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This study examines the effects of three theoretical factors representing both process-based and outcome-based dimensions of police actions on attitudes towards police using an experimental vignette design. We constructed two vignettes depicting citizens’ plausible encounters with police in an urban setting in a developing country (i.e. Accra, Ghana) and varied the level of police procedural justice, measured by quality of treatment, lawfulness, measured by whether or not a bribe is present, and effectiveness, measured by whether or not the offender was caught. In line with previous research, we find that dimensions of police procedural justice, lawfulness, and effectiveness all increase citizens’ satisfaction. However, we find that in certain situations, unlawfulness and ineffectiveness can undermine any positive influence of procedural justice policing on satisfaction. These findings have implications for criminal justice institutions seeking to improve relations with citizens and boost satisfaction and ultimately legitimacy.

This study examines the effects of three theoretical factors representing both process-based and outcome-based dimensions of police actions on attitudes towards police using an experimental vignette design. We constructed two vignettes depicting citizens’ plausible encounters with police in an urban setting in a developing country (i.e. Accra, Ghana) and varied the level of police procedural justice, measured by quality of treatment, lawfulness, measured by whether or not a bribe is present, and effectiveness, measured by whether or not the offender was caught. In line with previous research, we find that dimensions of police procedural justice, lawfulness, and effectiveness all increase citizens’ satisfaction. However, we find that in certain situations, unlawfulness and ineffectiveness can undermine any positive influence of procedural justice policing on satisfaction. These findings have implications for criminal justice institutions seeking to improve relations with citizens and boost satisfaction and ultimately legitimacy.

Objectives:This study explores the social and developmental antecedents of legal cynicism. This study comprises a range of indicators organized into four domains—bonds to institutions, predispositions, experiences, and delinquent involvement—that bear on theoretically plausible mechanisms involved in the development of legal cynicism.Methods:This study examines four pathways to legal cynicism using data from two waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths ( N = 1,226). Ordinary least squares (OLS) procedures are used to regress legal cynicism at t2(age 15) on social and psychological characteristics measured at t1(age 13), and retrospective variables measured at t2. Baseline legal cynicism was included as a covariate in all models.Results:The results show that self-reported delinquency is the strongest predictor of legal cynicism. There is also evidence that alienation from society, negative experiences with police, and association with deviant peers can foster legal cynicism.Conclusions:This study shows that legal cynicism is to a small extent the result of alienation from social institutions and negative experiences with the police. To a much larger degree, legal cynicism seems to represent a cognitive neutralization technique used to justify one’s previous self-reported delinquency.

Why do individuals or groups support vigilantism as a means of conflict resolution? Most researchers tend to agree that support for and participation in vigilantism occurs in “stateless locations,” that is, when formal justice institutions are weak or absent. Despite this general consensus, quantitative evidence of this relationship is limited to a handful of country-specific studies that used only subjective survey-based measures of institutional weakness. This study seeks to extend research on vigilantism by assessing the relationship between subjective and objective conditions of formal justice institutions and public support for vigilantism across 323 provinces in 18 Latin American countries by using the 2012 AmericasBarometer Survey. Specifically, this study uses multilevel logistic regression techniques to examine the variability of public support for lethal vigilantism within and across Latin American countries. When controlling for a wide range of potential confounds, the results show that the most robust predictors of support for violent vigilantism are subjective indicators of institutional illegitimacy, personal victimization, and punitive attitudes. Evidence also exists that objective insecurity, as measured by province-level homicide rates, fosters public support for violent vigilantism in certain situations.

The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

Funder: Utrecht University Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences COVID-19 Fund, The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime., Nature Human Behaviour, 5 (7), ISSN:2397-3374

The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime., The implementation of COVID-19 stay-at-home policies was associated with a considerable drop in urban crime in 27 cities across 23 countries. More stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.