1. American Psychology-Law Society Conference
Minority Perceptions Matter: The Relationship Between Youth Attitudes Toward Police and Perceptions of Unfair Treatment
Keisha April, J.D.
Haley Simon, B.S.
Suraji Wagage, M.S.
Shane Nelson, B.S.
Lindsey Cole, PhD.
Naomi Goldstein, PhD.
American Psychology-Law Society Conference
March 2017

3. Trust
Confidence
Police Legitimacy

4. Procedural Justice
Police
Legitimacy

5. Trust in the Police Violent crime rates down
Policing is More Effective
Violent crime rates down
Public’s Trust & Confidence in Police Has Not Improved
Only 50-60% of Americans indicate having trust in police
Racial Gap
Trust & confidence especially low among Black Americans (i.e., 30-35%)
Tyler et al., 2015

6. Why Youth?

7. Current Study Youths’ Attitudes Toward Police
Perceptions of Unfair Police Treatment

8. Greater likelihood to perceive having been treated unfairly by police
Hypothesis
Greater likelihood to perceive having been treated unfairly by police
Stronger Belief Police are Bad
Less Trust in Police
Less Control of Respect

9. Participants
N = 54
Age
(SD = 1.23)
Gender
84.5% male

10. Measures I have some control over whether police show me respect.
I trust many of the police in my district.
All police are bad.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly

11. Outcome Measure
Do you think the police have treated you unfairly in the past?
Yes No

12. Do You Think the Police Have Treated You Unfairly in the Past?b
S.E. OR
95% CI P
I have some control over whether police show me respect.
1.16
.40
3.19
[1.45, 7.05]
< .01
I trust many of the police in my district.
1.12
.45
3.07
[1.28, 7.35]
.01
All police are bad.
1.27
.49
3.56
[1.36, 9.32]
Gender
1.35
.97
3.88
[.58, 26.10]
.16
Cox and Snell R2 = .39; Nagelkerke R2 = .53

13. Implications Police Practices Training Programming
Unfair treatment associated with youths’ distrust of police & feelings of limited control of interactions
Police Practices
Promote deescalation, and respectful interactions with youth in the field
Training
Curriculum including modules specific to concerns of minority youth
Programming
Community engagement to promote positive youth-officer relations

14. Implications Need for greater research on vicarious attitude formation
Perceptions of unfair treatment not associated with stronger agreement that “all police are bad”
Peer Influence on Youth Attitude Formation?
Need for greater research on vicarious attitude formation

15. Limitations & Future Directions
Size & Homogeneity of Sample
Larger Sample with Greater Diversity
Lack of Generalizability
Replication
Cross-sectional Design
Longitudinal & Experimental Designs

16. For more information, please contact: Keisha April ka586@drexel.edu
Thank you!
For more information, please contact: Keisha April