Who participates in criminal justice? An exploratory study in Japan

Public participation in criminal justice is a major topic in criminological research. Recently, an empirical study in Japan coined the term “criminal justice participation” and provided preliminary results for this concept. The present study aimed to identify the correlates of criminal justice participation using data collected from 846 Japanese adults. Our findings show that, among the three groups of correlates, internal efficacy was a consistent predictor of experience and intention to participate in criminal justice. In addition to its relationship with internal efficacy, experience was related to low external court efficacy, stronger support for harsher punishment, and intention to participate. Intention to participate was related to support for rehabilitation and fear of crime. Based on the finding regarding support for harsher punishment and rehabilitation, we discuss the risk that the opinions of those who are more supportive of harsher punishment are overrepresented in society due to their active participation.