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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Michael D. Reisig and Rick Trinkner

Measuring the normative obligation to obey the police, a key component of police legitimacy, has proven difficult. Pósch et al.’s (2021) proposed scales appear to overcome the…

Abstract

Purpose

Measuring the normative obligation to obey the police, a key component of police legitimacy, has proven difficult. Pósch et al.’s (2021) proposed scales appear to overcome the problems associated with traditional measures. This study introduces new items for these scales and empirically assesses whether such additions have the desired effects on scale performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from a national online survey administered in July 2022 (N = 1,494). Measures of internal consistency and factor analysis were used to evaluate the properties of the obligation to obey scales. Linear regression was used to test the hypothesized effects.

Findings

The results show that adding the new items to the existing scales increased the level of internal consistency and improved how well the factor model fit the data. In terms of antecedents, procedural justice and bounded authority concerns were correlated with normative and non-normative obligations to obey the police in the expected direction and relative magnitude, findings that held for both the original and expanded scales. Although both normative obligation scales were significantly associated with willingness to cooperate with the police and significantly mediated the effect of procedural justice on cooperation, the relationship for the expanded scale was stronger and the mediation more pronounced.

Originality/value

This study extends previous research working to overcome some of the setbacks associated with measuring a crucial feature of police legitimacy. Effectively navigating this challenge will help advance legitimacy studies in criminal justice settings.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

Vinod Kumar TK

The police require the cooperation of the public to ensure security in society. People cooperate with the police because they share norms and values reflected in the law and…

Abstract

Purpose

The police require the cooperation of the public to ensure security in society. People cooperate with the police because they share norms and values reflected in the law and police action. Police face challenges in obtaining the cooperation of the public. There are studies examining the relationship between the legitimacy of the police and cooperation with the police. Using Tankebe's (2013) model of legitimacy as a multidimensional concept, this study examines the relationship between legitimacy and cooperation with the police in India.

Design/methodology/approach

For examining the relationship, the study uses data collected from a survey of 705 victims of crime in India who had interacted with the police. The research questions were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

On the basis of the analyses, the study concludes that legitimacy is a multidimensional concept encompassing police lawfulness, procedural justice, distributive justice and effectiveness. The legitimacy of the police has both a direct impact on cooperation with the police and the obligation to obey as a mediating variable. The study indicates that legitimacy is an important antecedent to cooperation with the police, which has significant policy implications.

Originality/value

The study is significant as there are no studies examining the relationship between the legitimacy of police and cooperation with the police in India, which is a non-Western developing country and the largest democracy in the world. The present research is the first study of this nature.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 June 2016

Silvia Staubli

Actual debates around the Swiss police see a decrease in respect and an increase in attacks toward police officers. Such non-respect can be seen as a lack of feelings of obligation

Abstract

Purpose

Actual debates around the Swiss police see a decrease in respect and an increase in attacks toward police officers. Such non-respect can be seen as a lack of feelings of obligation to obey the police. Instead of asking whether such a proclaimed increase in disrespect is indeed happening in Switzerland, this chapter analyzes aspects of legitimacy. It builds on the question whether the population sees the Swiss police as a legitimate force.

Methodology/approach

Swiss police’s legitimacy will be elaborated in two parts. After giving an overview about current debates, known theoretical aspects of legitimacy will be outlined. These aspects build the ground for empirical analyses that follow. Results are based on data of the European Social Survey ESS5.

Findings

The Swiss population sees the police as a legitimate force. The majority morally align with the police, they feel an obligation to obey their directives, and they ascribe legality to their actions. Furthermore, also procedural fairness is highly ascribed to the Swiss police. Finally, age correlates only with certain aspects of legitimacy. While moral alignment increases with age, as well as positive views about police’s procedural fairness, no effects were found for feelings of obligation to obey. However, elderly people more often see a political influence on police’s decisions and actions.

Originality/value

While in Anglo-Saxon countries research on legitimacy of the police is broad, no analyses are known for Switzerland so far. Moreover, topics around the Swiss police are often emotionally debated in media, with a lack of empirical evidence. This chapter contributes to close this gap. It gives an insight on the population’s perception of the Swiss police and offers an important scientific foundation for actual debates.

