Skip to main content
Log in

Youth, Police Legitimacy and Informal Contact

  • Published:
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper explores the under-researched topic of young people’s attitudes towards police in two studies using structural equation modelling. The first study examines the influence of police legitimacy on the willingness of young people to assist police. The second study examines the impact of informal contact with police during a community policing project on young people’s willingness to assist police. Findings show that young people who view police as legitimate are more willing to assist police. Participation in the community policing project had a significant and positive influence on young people’s willingness to assist police independent of young people’s attitudes about police legitimacy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In the post-YCA survey in 2006, the ‘prior contact’ question was altered to exclude contact with police during the YCA: “Other than police contact as part of YCA activities, was the most recent experience you have had with a police officer…..?” The scale was unchanged.

References

  • Arbuckle J, Wothke W (1999) Amos 4.0 user’s guide. SPSS, Illinois

    Google Scholar 

  • Arter ML (2006) Police mentoring: moving toward police legitimacy. Criminal Justice Studies 19(1):85–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark JP, Wenninger EP (1964) The attitude of juveniles toward the legal institution. J Crim Law Criminol Police Sci 55:482–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunneen C, White R (1995) Juvenile justice: an Australian perspective. Oxford University Press, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean D (1980) Citizen ratings of the police: the difference contact makes. Law Policy Q 2(4):445–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easton D, Dennis J (1969) Children in the Political System: Origins of Political Legitimacy. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagan J, Tyler TR (2005) Legal Socialisation of Children and Adolescents. Soc Justice Res 18(3):217–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnane M (1994) Larrikins, delinquents and cops: police and young people in Australian history. In: White R, Alder C (eds) The Police and Young People in Australia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Giordano PC (1976) The sense of injustice?: an analysis of juveniles’ reactions to the justice system. Criminology 14(1):93–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths CT, Winfree LT (1982) Attitudes toward the police – A comparison of Canadian and American adolescents. Int J Comp Appl Crim Justice 6:128–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Gronn P, Allix N, Penna C (2004) Part of a wheel?: an evaluation of the police schools involvement prgram. Report to Crime Prevention Victoria. Monash University Faculty of Education, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman JB, Garry EM (1997) Mentoring – a proven delinquency prevention strategy. Juvenile Justice Bulletin April 1997. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinds L (2007) building police-youth relationships: the importance of procedural justice. Youth Justice 7(3):195–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinds L, Murphy K (2007) Police legitimacy and public satisfaction: Using procedural justice to improve police-community relationships. Aust N Z J Criminol 40(1):27–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins N, Hewstone M, Hantzi A (1992) Police-Schools Liaison and young people’s image of the police: An intervention evaluation. Br J Psychol 83:203–220

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hurst YG, Frank J (2000) How kids view cops: The nature of juvenile attitudes toward the police. J Crim Justice 28:189–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Innes M (2004) Reinventing tradition? Reassurance, neighbourhood security and policing. Crim Justice 4(2):151–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Brown DD, Henriques ZW (1997) Promises and pitfalls of mentoring as a juvenile justice strategy. Soc Justice 24(4):212–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Leiber MJ, Nalla MK, Farnworth M (1998) Explaining Juveniles’ Attitudes Toward the Police. Justice Q 15(1):151–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lind EA, Tyler TR (1988) The social psychology of procedural justice. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Loader I (1996) Youth, policing and democracy. Macmillan Press, Basingstoke

    Google Scholar 

  • Mastrofski SD, Snipes JB, Supina AE (1996) Compliance on demand: The public’s response to specific police requests. J Res Crime Delinq 33:269–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxson C, Hennigan K, Sloane DC (2003) Factors that influence public opinion of the police. Office of Justice Programs, Washington, DC, NCJ 197925

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagin DS (1998) Criminal deterrence research at the outset of the 21st century. Crime and Justice: A Review of Research 23:1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelsen EA, Eisenberg N, Carroll JL (1982) The structure of adolescents’ attitudes towards law and crime. J Genet Psychol 140:47–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Piquero AR, Fagan J, Mulvey EP, Steinberg L, Odgers C (2005) Developmental trajectories of legal socialisation among serious adolescent offenders. J Crim Law Criminol 96(1):267–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Reisig MD, Parks RB (2002) Satisfaction with police – What matters? Office of Justice Programs, Washington, DC, NCJ 194077

    Google Scholar 

  • Schafer JA, Huebner BM, Bynum TS (2003) Citizen Perceptions of Police Services: Race, Neighbourhood Context, and Community Policing. Police Quarterly 6(4):440–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogan WG (2005) Citizen satisfaction with police encounters. Police Quarterly 8(3):298–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogan WG (2006) Asymmetry in the impact of encounters with police. Policing Soc 16(2):99–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunshine J, Tyler TR (2003) The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law Soc Rev 37(3):513–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR (1990) Why people obey the law. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR, Huo YJ (2002) Trust in the law: encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. Russell Sage, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber M (1968) Economy and society. In Roth, G, Wittich C (Eds.), New York: Bedminster

  • White R (1994) Street life: police practices and youth behaviour. In: White R, Alder C (eds) The Police and Young People in Australia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council Grant number LP0346987.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lyn Hinds.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

This Appendix details measures used in the analyses in this paper. It also details the original scale formats and the recoding of data if applicable (reverse scoring indicated with the letter ‘r’). Refer to the main text for reliability coefficients of scales, mean scores and standard deviations for scales.

Concern About Crime

Young people’s perceptions of their safety and security were measured using an eight-item ‘concerned about being a victim’ scale that asked: “In your everyday life how concerned are you about being the victim of …..”. Eight crime types were specified: (i) physical assault, (ii) sexual assault, (iii) housebreaking, (iv) fraud or credit card theft, (v) motor vehicle theft, (vi) internet-based crime, (vii) drug/alcohol related violence, and (viii) graffiti or vandalism. Responses were measured on a 1 = not at all concerned to 4 = very concerned scale.

Procedural justice

A four-item procedural justice scale was created to measure young people’s perceptions of the fairness of police decision-making, measured on a 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree scale. Youth who agreed with the following statements view police as using procedural justice:

  • Police treat young people differently from the way they treat adults (r);

  • It depends what mood a police officer is in whether they tell you off or not (r);

  • Police use unfair methods to get information (r); and

  • If it’s your word against a police officer’s: they will always win (r).

Police Legitimacy

A four-item legitimacy scale was designed to measure the extent to which police are seen to have legitimate authority; measured on a range of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Young people who agreed with the statements viewed police authority as legitimate. The four items were:

  • I have confidence in police;

  • Everyone should always follow the directions of police officers even if they go against what they think is right;

  • I have great respect for police

  • Police abuse their power (r).

Police Performance

Police performance assessed how well youth thought police do seven jobs, measured on a 1 = ‘not at all well’ to 5 = ‘very well’ scale: (i) telling children about road safety, (ii) catching people who take drugs, (iii) keeping an eye on gangs of young people, (iv) dealing with children who break the law, (v) directing traffic, (vi) helping to run things like youth clubs, and (vii) stopping people who break the speed limit.

Distributive Justice

Distributive justice focuses on the fairness of an allocation or distribution of outcomes. We measured distributive fairness using two questions (measured on a 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree scale):

  • The scruffier you look the more likely the police are to nick you (r); and

  • Police treat you differently depending on where you live (r).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hinds, L. Youth, Police Legitimacy and Informal Contact. J Police Crim Psych 24, 10–21 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-008-9031-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-008-9031-x

Keywords

Navigation