Public knowledge of and confidence in 
          the criminal justice system and 
          sentencing: 2022 research 
           
           
           
           
           
           
                                                                                           
                                                                                           
          Nicola Archer, Megan Butler, Georgia Avukatu, Emma Williams                      
          Savanta                                                                          
           
                                                                                           
                                                                                           
           
           
          This information is available on the Sentencing Council website: 
           
          www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk  
                                     
                                                                                                 
           
                   Public knowledge of and confidence in the criminal justice system and sentencing: 2022 research   2 
           The views expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the 
           Sentencing Council (nor do they represent Sentencing Council or Government policy).  
           © Crown Copyright 2022 
           This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except 
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           Any enquiries regarding this publication and to request alternative format versions of this 
           report, please contact the Sentencing Council.                                
                       Public knowledge of and confidence in the criminal justice system and sentencing: 2022 research   3 
              Table of Contents 
               
              1.     Summary                                                                                                   5 
              2.     Introduction                                                                                              8 
              3.     Methodology                                                                                               9 
              4.     Findings                                                                                                12 
              4.1 Knowledge of, and attitudes towards, the CJS                                                               12 
                     4.1.1.     Knowledge of the CJS                                                                         13 
                     4.1.2.     Attitudes towards the CJS                                                                    14 
              4.2 Knowledge of, understanding of, and attitudes towards sentencing                                           20 
                     4.2.1.     Knowledge and understanding of sentencing                                                    20 
                     4.2.2.     Attitudes towards sentencing                                                                 22 
                     4.2.3.     Variation in attitudes towards sentencing                                                    24 
              4.3 Knowledge of, understanding of, and attitudes towards sentencing guidelines                                29 
                     4.3.1.     Knowledge and understanding of sentencing guidelines                                         29 
                     4.3.2.     Attitudes towards sentencing guidelines                                                      30 
              4.4 Media and communication with priority audiences                                                            33 
                     4.4.1.     Overview of media and communications                                                         33 
                     4.4.2.     Priority audiences for targeted messaging                                                    34 
              5.     Conclusions and recommendations                                                                         43 
              Annex                                                                                                          45 
              Annex 1: Glossary of terms                                                                                     45 
              Annex 2: Survey approach                                                                                       48 
          Public knowledge of and confidence in the criminal justice system and sentencing: 2022 research   4 
      Annex 3: Questionnaire                         49 
      References                                     64 
      The authors                                    65