Understanding and Advancing Legitimacy Theory

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

The currently strained relationship between the public and various institutions of the criminal justice system has underscored the practical implications of scholarship on the cutting edge legitimacy theory. This panel will explore applications and understandings of various aspects of this theoretical perspective with the overarching goal of refining legitimacy theory and thereby advancing the scientific foundation necessary for improving and protecting the relationship between the criminal justice system and the public it serves. All three proposed talks, therefore, focus on aspects of the same general theoretical orientation but do so differently. Trinkner addresses offenders in a major American city, Tankebe focuses on prospective elites in Africa, and Hamm integrates survey data from a US national convenience sample and a sample of defendants in the Upper Midwest. Using these talks as a background our TBN discussant will conclude the session by highlighting challenges and opportunities for legitimacy theory.

Sub Unit

• Area X. Perceptions and Responses to Crime and Justice / 53. Perceptions of Justice and Legal Marginalization

Individual Presentations

• Targeted Deterrence & Mechanisms of Change: Evaluating Chicago’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Offender Notification Meetings - Rick Trinkner, Arizona State University

• Legitimacy and Cooperative Intentions in Corruption Prevention - Justice Tankebe, University of Cambridge

• Toward an Integrated Framework of Institutional Legitimacy - Joseph A Hamm, Michigan State University

Chairs

• Joseph A Hamm, Michigan State University

• Scott E Wolfe, Michigan State University

Discussant

• Justin T Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY