Do photos of police-civilian interactions influence public opinion about the police? A multimethod test of media effects

Journal of Experimental Criminology - To test whether exposure to news images depicting law enforcement affects public attitudes toward the police. Participants drawn from a national online panel...     

Police officers’ perceptions of organizational justice and their trust in the public

Research in organizational psychology has consistently demonstrated that employee perceptions of organizational justice have significant effects on employee attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Similar studies utilizing the organizational justice model in policing have also noted these effects, including the relationship of justice perceptions with officer attitudes toward the public. Recent theoretical developments in policing contend that the association between internal perceptions of justice and external attitudes may be the result of organizational and supervisory practices that ‘trickle-down’ into the police-community relationship. This paper explores this association by assessing the effects of officer perceptions of organizational justice on officer trust in the public. A sample of patrol division police officers were surveyed using measures taken from the organizational justice literature and Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman’s model of organizational trust. Results show a strong relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and trust in the public even when other relevant predictors are controlled.     

The media’s coverage of mass public shootings in America: fifty years of newsworthiness

This study uses a media distortion analysis to examine the New York Times coverage of mass public shooting incidents occurring in the United States from 1966 to 2016. A comparison between media coverage and actual incidents is used to identify the characteristics influencing the newsworthiness of mass public shootings. This work expands the breadth and depth of media and mass public shooting research, strengthening the validity of previous findings, and identifying new characteristics influencing newsworthiness. Findings indicate significant predictors of newsworthiness include higher casualties and injuries, as well as perpetrators that are young, Middle Eastern, and ideologically motivated. School shootings are more likely to receive any coverage, and all non-workplace shootings receive salient levels of coverage. An incident is also more likely to receive any coverage if a combination of weapons is used. These findings have important implications for public knowledge and perceptions of mass public shootings.     

Gender attitudes and the police in Bosnia and Herzegovina: male officers’ attitudes regarding their female counterparts

Utilizing survey data collected from 127 male Bosnian police officers, this study examines the impact attitudes toward women, individual characteristics, and work experiences have on officers’ perceptions of their female colleagues. It is hypothesized that officers who hold more traditional, patriarchal attitudes toward women will view females as incapable of effectively carrying out police work, regardless of their own work experiences, or demographic characteristics. Results suggest that a majority of Bosnian policemen believe that women are equally as effective as men in all aspects of policing, however, many still cling to stereotypical views of policing and continue to view female officers negatively.     

‘Cashing In’ on curiosity and spectacle: the forensic patient and news media

Health and social care professionals are gatekeepers to, and custodians of, confidential service user information. In the United Kingdom (UK), police investigations have unveiled cases of payments being made to public service officials by journalists in return for service user information. The purpose of this discussion is to investigate such cases in the context of high-security forensic care. This paper provides a discussion drawing upon two UK-based case studies of prosecutions of public service workers relating to the sale of confidential information. The analysis presented here illuminates upon the salient and connected issues at work that have led to the transgression of legal obligations and professional responsibilities/principles of confidentiality. A fuller reading of the context in which these transgressions occur, and motivations that exist, may well serve to inform policy, training, guidance or vigilance in relation to the preserving of service user information in the future.     

The effects of university-level policies on women’s participation in academic patenting in Italy

The Journal of Technology Transfer - A growing stream of the academic literature has investigated the factors that hamper the participation of women researchers in patenting and commercialization...     

Challenging the ‘invariance’ thesis: procedural justice policing and the moderating influence of trust on citizens’ obligation to obey police

Objectives

This paper examines the effects of a procedural justice policing intervention on citizens’ feelings of obligation to obey police. It examines whether the efficacy of procedural justice on citizens’ obligation to obey police may be contingent on citizens’ level of trust in police during a police–citizen encounter.

Methods

This research draws on survey data from the Queensland Community Engagement Trial (QCET). QCET was a randomized controlled field trial implemented by the Queensland Police Service. The trial exposed citizens to either a procedural justice experience (experimental condition) or standard police practice (control condition) during a random roadside stop. Survey responses were received from 1107 drivers in the experimental condition and 1655 drivers in the control condition.

Results

Compared to the control condition, the procedural justice condition yielded higher levels of trust in the police officer conducting the roadside stop. No differences in obligation to obey police were observed between the two conditions. Importantly, citizens’ level of trust in the officer moderated the effect of the intervention on obligation to obey police. Specifically, the procedural justice condition had a negative effect on obligation to obey for those reporting low trust in police. For those high in trust, the procedural justice intervention had a slight but insignificant positive effect on obligation to obey.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that procedural justice effects can vary between individuals; specifically, the findings reveal that procedural justice interventions can sometimes be counter-productive, depending on the level of trust a citizen exhibits toward police during an encounter. Police agencies should therefore be aware of potential counter-productive effects when implementing procedural justice in the field.

