Perceptions of self-legitimacy among civil police officers in São Paulo (Brazil)

• In Event: POL Panel 15. Perceptions and impacts of self-legitimacy and trust amongst criminal justice actors

Abstract

Research on police ‘self-legitimacy’ or ‘internal legitimacy’ help to identify the reasons why authorities mobilize their political power, as well as their internal beliefs in their moral right to exercise such authority. Studies on police self-legitimacy indicate that how these agents perceive the fairness of procedures within their institutions has impact on how these officers understand their work and authority.
This paper presents an analysis of a survey of civil police officers conducted in 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Civil Police is responsible for serving the population at police stations, more specifically for recording and investigating crimes. The analysis explores the predictors of civil police officer’s self-legitimacy using indicators related to (1) perceptions of fairness within the police, (2) quality of relationship with superiors, (3) quality of relationship with the public, and an indicator related to (4) efficacy of police work. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Authors

• Viviane de Oliveira Cubas, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Frederico Castelo Branco, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Renato Antonio Alves, Centre for the Study of Violence - USP