Details

The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-030-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 June 2022

Sung Uook Lee, Joseph Hamm and Yoon Ho Lee

The majority of legitimacy research has been conducted in low-power distance societies such as America, England, Australia, etc. We test the relative impact of normative and…

Abstract

Purpose

The majority of legitimacy research has been conducted in low-power distance societies such as America, England, Australia, etc. We test the relative impact of normative and instrumental judgments on police legitimacy in a high-power distance society. It is hypothesized that in this context, individuals in high-power distance societies, such as South Korea, will put a larger emphasis on the instrumental model of legitimacy and less on the relational model of legitimacy.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the pathways to police legitimacy and cooperation. Using a convenience sample of Korean college students, the impact of instrumental and normative pathways on the perception of police legitimacy is examined. Based on Hofstede's (2001) power-distance theory, we hypothesize that South Koreans, with relatively high-power distance, should emphasize the instrumental pathway of police legitimacy more compared to the normative pathway of police legitimacy.

Findings

The results indicated that opposite to what we have hypothesized, South Korean college students still emphasized the normative pathways to police legitimacy more importantly. While procedural justice significantly predicted both trustworthiness and obligation to obey the police, police effectiveness only significantly predicted trustworthiness and failed to predict obligation to obey.

Originality/value

The majority of police legitimacy research has been conducted in the Western context. A small amount of research focusing on non-Western settings has been conducted, but still requires more attention. The current research adds to the body of police legitimacy literature in the Korean context. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 45 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2021

Sung Lee and Jina Lee

The study aims to examine whether a baseline trait-level characteristic, in this case propensity to trust, impacts peoples' perception of procedural justice, police legitimacy…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to examine whether a baseline trait-level characteristic, in this case propensity to trust, impacts peoples' perception of procedural justice, police legitimacy, trustworthiness, obligation to obey and cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Hamm and colleagues' (2017) integrated framework of legitimacy (IFL) as the theoretical framework, the current research explores whether individual trait characteristic differences matter. Using a Korean survey in 2019 with 2188 samples aged 19 to 28, this study conducted structural equation modeling to assess the impact of propensity to trust on the latent factors of the IFL.

Findings

The results support the findings of the original IFL. Specifically, when it comes to citizens' perception of police legitimacy, propensity to trust positively and significantly impacts latent factors such as procedural justice, trustworthiness, trust and obligation to obey. However, it fails to impact cooperation in any capacity.

Originality/value

Perception of police legitimacy has been researched extensively by various scholars. Specifically, Tyler's (1990) procedural justice model has been the main focus of police legitimacy research for the past 30 years. However, the current study aims to explore the possibility of trait-level characteristic that may influence peoples' perception of police legitimacy. Specifically, the authors aim to assess individual propensity to trust tendency and its impact on police legitimacy.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 44 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2023

Sung Lee and YeonSoo Kim

This study aimed to expand the normative model of police legitimacy literature by assessing the impact of cultural values and their role as a driver of the perception of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to expand the normative model of police legitimacy literature by assessing the impact of cultural values and their role as a driver of the perception of legitimacy. Specifically, the current study assessed cultural values like Confucianism and their impact on the perception of police legitimacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study used convenience sampling of South Korean university students from all seven metropolises. A perception survey regarding their perception of the legitimacy of Korean police was asked via a six-point scale. For statistical analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the hypotheses.

Findings

The authors' results indicate that Confucian values like social hierarchy and social harmony impacted various stages of police legitimacy. In particular, Confucian values significantly impacted procedural justice, the obligation to obey and cooperation. However, it failed to predict legitimacy in any capacity.

Originality/value

First, by assessing Confucian values and their impact on police legitimacy, the current study aimed to expand the police legitimacy literature. Second, police legitimacy research in non-Western settings is still lacking and has not reached a consensus regarding the primary driver of legitimacy. Furthermore, South Korea in particular is still at an infant stage regarding police legitimacy research. The current study aimed to add to the literature by examining police legitimacy in the Korean context.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 46 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2018

Musa Mbago, Joseph Mpeera Ntayi and Henry Mutebi

The purpose of the study is to examine the role of legitimacy in forming whistleblowing behavior in Ugandan procuring and disposing entities (PDEs).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to examine the role of legitimacy in forming whistleblowing behavior in Ugandan procuring and disposing entities (PDEs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study has adopted both a quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional research design to collect data from a sample of 97 out of the population of 129 PDEs in Kampala, which are regulated by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority.

Findings

This paper finds that improvement in the perception of public servants about the appropriateness of the Whistleblowers Act and its enforcers can increase on the reporting of unethical practices in public procurement.

Research limitations/implications

This study has used a cross-sectional survey data. The causal relationships between variables are possibly obscured; as data from all participants are collected at the same point of time, perceptions go on changing over time. Therefore, further studies should use a longitudinal approach. Second, there are no constructs for legitimacy in public procurement and those from law are domesticated.

Practical implications

There should be a promotion of legitimacy of the Whistleblowers Act and the enforcement agencies of the Act. The government should devise means for the public servants to have an obligation to obey the holders of authority, to trust and have confidence in them and to enforce the Whistleblowers Act in an ethical and normative framework.

