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The Role of Perceived Injustice in Defendants' Evaluations of Their Courtroom Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Tom R. Tyler
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Abstract

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The purpose of this study is to explore the role of perceived injustice in generating dissatisfaction with legal authorities. Using data collected in interviews with a sample of defendants in traffic and misdemeanor court, I compare the influence of case outcomes upon attitudes toward judges and courts to that of distributive and procedural justice. The results suggest that among the defendants studied the major determinant of satisfaction with legal authorities is perceived fairness. Once the influence of perceived fairness is considered, case outcomes explain no additional variation in attitudes toward courts and judges. In the conclusion, possible implications of this finding are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , 1984 , pp. 51 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

The questionnaire used in this study was designed in collaboration with Bill Mueller. The interviews were conducted by Tim Butler, Keith Gorski, Tim Honzel, Elizabeth Horan, Lawrence Hughes, Bill Mueller, Antoinette Odom, Nancy Spodick, Andrea Stein, and Judy Zeka. The study was conducted in the Second District Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. I would like to thank the Honorable Harold Sullivan, Presiding Judge, for his helpful comments on the questionnaire and for helping to conduct the study.

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