Prejudice Motivated Crime Victimization – Shaping of Citizen Perceptions of Police Legitimacy and the Decision to Report

• In Event: Hate Crime Victimization: Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

Research shows that victims rarely report prejudice motivated crimes (PMC) to the police and that citizen perceptions of police and government legitimacy are likely to play important roles in understanding PMC reporting behavior. Drawing on the Australian National Security and Preparedness Survey (NSPS), I explore the factors that might help explain differences in victimization and reporting rates of crime/PMC. From a national probability sample of 4257 respondents, I show that variations in perceptions of police, the law, and government legitimacy influence victim decisions to report crime and PMC to the police. The findings illustrate that in comparing PMC victims to non-PMC victims, PMC victims have more positive levels of government trust and law legitimacy than non-PMC victims.

Author

• Susann Wiedlitzka, University of Queensland