the delinquent and non-delinquent boy toward the juvenile court, probation, and detention. *Clark, John P., and Wenninger, Eugene P. "The Attitude of Juveniles Toward the Legal Institution." Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 55:A82-A89, December, 196A} This paper reports an attempt to examine the anti-legal attitude of adolescents and desolve some of its connotes. The researchers found by comparing four different communities, that social economic class, per se, is not closely related to anti-legal attitude, but that 78 differences between population areas were indi- cated. Evidence was also presented that the greater the involvement in illegal conduct, the more negative the attitude toward the legal institution. *Coster, John E. "Attitudes Toward School of High School Pupils from Three Income Levels." Journal of Educational Psychology, A9:6l—65, No. 2, February, 1958. The researcher sought to reveal students' atti- tudes from three income levels toward items per- taining to such objects in the school system as teachers, programs, other students, and value of education. The sample of 878 cases was collected from nine Indiana high schools. Of the twenty- seven hypotheses, only those items relating to interpresonal relationships varied significantly between social class levels. * . "Some Characteristics of High School Pupils From Three Income Groups." Journal of Educational Psychology, 50:55-62, No. 2, February, 1959. One year later, the same data from the fore going study was analyzed. It compared the three income groups with sex, schooling of parents, participation in school, and community activi- ties. It was found that the lower class tended to be more tolerant of discriminations within the school system. *DeFleur, Melvin L, and Westie, Frank R. "Attitudes as a Scientific Concept." Social Forces, A2:l7-3l, October, 1963. This report traces the term "attitude" from the time it was used in a non-scientific context to its present usage. The widespread disagreement among researchers as to how the concept should be defined, was discussed in detail. The article also points out that the disagreement was re- solved by establishing two conceptions, proba- bility and latent process, in which definitions of "attitude" could be classified. Duncan, Otis Dudley. "A Socioeconomic Index for All Occuaptions." Occupations and Socil Status. Edited by Albert J. Reiss, Jr. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961. This paper deals with the construction of a socioeconomic index from census information on detailed occupation characteristics. The socio- economic index developed by Duncan was used to measure socioeconomic status in the present study. 79 *Empey, LaMar, and Erickson, Maynard L. "Hidden De- linquency and Social Status." Social Forces, AA:5A6—55A, June, 1966. An attempt was made in this study to examine the association between delinquency and social status. The sample consisted of only white males, 15-17 years old, of Utah: 50 boys had never been to court; 30 boys had been to court once; 50 boys were on probation; and 50 boys incarcerated. The self—reported method revealed that the number of violations differed little from one status level to the other. *Epps, Edgar G. "Socioeconomic Status, Race, Level of Aspiration and Juvenile Delinquency: A Limited Empirical Test of Merton's Conception of Devia- tion." Phylon, 28:16-27, Spring, 1967. This paper reports the results of an empirical test of the hypothesis that juvenile delinquency is more prevalent among lower-status youth than among higher-status youth. The data collected from 3A6 high school juniors in Seattle, Washing- ton, failed to provide evidence that supported the foregoing hypothesis. *Epstein, Norman. "Delinquent Interactions Between Middle Class Male Adolescents and Their Parents and Implications for Group Psychotherapy." Paper presented at American Group Psychotherapy Conference, Philadelphia, January, 1966. This paper discusses the delinquent's inter- action between middleclass male adolescents and their parents. The report is based on the author's experiences in a group therapy project in New York with adolescent boys ranging in age from 13-17. The writer's discussion evolved around the crucial role of the parent, especially the father, in stimulating the development and orientation of delinquent's attitudes. *Fitt, A. B. "An experimental Study of Children's Attitude to School in Auchland, N. Z." Britian Journal of Psychology, 26:25-30, February, 1956. Fitt's purpose for his study of boys and girls of primary and secondary school age in areas of high and low socioeconomic status, was to deter- mine if there was any difference in attitudes toward school. The data were collected from 1,2AA boys and girls of the Auchland schools. When primary school children's attitudes toward school were compared with socioeconomic status, 80 no significant difference was found, however, the tendency was toward more favorable attitude in the "high" area. *Gustad, John W. "Changes in Social Attitudes and Behavior." Educational and Psychological Measurement, 11:87-102, Spring, 1951. The report consists of a review of the litera- ture on changes in social attitudes and behavior. The writer's approach to his paper was similar to the general approach of McNena, who described attitudes as essentially intervening variables. The question of the development of the many definitions of attitude was dealt with first. *Haller, Archibald 0., and Thomas, Shailer. "Person- Hatt, Haug, slity Correlates of the Socioeconomic Status of Adolescent Males." Sociometry, 25:398—AOA, December, 1962. This report presents the findings of a test of the hypothesis that personality factors are correlated with socioeconomic status. The data was collected from a sample of seventeen-year- old males in school in Lenawee County, Michigan. The results imply that socioeconomic status may affect a number of the personality factors of adolescent males, but that its effect on any one such factor is small. Paul K. "Occupation and Social Stratification." Occupations and Social Status. Edited by Albert J. Reiss, Jr. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961. The purpose of the author was to present a theory and a method of occupational classifica- tion usable in the study of social stratifica- tion. Hatt's discussion of the theoretical implications of occupation and stratification provided justification for the writer to use father's occupation as an indicator of socio— economic status. Marie R., and Sussman, Marvin B. "Social Class Measurement II - The Case of the Duncan Set." (Paper prepared for presentation at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August, 1968.) In this paper the authors attempted to evaluate Duncan's socioeconomic index. A brief review of what the index is and the method of its construc— tion was made. A discussion of the inherent weaknesses of the set as a stratification index followed. 81 *Hess, Robert D. "The Socialization of Attitudes Toward Political Authority: Some Cross—National Comparisons." Political Opinion and Electoral Behavior: Essays and Studies. Edited by E. C. Dreyer and W. A. Rosenbaum. Belmont, Caééfornia: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 19 . This paper reviews a series of studies devoted to the socialization of the child into authority systems of his society. These studies revealed that the family is the first authority system in which the child has experience. The author con- tended that this experience prepares the child for dealing with institutions and groups outside the family. He found that early attitudes are altered by various processes which usually take place at the pre-adolescent level. Hirschi, Travis, and Selvin, Hanan. Delinquency Re- search: An Appraisal of Analytic Methods. New York: The Free Press, 1967. This book contains an extensive examination of many published analyses of quantitative data on delinquency. The authors criticized the studies and offered alternative methods of analysis. Much insight was gained in studying the various metho- dological considerations offered by the authors. *Johnson, Orval G., and Stanely, Julian C. "Attitudes Toward Authority of Delinquent and Non-delinquent Boys." Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51:712-716, July, 1955. A picture projecture test designed to measure attitudes toward authority incorporated three stimulus variables--male and female authority figures, high and low power authority figures, and high and low threat situations. The sampe con- sisted of 20 delinquents and 20 non-delinquents, 10-12 years old. The hypothesis that there are differences in attitudes toward authority, of delinquents and non-delinquents, was not sup- ported. Both groups significantly expressed more hostility toward female than male authority figures. *Kupfer, George. "Middle—Class Delinquency in a Canadian City." Dissertation Abstract, 27:830, September, 1966. The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of current sociological research con- cerning socioeconomic status and juvenile delin- quency when applied in a middle—sized Canadian 82 city. The data gathered from 571 tenth grade males indicated that the variables identified as crucial in the develOpment of lower-class urban delinquency, are also relevant to the deviance of higher social class youth. Lander, Bernard. Juvenile Delinquenpy. New York: Columbis University Press, 195A. This study of delinquency in the city of Balti- more, Maryland attempted to analyze the relation between the social and economic data for centers tracts and the juvenile delinquency rates for 1939 to l9A2. The rate of delinquency was entirely dependent on official and unofficial case data. *Marsten, Benson H., and Coleman, James C. "Specificity of Attitudes Toward Paternal and Non-parental Authority Figures." Journal of Individual Psye chology, 17:96-101, May, 1961. ST The purpose of this study was to examine the theoretical expectations that attitudes toward authority are generalized and stem from childhood experiences with parental authority. The re- searchers' conclusions were: that attitudes of submission or Opposition toward the father do not generalize to other authority figures; attitudes toward teachers and employers are generalized; and attitudes toward authority figures are not generalized to non-authority figures. *Minoza, Aurora Abear. "Relationship of Physical, Socio-Economic, and Attitudinal Factors to Ele- mentary School Training and Academic Achievement of Secondary Pupils." Dissertation Abstract, 19:200A, February, 1959. This study examines group differences in academic achievement, physical size, socio-economic back— ground and attitude toward