Procedural Justice, Police Legitimacy, and Public Cooperation with the Police Among Young Slovene Adults
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to test various research hypotheses derived from the process-based model of policing. More specifically, the effect of procedural justice judgments on perceived police legitimacy is empirically scrutinized. The influence of police legitimacy on a variety of forms of public cooperation with police is also adjudicated.
Design/Methods/Approach:
This study tests process-based model hypotheses using cross-sectional data from pencil-and-paper surveys administered to 683 individuals 18 years and older who were enrolled in 6 high schools located in Maribor and Ljubljana, Slovenia. A series of linear regression equations are estimated for purposes of hypothesis testing.
Findings:
The regression analyses show that procedural justice is a strong correlate of police legitimacy, and that the latter influences public cooperation, net of police effectiveness. However, when the public cooperation scale is disaggregated, the effect of police legitimacy varies across different cooperation outcomes. When the police legitimacy scale is disaggregated into its component parts, only the effect of trust in police is statistically significant. The impact of obligation to obey on public cooperation with police is effectively zero.
Research Limitations/Implications:
Future process-based model research should not only assess the effects of the different dimensions of police legitimacy (i.e., obligation to obey and trust in police), but also test the impact of police legitimacy on disaggregated public cooperation with police measures. Doing otherwise increases the risk of masking differential effects.
Practical Implications:
Results from this study underscore the utility of process-based policing practices. Police officials in Slovenia and elsewhere should seriously consider seeking out and/or developing training curricula that teach and promote fair and just practices.
Originality/Value:
This study extends prior research in two important ways. First, this study contributes to a small but growing body of literature that tests process-based model hypotheses in research settings outside the United States. Second, this study evaluates the effect of police legitimacy on different forms of public cooperation with police and ideas for further research.
UDC: 351.74/.76(497.4)
Keywords: procedural justice, police legitimacy, process-based model, police, Slovenia