Russian citizens' perceptions of corruption and trust of the police

    Authors

    O. Semukhina;K. M. Reynolds

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Polic. Soc.

    Keywords

    post-Soviet policing; corruption; police misconduct; trust in police; Russian law enforcement; EXPERIENCES; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    Since 1991, Russian citizens' perception of the police has been consistently overwhelmingly negative. Both direct and vicarious citizen experiences with the police were examined to identify potential factors that may explain the pervasive and persistent negative perceptions. An original survey of citizens (N = 509) was analysed with structural equation modelling techniques to determine how various forms of corruption (including bribery, unfair treatment and abuse of power), and social class standing influenced perceptions. Experiences with corruption had significant negative correlations with police trust. Trust was found to be independent of social class position. Bribery and abuse of power had significant co-variations with unfair treatment. Citizens actively avoid any police contact; therefore, their perceptions appear to be predominately influenced by a lack of institutional trust. The findings are consistent with the extant research.

    Journal Title

    Policing & Society

    Volume

    24

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    158

    Last Page

    188

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000337189600002

    ISSN

    1043-9463

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