Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Community of Ghanaian Immigrants

• In Event: Measuring and Modeling Beliefs About the Police and Law

Abstract

Rising immigration rates have posed challenges for police agencies serving immigrant communities in the U.S., as residents of these communities may have different experiences with, and expectations about, police-citizen relations than their native-born counterparts. These experiences may influence immigrants’ perceptions of police legitimacy. While theory and empirical evidence suggests a relationship between procedural justice and police legitimacy, on the one hand, and between police legitimacy and citizen cooperation with the police, on the other, few scholars have examined the nature of these relationships in immigrant communities. This study explores whether the conceptual and measurement models of police legitimacy commonly used in the literature are applicable for Ghanaian immigrants in the U.S. Overall, the results indicate that common conceptualizations of perceived legitimacy may not be applicable for these respondents. In addition, the findings show that perceptions of the legitimacy of the U.S. police are influenced by Ghanaian immigrants’ views of the legitimacy of police in their native country. The implications for future research and police-immigrant community relations are discussed.

Authors

• Daniel K. Pryce, George Mason University

• Devon Johnson, George Mason University

• Edward R. Maguire, American University