     

Organized crime, the militarization of public security, and the debate on the “new” police model in Mexico

After the recognition in Mexico of a situation characterized by violence involving both non-state actors (mainly drug lords) and the state apparatus, the present research critically analyzes both the national security strategy adopted by President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012), which is based on the process of the militarization of public security, as well as the “new” police model proposed by the executive power that seeks to professionalize law enforcement agencies.     

Data processing by police and criminal justice authorities in Europe – The influence of the Commission's draft on the national police laws and laws of criminal procedure

The proposal for a fundamental reform of the European data protection law, published by the EU Commission on 25 January 2012 is composed of two elements. Apart from a General Data Protection Regulation, the Commission proposes a second regulatory instrument, namely a Directive with regard to data processing by police and criminal justice authorities that shall supersede the Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA. This paper seeks to analyse the draft Directive in the context of the entire reform approach and scrutinizes a number of specific issues in regard to the scope, the requirements of data processing, notification duties and data transfer to third countries.     

The Situation in Libya and the ICC’s Understanding of Complementarity in the Context of UNSC-Referred Cases

The PTCI’s decision on the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and the subsequent AC Judgement are the first expressions of the ICC’s understanding of complementarity in Article 13(b) cases. Admissibility decisions display how the ICC attempts to strike the balance between international justice and states’ right to exercise their territorial criminal jurisdiction. In relation to cases triggered by UNSC referrals, these decisions also mark the delicate moment in which the ICC’s interaction with the politics UNSC is unveiled. In the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi the ICC seems to have taken deferent approach toward the highly authoritative mechanism that triggered the case. Legally speaking, these decisions might appear as a missed opportunity. They fail to provide a conclusive clarification of the parameters of the ‘same case’ test. First, the AC did not subscribe to the offence-specific interpretation of the ‘same conduct’ test embraced previously by PTCI and, in the name of consistency with the Court’s previous case law, reverted to the incident-specific approach adopted in Lubanga. However, the case-by-case approach adopted by the AC undermines the legal certainty that the AC meant to achieve in the definition of the admissibility test. Moreover, the AC has failed to appraise the PTCI’s conclusion that domestic implementation of international crimes is not necessary for the purposes of successfully challenging the admissibility of a case. Finally, in light of the constraints imposed by Article 17(2) on the relevance of due process violations, the PTCI’s decision to reject on the grounds of ‘inability’ as opposed to ‘unwillingness’, which again the AC did not consider, could be seen as evidence of a deferent stance toward the UNSC.     

The making of an expert detective: the role of experience in English and Norwegian police officers’ investigative decision-making

Biased decision-making in criminal investigations can impede or arrest the progress of justice. Previous research has not systematically addressed the effects of professional experience on the quality of detectives’ decision-making. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study compared the quality of investigative decisions made by experienced detectives and novice police officers in two countries with markedly different models for the development of investigative expertise (England and Norway). Participants (N?=?124) were presented with two semi-fictitious cases and were asked to report all relevant investigative hypotheses and necessary investigative actions in each case. The quality of participants’ responses was gauged against a gold standard established by a panel of senior homicide experts. In the English sample, experienced detectives vastly outperformed novice police officers in the number of reported gold-standard investigative hypotheses and actions. In the Norwegian sample, however, experienced detectives did not perform any better than novices. We argue that English (vs. Norwegian) detectives may benefit more from professional experience due to their Professionalising Investigation Programme and a nationwide accreditation program, requiring them to engage in extensive standardized training, systematic evaluation and synchronized development. In contrast, Norway lacks such requirements. Methodological limitations and implications for police training and accreditation policies are discussed.     

Officer attitudes towards intra-group aggression in young people and young adults: does the reported motivation of an aggressor impact on intervention and support?

