Procedural Justice and Campus Police Legitimacy: Cooperation and Legal Compliance Among Undergraduate Students

• In Event: Latina/o/x Criminology Panel 1: Stigma, (In)justice, and Resilience in Higher Education

Abstract

Drawing from procedural justice theory, this study examines whether student perceptions of local procedural justice influence their perceptions of campus police legitimacy. This model integrates compliance in addition to cooperation as key outcomes of legitimacy acceptance. Results show that students have favorable views of legitimacy, which is influenced by prior exposure to the police in their home neighborhood. However, procedural justice and legitimacy acceptance are not significant indicators of compliance. This study expands upon the types of procedurally just practices that drive campus police legitimacy but proposes integrating other theories to obtain compliance outcomes among students.

Author

• Vanessa Jesenia Gutiérrez, St. Edward's University