ABSTRACT
This study broadly explains the social perception of criminality. This comprises several phenomena, of which the most important is anxiety about criminality on the part of the citizenry, followed by their assessment of the standard of Polish law, the operation and effectiveness of the justice system, and the services of public order. This apprehension is greatly influenced by the rhetoric used by politicians in public debates and the media. The influence these two fora exert on the social perception of criminality is a sufficiently broad and complex issue as to merit its own chapter in this publication. 2 The remaining phenomena, viz. the social feeling of being threatened by criminality and the corresponding degree of punitiveness on the part of Polish people, and the relationship between politicians and criminal policy, are described in this chapter.
