Understanding the Influence of Procedural Justice on Australian Muslims Support for and Resistance Towards Police

• In Event: Satisfaction with, Trust in, and Cooperation with Police

Abstract

When attempting to explain why procedural justice is important for improving community members' perceptions of police, scholars often look to the mediating role of social identity and legitimacy. While a large body of policing literature has examined these two mediators in isolation, there has been comparatively very few studies which have considered both social identity and legitimacy in the same analysis. For this reason, it remains unclear which of the two concepts (identity or legitimacy) best explains the link between procedural justice and perceptions of police. This paper addresses this limitation in the literature. It does so by drawing on survey data collected from Muslim community members in Sydney, Australia (N=504) to examine the mediating roles of both social identity and legitimacy in the same study. In two parallel mediation models it was found that social identity and legitimacy were both partial mediators of the relationship between procedural justice and (a) support for police and (b) resistance towards police. Post-hoc comparison found no significant difference in the size of the mediating effects of social identity and legitimacy, however. These results suggest there is merit in future studies considering both mediators in the same study when attempting to explain why procedural justice plays an important role in improving community members' perceptions of police.

Authors

• Michael Desmond Pass, Griffith University

• Kristina Murphy, Griffith University

• Louise Elizabeth Porter, Griffith University

• Natasha Madon, Griffith University