The present study aims to assess whether global and context specific attitudes influence the ability to correctly identify the motivation for aggression and selection of appropriate intervention strategies. A sample of 105 prison officers completed a measure assessing global attitudes towards prisoners, one assessing context specific attitudes towards aggression, and also a case vignette. Officers were asked to consider the motivation for aggression and to select an appropriate intervention. It was predicted that sex, age and level of experience would impact on global and context specific attitudes. Officers expressing positive global attitudes and non-aggressive context specific attitudes were expected to be more able to identify the motivation for aggression and more likely to adopt a rehabilitative approach. There was evidence to indicate sex differences in global and context specific attitudes but no impact of age. Level of experience of aggression impacted both on global and context specific attitudes. Global or context specific attitudes did not influence the ability to interpret aggression, but aggression type did. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

The politics of social welfare: MPs’ attitudes and activities in the 13th Israeli Knesset

This paper reports the findings of a study exploring the attitudes and activities of members of the 13th Israeli Knesset, and seeks possible connections between the two. The study involved extensive interviews with members of the 13th Israeli Knesset (1992–96), as well as drawing on archival and quantitative data of their activities. The paper presents a short overview of the Israeli political system, the 13th Israeli Knesset and its composition. The MKs’ perceptions of social welfare policy, their attitudes towards government involvement in the provision of social welfare services and their activities, both formal and informal, on social welfare issues are described. Finally, possible connections between the MKs’ attitudes and their activities are explored.     

Religious fundamentalism,religiosity, and priming: effects on attitudes,perceptions, and mock jurors’ decisions in an insanity defense case

Jurors are asked to use their personal knowledge and experience to make verdict decisions; thus, it is no surprise that their religious beliefs might influence their decisions. During legal insanity trials, jurors might also be exposed to religious stimuli (e.g. crucifix, prayer, Bible, etc.), which could evoke (prime) religious beliefs and thus influence decisions. Two studies examined whether dimensions of religiosity and religious beliefs relate to attitudes and decisions concerning mental health defenses, testing social identity theory against Allport and Ross’s religiosity hypothesis. In Study 1 (attitudes survey) and Study 2 (mock juror decision-making paradigm), religious fundamentalist beliefs consistently predicted punitive attitudes and decisions related to mental health defenses and verdicts, and this was moderated by intrinsic religiosity, such that religious fundamentalist beliefs only predicted punitiveness for individuals low in intrinsic religiosity. Also, priming fundamentalist beliefs increased punitiveness in both verdict and sentencing decisions. Combined, these results suggest that religious beliefs play a role in jurors’ verdict decisions in an insanity case, and that priming fundamentalist beliefs increases jurors’ punitiveness. Allport and Ross’s religiosity hypothesis was supported, but social identity theory was not.     

The Evolution of the CPC’s Conception of Association and Regulation of Social Organizations in China

Freedom of association and all institutions coming with it have not been accepted by the Chinese government. Instead, Chinese social organization administration is based upon the concept of association held by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Chinese government had adopted a “total control” model of social organization administration in the era of totalitarianism before the “Opening-up and Reform”, leaving almost no room for social organizations to survive, because the CPC had regarded social organizations as “revolutionary” and “deconstructive”. The Chinese has adopted a graduated control system to administrate social organizations in the era of authoritarianism after the “Opening-up and Reform”, treating social organizations differently according to their threats to the ruling order and their utilities for economic development, because the CPC has viewed social organizations as a “challenging” but “auxiliary” power. The on-going “innovation of registration and administration of social organizations” is not a return to international standard regarding social organization administration in China, but only partial reform of the graduate control system still based upon the CPC’s conception of association as “challenging” but “auxiliary”. Social organizations capable of providing public goods in areas of economic development and social services are given more favorable treatment by the government while political and religious organizations are still tightly controlled by the government.     

Who’s afraid of penal populism? Technocracy and ‘the people’ in the sociology of punishment

Contemporary sociologists of punishment have criticized the rising incidence of incarceration and punitiveness across the Western world in recent decades. The concepts of populist punitiveness and penal populism have played a central role in their critiques of the burgeoning penal state. These concepts are frequently sustained by a doctrine of penal elitism, which delegates a limited right to politicians and ‘the people’ to shape institutions of punishment, favoring in their place the dominance of bureaucratic and professional elites. I argue that the technocratic inclinations of penal elitism are misguided on empirical, theoretical, and normative grounds. A commitment to democratic politics should make us wary of sidelining the public and their elected representatives in the politics of punishment. A brief discussion of Norway’s legal proceedings against Nazi collaborators in the mid-1940s and the introduction sentencing guidelines commissions in Minnesota in the 1980s shows – pace penal elitism – that professional elites may variously raise the banner of rehabilitationism or retributivism. While penal elitism may yield a few victorious battles against punitiveness, it will not win the war.     

What’s the Party Like? The Status of the Political Party in Anti-Defection Jurisdictions

Law and Philosophy - This paper explores how political parties should be regulated in jurisdictions with anti-defection laws, which constitutionalise parties’ control over the legislative...