The purpose of this study was to analyze juveniles' attitudes toward the police and how their attitudes were affected by prior victimization and delinquency, controlling for race, gender, and city of residence. All variables used in this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen (1999). The analysis indicated that females held more favorable attitudes toward the police than males, Whites held more favorable attitudes toward the police than non-Whites, and juveniles living in small rural/suburban areas held more favorable attitudes than those living in large urban areas. The major finding of this study was that a spurious relationship existed between prior victimization and attitudes toward the police with delinquency being the true predictor of juveniles' attitudes. A possible explanation for this finding is that those juveniles at the greatest risk of victimization are the same ones committing the majority of the delinquent acts.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to analyze juveniles' attitudes toward the police and how their attitudes were affected by prior victimization and delinquency, controlling for race, gender, and city of residence. All variables used in this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen (1999). The analysis indicated that females held more favorable attitudes toward the police than males, Whites held more favorable attitudes toward the police than non-Whites, and juveniles living in small rural/suburban areas held more favorable attitudes than those living in large urban areas. The major finding of this study was that a spurious relationship existed between prior victimization and attitudes toward the police with delinquency being the true predictor of juveniles' attitudes. A possible explanation for this finding is that those juveniles at the greatest risk of victimization are the same ones committing the majority of the delinquent acts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hardin, Joshua A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA (Master of Arts)","degree_level":"Thesis - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Criminal Justice and Criminology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:35Z","subjects":["Attitudes","Delinquency","Juveniles","Police","Victimization","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Legal Studies","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/937","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hardin, Joshua A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1995-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2004-12-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Criminal Justice and Criminology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA (Master of Arts)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Attitudes","Delinquency","Juveniles","Police","Victimization","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Legal Studies","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2094/viewcontent/HardinJ091504f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/937"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to analyze juveniles' attitudes toward the police and how their attitudes were affected by prior victimization and delinquency, controlling for race, gender, and city of residence. All variables used in this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen (1999). The analysis indicated that females held more favorable attitudes toward the police than males, Whites held more favorable attitudes toward the police than non-Whites, and juveniles living in small rural/suburban areas held more favorable attitudes than those living in large urban areas. The major finding of this study was that a spurious relationship existed between prior victimization and attitudes toward the police with delinquency being the true predictor of juveniles' attitudes. A possible explanation for this finding is that those juveniles at the greatest risk of victimization are the same ones committing the majority of the delinquent acts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Juveniles' Attitudes toward the Police as Affected by Prior Victimization."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hardin, Joshua A."],"dc:date.available":["1995-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2004-12-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to analyze juveniles' attitudes toward the police and how their attitudes were affected by prior victimization and delinquency, controlling for race, gender, and city of residence. All variables used in this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen (1999). The analysis indicated that females held more favorable attitudes toward the police than males, Whites held more favorable attitudes toward the police than non-Whites, and juveniles living in small rural/suburban areas held more favorable attitudes than those living in large urban areas. The major finding of this study was that a spurious relationship existed between prior victimization and attitudes toward the police with delinquency being the true predictor of juveniles' attitudes. A possible explanation for this finding is that those juveniles at the greatest risk of victimization are the same ones committing the majority of the delinquent acts.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2094/viewcontent/HardinJ091504f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/937"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["Attitudes","Delinquency","Juveniles","Police","Victimization","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Legal Studies","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["Juveniles' Attitudes toward the Police as Affected by Prior Victimization."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Criminal Justice and Criminology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA (Master of Arts)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:35Z"}