school, of two groups of high school students who were matched for intellectual ability, but who had different ele~ mentary school backgrounds. In general, the students of one school came from a higher socio- economic class, but no difference was found in their attitudes toward school. Morrison, Denton E., and Henkel, Ramon E. "Significance Tests Reconsidered." (Paper prepared for presen- tation at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August, 1968.) This paper re-opens the debate regarding significance tests started by Selvin a decade ago. The authors expounded in some detail on 83 researchers' use of significance tests irrespec- tive of research design. The conditions under which tests of significance could be used dis- cussed by these authors were deciding whether or not to use these tests in the present study. *Musgrove, F. "Inter-generation Attitudes." The British Journal of Sociology and Clinical Psychology, 2:209-223, October, 1963. A survey of teenagers' attitudes toward adults, and adults' attitudes toward youth was carried out in two socially contrasted areas of Great Britain. No marked social-class or area differ- ence in attitude were apparent. McTavish, Donald G. "A Method for More Reliably Coding Detailed Occupations into Duncan's Socio-economic Categories." American Sociological Review, 196A, 29, A02-A06. The author developed a procedure for coding detailed occupations into Duncan's socio-economic categories. He used the census six-digit occupa- tional/industry codes as an intermediate coding step. The findings reported in the article en- hanced the validity of the present study's measure of socioeconomic status. Nye, F. Ivan. Family Relationships and Delinquent Behavior. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1958. This study considers various facets of the family structure as they are allegedly related to delinquent behavior among youth. Several of the extraneous variables considered by Nye to be relevant also proved to be worth considering in the present study. *Nye, Ivan. F.; Short, James F., Jr.; and Olson, Virgil J. "Socioeconomic Status and Delinquent Behavior." Middle-Class Juvenile Delinquenpy. Edited by Edmund W. Vaz. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. This study dealt with the question--Does juvenile delinquency occur differentially by socioeconomic status? The research was conducted in three western communities and three midwestern communi- ties, including students from grade 9 through 12. The self-reported method revealed that there are no significant differences in delinquent behavior of boys and girls in different socioeconomic strata. 8A *Portune, Robert G. "Attitudes of Junior High School Pupils Toward Police Officers." Unpublished research report, The University of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1965—66. The purpose of this study was to investigate the general attitudes of junior high school stu- dents toward police in Cincinnati, Ohio. The researcher measured 1000 junior high school students in four Cincinnati schools by the Atti- tude Toward Police Scale. The subjects ranged from 12-16 years old, and were divided into three ability levels in each grade. More favorable attitudes were apparent in: 12 year olds, girls, whites, pupils in academic groups, and boys who attended church regularly. There was no conclusive evidence of a significant effect of socioeconomic level. Preiss, Jack J., and Ehrlich, Howard J. An Examination of Role Theory. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. The intent of the research study of the Michigan State Police was to delimit the boundaries of role analysis. The authors explored the process of role acquisition and the interrelation of the many dimensions of role expectations. Of useful- ness to the present study was the findings regard- ing the police-public contact situation. Reiss, Albert J., Jr. "Social Correlates of Occupational Prestige Status." Occupations and Social Status. Edited by Albert J. Reiss, Jr. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961. The author raises certain questions regarding correlations of the NORC prestige ranks with educational attainment and income level of occu- pations. Rosenberg, Morris. The Logic of Survey Analysis. New York-London: Basic Books, Inc., 1968. This book is devoted exclusively to the logic and reasoning underlying data analysis. The author stresses substantive and theoretical significance of survey data. He takes the reader through the actual process of data analysis using many examples to clarify the points made. It seems as if the author is constantly aware of simplicity. This book acts as a guide for the analysis in the present study. 