Title

Examining macro-level impacts on procedural justice and police legitimacy

Authors

Authors

J. M. Gau; N. Corsaro; E. A. Stewart;R. K. Brunson

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Crim. Justice

Keywords

LOW SELF-CONTROL; NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT; COLLECTIVE EFFICACY; LEGAL; CYNICISM; MULTIPLE IMPUTATION; CITIZEN ENCOUNTERS; RACIAL-DIFFERENCES; PUBLIC CONFIDENCE; VIOLENT CRIME; PERCEPTIONS; Criminology & Penology

Abstract

Purpose: Many studies have lent empirical support to the procedural justice model of police legitimacy; however, there has, as yet, not been widespread consideration of the potential impact of neighborhood- and community-level factors on people's perceptions of procedural justice or police legitimacy. The present study integrates the macro-level policing literature with the psychological-based procedural justice framework to uncover what effects, if any, the sociostructural environment has on procedural justice and police legitimacy. Methods: Hierarchical linear modeling integrates census and survey data within a single, mid-sized city. Results: Concentrated disadvantage exerted a marginally-significant impact on procedural justice, and on police legitimacy while controlling for procedural justice. Procedural justice remained the strongest predictor of legitimacy, even when accounting for macro-level characteristics. Conclusions: The effect of procedural justice on police legitimacy appears to be robust against the deleterious impacts of concentrated disadvantage. This has implications for procedural justice research, theory, and policing. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

Journal of Criminal Justice

Volume

40

Issue/Number

4

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

333

Last Page

343

WOS Identifier

WOS:000306452400008

ISSN

0047-2352

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