Legal Socialization and Youth’s Perceived Obligation to Obey the Law

• In Event: Police Contact, Procedural Justice, and Delinquency

Abstract

A foundational component of Tyler's Procedural Justice model is that the mechanism through which one’s attitude toward the justice system affects one’s offending behavior is one's perceived obligation to obey the law (POOL). In other words, a negative attitude toward the justice system is associated with a diminished perceived obligation to obey the law, and thus increased reoffending behavior. However, it remains unknown how POOL develops among youth (“legal socialization”). The present study tests two socialization mechanisms—parental attitudes and personal encounters with police-- for the development of POOL among adolescents. A sample of 312 dyads (total N=624) of mothers and their sons, first-time offenders, was interviewed longitudinally following the youth’s first arrest. The results of a Structural Equation Model (SEM) suggest that personal encounters with police, and not parents’ POOL attitudes, are associated with the legal socialization of POOL among youth. Furthermore, the results provide empirical evidence that the relation between a youth’s attitude toward police and his re-offending behavior one year later are mediated through his perceived obligation to the law. Findings have implications for best practices for police interactions with youth, particularly first-time offenders.

Authors

• Caitlin Cavanagh, Michigan State University

• Adam Fine, University of California, Irvine

• Elizabeth Cauffman, University of California, Irvine