The Effects of Prior Expectations about Police Behavior on Future Police Experiences and Outcomes

• In Event: Police-Citizen Encounters

Abstract

Much of literature on police-initiated contact has focused on how these encounters shape future perceptions of the police as well as subsequent law violation behavior. However, not enough attention has been paid to how prior perceptions of law enforcement moderate the effects of these personal encounters on subsequent attitudes and behaviors. This is an important omission because some researchers have suggested that when youth come to expect poor treatment by the police – when it has become the “regular routine” – negative interactions with the police begin to be less salient. The goal of this study is to explore how youth’s prior views of law enforcement moderate the effect of personal experiences with the police on attitudes about the use of violence, subsequent delinquency and police procedural justice. This study uses the first two waves of survey data collected by the St. Louis Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). Individuals’ expectations about police behavior will be captured using data from the first wave, while police experiences and the outcomes will come from wave 2. The results of this study could have implications for better understanding how individuals interpret the outcomes of their interactions with law enforcement.

Authors

• Dale Aaron Osaretin Dan-Irabor, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Lee Ann Slocum, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Stephanie Ann Wiley, Simon Fraser University