Justice Tankebe

A Multidimensional Model Of Police Legitimacy: A Cross-Cultural Assessment

This study used survey data from cross-sectional, university-based samples of young adults in different cultural settings (i.e., the United States and Ghana) to accomplish 2 main objectives: (1) to construct a 4-dimensional police legitimacy scale, and (2) to assess the relationship that police legitimacy and feelings of obligation to obey the police have with 2 outcome measures. The fit statistics for the second-order confirmatory factor models indicated that the 4-dimensional police legitimacy model is reasonably consistent with the data in both samples. Results from the linear regression analyses showed that the police legitimacy scale is related to cooperation with the police, and that the observed association is attenuated when the obligation to obey scale is included in the model specification in both the United States and Ghana data. A similar pattern emerged in the U.S. sample when estimating compliance with the law models. However, although police legitimacy was associated with compliance in the Ghana sample, this relationship along with the test statistic for the sense of obligation to obey estimate were both null in the fully saturated equation. The findings provide support for the Bottoms and Tankebes (2012) argument that legitimacy is multidimensional, comprising police lawfulness, distributive fairness, procedural fairness, and effectiveness. However, the link between police legitimacy and social order appears to be culturally variable.

Police Self-Legitimacy, Use of Force, and Pro-organizational Behavior in Slovenia

Previous empirical analysis of police legitimacy had focused mainly on legitimacy as perceived by people over whom police exercise power (e.g., offenders, victims, and the general population). We know relatively little about police officers’ sense of their own legitimacy, what predicts such self-legitimacy, and the consequences of self-legitimacy for behavior and decision choices officers make. This chapter draws on survey data from police officers in Slovenia to explore these issues. Officers with a greater sense of self-legitimacy were officers who received fair treatment from their supervisors, had good interpersonal relations with colleagues, and who believed the recognized them as legitimate. Self-legitimacy, in turn, was found to predict the decision of officers to choose verbal warning rather than threat of physical force to take control of situations. It was associated with a greater likelihood to engage in pro-organizational behavior. The quality of interpersonal relations with colleagues was the strongest predicted of pro-organizational behavior but not decision to use force.

The making of ‘democracy’s champions’: Understanding police support for democracy in Ghana

Marks and Fleming (2006: 178–179) have conjectured that ‘if we are to expect the police to behave democratically, it is important for the police themselves to experience democratic engagement within the organisations in which they work’. This article tests their conjecture, using data from a survey of frontline officers in Ghana. In particular, it explores whether police support for, and satisfaction with, democracy and police commitment to procedural justice in police–public encounters are driven by experiences of organizational distributive justice and procedural justice. The findings show strong support for democracy and for procedural justice in police–public encounters, but they also indicate dissatisfaction with ‘the way democracy works’. Further analyses suggest that assessments of distributive justice and procedural justice within the Ghanaian police service are the main drivers of support for democracy, satisfaction with democracy and commitment to procedural justice in police–public encounters. The findings thus lend support to the Marks–Fleming conjecture. It was also found that satisfaction with personal financial circumstance undermines commitment to procedural justice in police–public encounters.

Explaining police support for the use of force and vigilante violence in Ghana

Vigilante self-help and police use of force are widespread features of social control across sub-Saharan Africa. Attempts to understand these issues have often been studied from the perspective of citizens. This article approaches the issues from the standpoint of police officers; it reports a systematic quantitative analysis of the prevalence and determinants of officers’ expressions of support for use of force and vigilante violence in Ghana. The analysis finds a strong disapproval of vigilante violence but an ambiguous attitude to the use of force. Organisational commitment and various dimensions of corruption are found to account for these attitudes. Additionally, support for police use of force is found to increase the likelihood of support for vigilante violence.

Policing, Procedural Fairness and Public Behaviour: A Review and Critique

This paper provides a brief review and critique of the procedural fairness conception of police legitimacy. It is argued that the theoretical framework is too limited to constitute the basis for any overall legitimacy-based model of policing. Rather, its potential stands to be greatly enhanced if it incorporates other crucial variables such as the role of police self-legitimating activities in shaping police treatment of the public, and the contexts in which procedural fairness and outcome issues are singularly or collectively influential. It is also argued that, while it is well and good if procedural fairness enhances the quality of public compliance and cooperation with the police, it is unhealthy if procedural fairness is taken seriously only for its utilitarian value. Procedural fairness, and by extension police legitimacy, must be pursued as something of intrinsic value, a good in and of itself; treating people fairly should not be an issue of choice contingent simply on demonstrable evidence of the facilitation of the task of the police in maintaining order.

