Blue Normativity: A Two-Part Study on How Police Conformity to Social Norms Influences Citizen Attitudes

• In Event: Building Bridges: Understanding Public Trust and Support for Law Enforcement

Abstract

Law enforcement exists as a branch of the state to regulate its constituency and to maintain social order. But law enforcement is not beyond this social order. As such, the police (sub)culture is rooted in conventional social structures, and police behaviors and values must also conform to the norms of the general society besides the normative orders of its own. However, much of the current literature zooms in on police practices and organizational behaviors as if the police (sub)culture is detached from the rest of society. This paper argues otherwise. Drawing from existing attitudes toward police research, the current study hypothesizes that people expect the police to follow social norms and reward those who do so with trust. It thus adds to the policing literature by highlighting the importance of social norms in shaping citizens’ attitudes toward the police, besides the police’s ability to successfully fulfill crime control and procedural justice. The idea of “blue normativity” also points to implications regarding police recruitment, training, and evaluation practices. Preliminary results will be discussed.

Author

• Yang Vincent Liu, Michigan State University