The role of legal education in punitive attitudes: İstanbul as a case study

Public opinion has always played an important role in criminological research into crime and punishment. However, even though it is the biggest factor in public opinion, few studies have focused on the punitive attitude and the factors that can affect it. Of research that has been conducted in this field in recent decades none has been conducted in Turkey. This study aims to reveal the effect of legal education, through various stages of legal training, on the punitive attitude of law students and lawyers in Istanbul. A survey was conducted with 412 participants of which 97 were 1st year university students, 139 were fourth year students, and 176 were lawyers with at least five years experience. Data was collected by means of a sociodemographic information form, a professional information form for lawyers, and a punitive attitude form, all prepared by the researcher. It was found that while 4th year university students had a less punitive attitude than 1st year students, lawyers tend to have a more punitive attitude than 4th grade students. Analysis with secondary variables other than education will be a guide for future studies.