Confidence in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales: A Test of Ethnic Effects:

Ethnic minorities in England and Wales have a long history of difficult relationship with the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Yet, despite the availability of appropriate British Crime Survey (BCS) data, very few studies have examined the views of ethnic minorities of the CJS in England and Wales. Existing British research often oversimplifies the relationship by treating Black Minority Ethnic (BME) groups as interchangeable or failing to assess indirect effects. Moreover, most existing research focuses on public perceptions of the police, neglecting views on the wider CJS. This study remedies these deficiencies by employing recent (2001—2007) BCS data to independently examine the factors associated with views of the CJS for three general ethnicities (Asian, Black, and White). The results indicate that distinct combinations of factors influence respondent assessments of the CJS for each ethnic group. For instance, many perceived area-level disorder problems wield significant influence over views of only some ethnicities but not others. Likewise, level and type of contact with the CJS, such as being arrested versus being the accused in court, wield different impact on respondent perceptions of the CJS depending upon their ethnic group. Such results suggest that the various BME groups not only view the CJS differently from each other but also that a unique array of factors influences those views for each ethnicity. The implications of these findings for policy and research are discussed.

Self-legitimacy, orgqanisational commitment and commitment to fair treatment of prisoners: an empirical study of prison officers in Slovenia

Recent work on legitimacy within criminal justice systems have drawn attention to self-legitimacy; that is, criminal justice professionals’ own recognition of their entitlement to power. The evidence on this aspect of legitimacy remains sparse and mainly from police studies. We know almost nothing about the self-legitimacy of prison officers. This paper contributes to filling this gap, with an empirical focus on prison officers in Slovenia. Specifically, it explores the correlates of officer self-legitimacy and the implications of self-legitimacy for commitments to the rights of prisoners and to the organisation. Results from multiple regression analyses show that quality of interpersonal relationships among officers, perceived audience legitimacy (that is, officers’ sense of their moral standing among prisoners), and distributive justice predicted self-legitimacy. Self-legitimacy was associated with increased commitment to fair treatment of prisoners but it was irrelevant to organisational commitment. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Emerging issues of crime and criminal justice in sub-Saharan Africa

References to Africa often conjure up an image of ‘the strange and the monstrous – of what, even as it opens an appealing depth before us, is constantly eluding and escaping us’ (Mbembe, 2001: 1). The particulars of this image are taken to be corruption, violent conflicts, coup d’etats and underdevelopment. However, if we consider the scale of transformations in sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter Africa) – transformations occasioned by decades of complex political, economic and social processes of change – we see an image that is less malleable to stereotypical depictions. Changes in the last four decades are especially noteworthy, not least for the student of comparative criminology. The 1980s witnessed the adoption and implementation of structural adjustment programmes at the insistence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a key facet of which was a move away from centrally planned economies to the pursuit of neoliberal economic policies. Economic ‘liberalisation and the accompanying requirement

Racial stratification and multiple outcomes in police stops and searches

ABSTRACT The present study explores ethnic differences in stop-and-search outcomes. It uses data from 53,858 stop-and-search incidents recorded by a United Kingdom police force. Prior studies often focused on single outcomes – notably, arrests – and based on a binary majority-versus-minority categorisation of ethnicity/race. Our analysis departs from this approach by examining multiple outcomes across different ethnic groups. Focusing first on the binary categorisation, we found that stops-and-searches involving minorities were more likely to lead to arrests or to informal advice by officers than Whites, but less likely to receive formal warnings. No differences emerged in terms of encounters that resulted in ‘no further action’. However, there was no consistent pattern across any of the outcomes once the minority group was disaggregated into specific ethnic groups, despite having sufficient statistical power. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis shows that while ethnicity predicts stop-and-search outcomes, its effect is subsidiary to gender, criminal history, whether the encounter happened in a crime hotspot or not, and whether property was found during the encounter. Implications for future research are discussed.

In their own eyes: an empirical examination of police self-legitimacy

ABSTRACT In their paper Beyond Procedural Justice, Bottoms and Tankebe specified two interrelated dimensions of legitimacy: audience legitimacy and self-legitimacy. Criminologists have given considerable attention to audience legitimacy, but police officers’ belief in their own legitimacy remains understudied. This paper extends Bottoms and Tankebe’s theory and reports findings on some of its key propositions, using survey data from a UK police force. Three key findings emerge. First, contrary to previous studies, feelings of recognition by supervisors and clientele did not predict self-legitimacy; self-legitimacy was found to depend on feelings of peer recognition and acceptance. Second, self-legitimacy predicted officers’ commitment to external procedural justice but not their moral orientations towards crime victims. Finally, perceived police effectiveness but not supervisor recognition – that is, internal procedural justice – was the key predictor both of external procedural justice and of normative orientations towards crime victims. The implications of these findings are discussed.