85 *Rothman, Philip. "Socio—Economic Status and the Values of Junior High School Students." Journal of Educational Sociology, 28:126—130, November, 195A. This investigation was done through an analysis of values into underlying factors. The underlying factors explored were: purposes, feelings, interests, attitudes, beliefs, thinking, action, and aspirations. The data was collected from 28 students from the upper-lower strata. In each of the eight areas investigated, the two classes failed to indicate any significant difference in value pattern. Selvin, Hanan C. "Survey Analysis." (Paper presented for the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: to be published in 1967.) Selvin's concern in this paper is to provide for the survey analyst a formal sequence of steps to follow during the analysis. The author's primary emphasis is on the criteria for an ade- quate analysis and the major sets of procedure by which the various analytical steps are carried out. *Shah, Vimalbhai Premchand. "Social Class and Aspira- tions of Wisconsin Boys." Dissertation Abstracts, 27:112A, October, 1966. S An attempt was made to examine aspirations by taking into account direction as well as relative distance between the point of social origin and the point of social destination. The data were obtained from a sample of 3,A63 Wisconsin high school male seniors. The results indicated that low-social class boys do not have the same lofty occupational aspirations as those from the upper strata. *Snyder, Eldon E. "Socioeconomic Variations, Values, and Social Participation among High School Students." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 28:17A-l76, May, 1966. In this study, an analysis of student's values and social participation was made. The data collected from high school students in a Mid- western community, indicated that socioeconomic differences were apparent when looking at social participation, but that value structure seems to cut across some of the socioeconomic cate- gories. 86 *Thayer, Rev. Richard Anthony. ”Occupational Interests and Socio-Economic Position of High School Boys." Dissertation Abstracts, 27:112A-ll25, October, 1966. This study sought to ascertain whether there is any significant relationship between boys socio- economic position and their occupational interests. From a sample of 900 junior and senior boys in St. Louis, it was determined that occupations high in prestige were selected significantly more often by upper socioeconomic status boys, while lower socio-economic status boys selected the opposite. *Tuma, Elias, and Livson, Norman. "Family Socioeconomic Status and Adolescent Attitudes to Authority." Child Development, 31:387-399, June, 1960. Attitudes toward authority, ranging from con- formity to rebelliousness, were evaluated at home, in school, and with peers, for the same sample of boys and girls, lA-l6 years old. The data was gathered by interviews, with the subjects, their parents, teachers and classmates. The findings showed a consistently negative relationship be- tween degree of conformity experienced by the male adolescent (in all situations and all ages) and the socioeconomic status of his family. How- ever, only three relationships out of 18 were significant. There was no significant relation- ship among girls of either social class. Vaz, Edmund W. "Self-Reported Juvenile Delinquency and Socio-Economic-Status." The Canadian Journal of Corrections, 8, 20-27. This study's objective was to see if the degree of self-reported juvenile delinquency was the same for all socio-economic levels. The findings re- ported accepted the hypothesis that delinquent behavior cuts across the social strata. The measure of socio-economic level which the author used was of special interest to the present study. Wallin, Paul, and Waldo, Leslie C. "Indeterminacies in Rankings of Fathers' Occupations." Public Opinion Quarterly, 287-292. This investigation calls attention to the limi- tations of determining socioeconomic status of junior high school students. The extent of in- determinacies in the occupational ranking of the families of a group of eighth grade boys and girls was discussed. The questions raised stemmed from a survey where the authors assigned social class position to the families of some 2,100 junior high school urban students. 87 *Washburn, Wilbur. "Interaction Cues Involved in Per- Youth ception of Authority Figures in Delinquents and Non-delinquents." California Journal of Educa- tional Reserach, 1A:7A-78, March, 1963. Matched groups of 36 delinquent and 36 non- delinquent boys were presented ten pictures involving various kinds of social interaction. Delinquents more often than non-delinquents, made hostile comments regarding authority figures in the pictures. With regard to the types of cues used, the two groups also differed. The results were interpreted by the researcher as reflecting underlying differences in perceptual skills be- tween the two groups. Service Corps of the Detroit Police Department. A report prepared by Neighborhood Service Organi— zation. Detroit: United Community Service, 1966. This report pertains to an evaluation of a program which was designed to increase mutual cooperation and respect between the police and youth of Detroit, Michigan. Several of the indices used in the Detroit Study which measured prior police contact were revised and also used in the present study. *Zunich, Michael. "Attitudes of Lower~Class Families." Journal of Social Psychology, 63:367-371, June, 196A. This investigation tested the hypothesis that perceptions of attitudes between parents and their children are significantly related. The results of data collected from A2 white working— class parents and their teenage children, are significantly related; although no significant relationships were found in the scales "breaking the will," and "equalitarianism." APPENDICES 88 APPENDIX A ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS CLASSIFICATION The following criteria are used in placing the father's