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This article discusses the American people's attitude regarding both heterosexual and homosexual pornographic videos. The authors maintain the results of their study show more people feel pornography is harmful and pornographic videos should not be made readily available. In addition the opinions are heavily influenced by religious beliefs.

A survey of Hispanics' opinions, conducted with awareness of differences in countries of origin, indicates no broad differences within the group. Despite this finding, it is important to remember that social workers have to remember the ethnic specificities of their clients. Social service research should also be crafted with this awareness. The major differences in opinion were along gender lines. Crime was seen as the biggest problem facing the country with many women believing that things were improving.

Public policy in the area of youth crime has periodically shifted back and forth between punishment and child saving. Generally, scholars believe that public opinion and youth justice policies are linked. It is also believed that crime salience—fear and perceived risk of victimization—is linked to public opinion about youth sanctions. To test these widely held beliefs, this study examines public opinion about youth justice policies by exploring the impact of crime salience on public support for child saving versus youth punishment. This study expands on prior literature by also considering the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the youth justice policies they prefer. Results indicate that fear increases punitiveness, WTP for youth justice policies generally, and, more specifically, the WTP for youth punishment. However, fear does not affect the public’s WTP for child saving. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interacting relationships of key Criminal Justice System members and the resulting interdependencies that develop because of these interactions are critical information in obtaining a better understanding of the operation of the court system. This analysis directs attention to the interactions among courtroom members. The particular purpose of this study is to examine one set of courtroom interactions, those between the prosecutor and public defender, and to suggest the beginnings of a typology of those interactions to aid in explaining the sentencing process. The discussion and analysis indicate that a defendant's sentence is considerably determined by the relationship between the prosecutor and public defender. Future research should be geared to clearer operationalizations of interacting relationships and more time needs to be spent analyzing the possible relationships among courtroom actors and the impact of the interactions on the sentences given out in court. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]