Satisfaction with Native American Indian tribal criminal justice services and perceptions of crime seriousness: A research note

Julie C. Abril

Abstract
Little work examines perceptions of criminal justice services provided by
Native American Indian tribal governments to their citizens and the
relationship these attitudes might have with communal views of crime
seriousness. In this study, measures of perceptions about the police, court
and crime victim services are tested to understand if and how closely they
are associated with beliefs regarding crime. Data collected during the
Southern Ute Indian Community Safety Survey are used to answer these
and other related questions. Most study respondents had negative
sentiments about the tribal criminal justice services while they also held
severe views toward violent and alcohol-related crimes. This finding
suggests that while people in this study held strong views against crime,
they probably did not feel that their concerns about such were being
adequately addressed by the local tribal government.

Keywords: perceptions of crime, crime seriousness, reporting crime, tribal
services