and mother's occupation into the apprOpriate group. I. Socioeconomic index of specific occupations will be sufficient guidelines in most cases. II. Exceptions: A. When job description is general, classify the position according to the s.e.i. assigned to that general category. Example: If a student only put down "mechanic" for his father's occu- pation, then use the s.e.i. for mechanic and repairman to determine his status. This way of classifying also applies to general des— criptions such as "foreman," "manager," and "clerical work." When a job description is general but a spe- cific industry is mentioned, then this posi- tion should be classified according to the s.e.i. of that particular industry. However, 89 90 if the industry is not listed in the detailed occupational classification, the position will have to be classified according to the s.e.i. for other industries (not elsewhere included). Example: foreman at Oldsmobile or manager of some retail trade not mentioned. If no distinction can be made between a job description concerning various levels of administrative jobs--local, state, federal-- then classify according to the s.e.i. for general public administration. If no distinction can be made between a job description of a college and a secondary level teaching position, then use s.e.i. for a high school. Example: "teaches psychology." If either parent has more than one job, use the occupation which has the highest s.e.i. If either parent has a full and part-time job, use the full-time position to determine the socioeconomic status. Any father who holds the rank of Sgt. or below is to be classified the same as a general foreman. This criterion holds for either civilian or military positions. Any father who holds the rank of Lieut. or Capt. of either a civilian or a military 91 position (civilian positions applicable only to Lansing area) is to be classified the same as Managers, officials, and proprietors-- salaried. Any military officer with a rank higher than Capt. will be classified according to the s.e.i. for Federal_public administrators. If no distinction can be made between a whole- sale trade salesman and a retail trade sales- man, then classify according to the s.e.i. for general category-—Salesmen and Sales clerks (n.e.c.). Maintenance work classified as repair work. An engineer for the fire dept. is to be classified as fireman. Classify general "housekeeper" as of Private household. General manager classified as Executive. Classify a contractor as Manager--construction. Equate supervisors and Managers. APPENDIX B CODING FATHER'S AND MOTHER'S OCCUPATION Four columns are used in coding Father's and Mother's occupations. Father's occupational status makes up one column (Table 1A). The second column contains information concerning whether or not the Mother is employed (Table 18). The mother's occupational status makes up the third column (Table 1A). The fourth column contains information which will allow the mother's occupational status to be substituted in cases where the father's occupation is not known--codes 0, 5, 6, and 7 of Table 1A (Table 1C). TABLE 1A Father's Occupation - Mother's Occupation ~0 - No Response l_- I 2 - II 3 - III A — IV 5 - unuseable 6 — other retired - deceased - employed 7 - don't know Table 18 Mother's Employment 0 — No Response 1 - full time 93 2 - part time 3 — no employment A - don't know TABLE 10 Mother's Occhpation Applicability 0 — N/A 1 - Applicable — full time 2 - Applicable — part time APPENDIX C What is your father's (stepfather's or guardian's) occupation. What does he do? Be as specific as you can. Does your mother have a job outside the home? Yes, full-time What does she do? Yes, part~time What does she do? No Attitude Toward Police Scale Strongly Uncer- Dis- Strongly Agree Agree tain agree Disagree a. POLICE KEEP THE CITY GOOD. SA A U D SD b. POLICE ACCUSE YOU OF THINGS YOU DIDN'T DO. SA A U D SD c. THE POLICE ARE STUPID. SA A U D SD d. POLICE PRO- TECT US FROM HARM. SA A U D SD e. THE POLICE REALLY TRY TO HELP YOU WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE. SA A U D SD f. THE POLICE ARE MEAN. SA A U D SD 9A . THE POLICE OFFER YOU MONEY TO TELL ON OTHER KIDS. 95 Strongly Agree SA Uncer— Agree tain Dis- Strongly agree Disagree POLICE USE CLUBS ON PEOPLE FOR NO REASON AT ALL. SA . THE POLICE KEEP PEACE AND ORDER. SA . WITHOUT POLICEMEN THERE WOULD BE CRIME EVERYWHERE. SA YOU CAN RELY ON THE POLICE IN TIMES OF DISTRESS. SA POLICEMEN ARE DEDICATED MEN. SA POLICE TRY TO ACT BIG SHOT. SA . THE POLICE ARE ALWAYS MAD AT KIDS. SA POLICE HELP ME TO HELP MYSELF. SA POLICE REPRESENT TROUBLE INSTEAD OF HELP. SA POLICE ARE BRAVE MEN. SA 96 Strongly Uncer- Dis- Strongly Agree Agree tain agree Disagree r. THE POLICE ARE PROTECTIVE OF OUR COUNTRY. SA A s. POLICE DON'T EVEN GIVE YOU A CHANGE TO EXPLAIN. SA A t. POLICE TRY TO GET SMART WITH YOU WHEN YOU ASK A QUESTION. SA A Are you: Male Female Are you: White Negro Puerto Rican Mexican—American Indian Oriental Other (specify) A policeman was nice to me when I talked with him. (1) Very often (2) Several times (A) No A policeman has roughed me up. (1) Very often (2) Several times (A) No How often do you attend church? Every week 1 to 3 times a month Less than once a month Never (3) Once or twice (3) Once of twice 9 . 97 Are your parents divorced or separated? Yes No "I111111.11!111111111