Originality/value

This study reveals the whistleblowing intentions and behavior of public servants in PDEs. This study would help the Government of Uganda to make the Whistleblowing Act legitimate and its enforcers to increase on the reporting of unethical practices in public procurement.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 60 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Gorazd Meško and Rok Hacin

Police legitimacy presents a social value of the institution based on citizens' normative, moral and ethical feelings that they should voluntarily comply with and support the…

Abstract

Purpose

Police legitimacy presents a social value of the institution based on citizens' normative, moral and ethical feelings that they should voluntarily comply with and support the authority of the police. The present study focuses on residents' perceptions of police legitimacy in different settings in Slovenia.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on data from a survey of 1,022 citizens in Slovenia, this study examined the correlates of police legitimacy and differences in citizen perceptions of police legitimacy in urban, suburban and rural settings.

Findings

Multivariate statistical analyses showed that feelings of obligation to obey, trust in police, procedural justice, police effectiveness, relations with police officers and gender influence perceptions of police legitimacy. Significant differences between residents' perceptions of police legitimacy, obligation to obey, trust in police, procedural justice, police effectiveness and legal cynicism in urban, suburban and rural settings were also observed. In general, residents of rural areas were found to have more positive attitudes towards the police than those in urban and suburban settings.

Practical implications

The article is useful for police leaders and practitioners planning policies and training of police officers for democratic policing.

Social implications

Police legitimacy reflects the legitimacy of governance, as the police are the most visible representatives of the state authority. Therefore, police legitimacy is crucial for policing in urban, suburban and rural settings.

Originality/value

The study presents the first test of police legitimacy in a non-Western cultural environment based on a national sample of citizens, which enables the generalisation of concepts of legitimacy, and its correlates in a different cultural setting. The study also presents the first attempt to test and compare the effect of the settings (i.e. rural, suburban and urban) on variables influencing residents' perceptions of police legitimacy.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2022

Harley Williamson, Kristina Murphy, Elise Sargeant and Molly McCarthy

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the introduction of extra-ordinary restrictions to mitigate its spread. Authorities rely on the public's voluntary willingness to obey these…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the introduction of extra-ordinary restrictions to mitigate its spread. Authorities rely on the public's voluntary willingness to obey these restrictions, yet the intrusive nature of these measures may lead some people to believe that authorities are overstepping the limits of their rightful power (i.e. bounded-authority). This paper applies the bounded-authority framework to the COVID-19 context to understand the factors associated with the public's duty to obey authorities during COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes survey data from 1,582 individuals to examine what factors drive COVID-19-related bounded-authority concerns, and in turn, how bounded-authority concerns may impact one's duty to obey authorities during COVID-19.

Findings

Results show that worry about freedom loss, opposition to surveillance tactics, police heavy-handedness and perceptions of procedural injustice from police during the pandemic all drive bounded-authority concerns. Findings also reveal that bounded-authority concerns are associated with reduced duty to obey and mediate the relationship between procedural justice and the duty to obey authorities' enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions.

Originality/value

Findings reveal new evidence about the bounded-authority framework and the public's duty to obey authorities, with implications for the COVID-19 context and beyond.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2020

Constance Gikonyo

Kenya is vulnerable to trade-based and other forms of money laundering. Banks are prime targets for money launderers since they can facilitate the processes of placement, layering…

Abstract

Purpose

Kenya is vulnerable to trade-based and other forms of money laundering. Banks are prime targets for money launderers since they can facilitate the processes of placement, layering and re-integration. Consequently, banks are key in fulfilment of the prohibitory and preventative anti-money laundering (AML) strategies. In executing these obligations, the potential for clashes between the bank following the law and obeying its contractual duties to the client arises. Hence, this paper aims to examine these potential conflicts of interests.

Design/methodology/approach

The examination is based on reviewing relevant literature, case law and analysing the Proceeds of Crime and AML Act and its attendant regulations. These form the core of the AML regime imposing obligations on banks.

Findings

The analysis indicates the provisions are robust and can assist in addressing money laundering risks faced by banks. Nonetheless, there are identified gaps since the primary AML legislation does not provide guidance on various issues. This can potentially lead to banks facing litigation from customers for failure to honour its duty of secrecy and customer’s instructions.

Originality/value

The paper seeks to make a practical and scholarly contribution in considering the issue and possibly filling this gap through advocating for statutory amendment. Subsequently, positive review of the law will help strike a balance between interference in the banker-customer contractual relationship and facilitation of banks fulfilling their prohibitory and enforcement of AML obligations.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

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