Psychological Resilience as a Predictor of Cooperation with the Police: A Report from Japan

• In Event: Perceptions and Policing

Abstract

The legitimacy model of cooperation with the police was not satisfactorily supported in the previous study using Japanese survey data. And the mechanism of cooperation with the police in Japan has not been sufficiently understood. The current study reexamines the determinants of cooperation for the police with the modified models including the personal characteristics variables (psychological resilience and individual social capital). The results of the multivariate analyses show that the level of psychological resilience is found to be the most robust predictor of the level of cooperation with the police. No variable, including sex, age and the level of individual social capital, is more significant than the level of psychological resilience. A possible explanation is that only self-assertive and altruistic individuals, both core elements of psychological resilience, can engage with the police, considering the close net community in Japanese society. Many Japanese, except when becoming crime victims, are unwilling to engage with the police. They may choose to ignore the crime scene, or not to cooperate with the police, to avoid arousing suspicion and rumors among their neighbors. Further explanation is discussed in consideration of the distinctions between the concepts of psychological resilience and individual social capital.

Authors

• Masahiro Tsushima, Ryukoku University, Japan

• Koichi Hamai, Ryukoku University, Japan