Improving Youths’ Attitudes About the Police: Results From an Experimental Design

• Date: 01 December 2019
• Published date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016818811919
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Improving Youths’ Attitudes

About the Police: Results

From an Experimental Design

Tina L. Freiburger

1

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP) to improve

youths’ perceptions of the police, willingness to cooperate with police, and perceptions of pro-

cedural justice. It utilized an experimental design in 36 schools in Milwaukee, WI. Pretest and

posttest were administered to assess the outcomes before and after the STOP program. The

results indicated that STOP was effective in improving youths’ perceptions of the police, youths’

willingness to cooperate with the police, and youths’ perceptions of procedural justice. Additional

analysis suggested that STOP was able to reverse some of the negative effects these encounters

had on youths’ perceptions, as those with prior negative interactions of police experienced sig-

nificantly greater rates of change in their perceptions of procedural justice than those who did not

have a negative encounter.

Keywords

perceptions of the police, procedural justice, youths and police, experimental design

Media reports regarding police’s role in recent high-profile tragedies (e.g., the deaths of Michael

Brown in Ferguson, MO, Donte Hamilton in Milwaukee, WI, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore, MD)

and social media posts of local police incidences have exacerbated public concern about police

behavior. Regardless of the veracity of reports, negative public perceptions alone can impede

police effectiveness. National awareness of this potential is indicated in the Report of the 2015

President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which identified police legitimacy as its “first

pillar.” This report highlighted the essential role that the public’s views of the po lice play in

policing effectiveness. Furthermore, a specific action item urged police departments to engage

youth in nonenforcement interactions at schools (President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,

2015, p. 15, Action Item 1.5.3).

Prior research has indicated that positive public perceptions of the police are vital to the

effectiveness and quality of the police (e.g., Fagan & Tyler, 2005; Hurst & Frank, 2000; Worden

1

Department of Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Tina L. Freiburger, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, P.O. Box 786, 1119 Enderis Hall,

Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA.

Email: freiburg@uwm.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2019, Vol. 44(4) 413-430

ª2018 Georgia State University

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0734016818811919

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& McLean, 2017). Furthermore, despite a great deal of the research examining police perceptions

centering on adults (e.g., Aspler, Cummins, & Carl, 2003; Callanan & Rosenberg, 2011; Payne &

Gainey, 2007), youths are more likely to have contact with the police and are more likely to be

stopped and frisked by the police (Freiburger & Jordan, 2 016; Leiber, Nalla, & Farnworth, 1998;

Snyder & Sickmund, 1996). This is especially true in urban areas, where police conduct more field

stops of youths (Hurst, 2007; Taylor, Turner, Esbensen, & Winfree, 2001). Thes e more frequent

stops also might explain why urban youths have the most negative v iews of the police (Hurst,

2007; Taylor et al., 2001), as research has found that officer-initiated police contact tends to lower

people’s perceptions of the police (Brown & Benedict, 2002; Hurst, 2007; Ren, Cao, Lovrich, &

Gaffney, 2005).

Research has further found that youths’ perceptions of the police vary by race and ethnicity.

Specifically, Black youths are typically found to hold more negative views of the police (Brown &

Benedict, 2002; Hurst, Frank & Browning, 2000) and report more negative experiences with

police than White youth (Hagan, Shedd & Payne, 2005; Taylor et al., 2001). Black youths also

are more likely to be stopped by the police than White youths (Black & Reiss, 1970; Leiber et al.,

1998), which could explain the disparity in attitudes. In addition, Hispanic youths have been found

to have less positive perceptions of the police than White youths; Hispanic youths’ perceptions of

police, however, tend to be more positive than the perceptions of Black youths (Brick, Taylor, &

Esbensen, 2009).

Whether police interactions are positive or negative not only impacts the likelihood that a

juvenile will be arrested but can also impact a juvenile’s perceptions of the police going forward

(Friedman, Lurigio, Greenleaf, & Albertson, 2004). In addition, youths with more positive views of

the police are more likely to obey the law and to cooperate with policing efforts (Fagan & Tyler,

2005; Hurst & Frank, 2000; Piquero, Fagan, Mulvey, Steinberg, & Odgers, 2005; Sunshine & Tyler,

2003; Tyler, 1990, 2006; Worden & McLean, 2017). As discussed by Bottoms and Tankebe (2012),

legitimacy should be established through cooperative social interactions between citizens and

police, resulting in both groups perceiving the police officer (i.e., power-holder) as the appropriate

authority deserving of the “right to rule.” Similarly, research by Pickett and Ryan (2017) found that

citizens’ behaviors can shape police officers’ attitudes of due process and the manner in which they

handle encounters with citizens. They specifically stress the importance of youths’ interactions with

the police and how improving these interactions through informal youth–police interactions can

create more positive citizen–police interactions. Given these findings, it is important that youths’

perceptions of the police receive attention, especially the perceptions of urban and minority youths.

Considering the relationship between perceptions of the police and the tendency to violate or

obey the law, it is advantageous to improve youths’ perceptions of the police. Although several

police departments have created programs to engage youth (e.g., Youth–Police Academies, Police

Athletic Leagues, Youth Service Officers, and Youth–Police Initiative

1

), few have been rigorously

evaluated to determine whether they are successful. This study utilizes an experimental design to

examine the effectiveness of the Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP) program, developed

and implemented to improve police relationships with youths in Milwaukee, WI.

Conceptual Framework

Intergroup contact theory stipulates that intergroup contact can decrease prejudice, improve social

relations, and reduce conflict between groups (Allport, 1954). When groups are kept separate, on the

other hand, prejudice and conflict can increa se (Watson, 1946). According to this perspecti ve,

conditions are optimal for better relationships and reduced conflict when (1) the groups share equal

status, (2) the groups work toward a common goal, (3) both groups cooperate, and (4) there is

institutional support for the initiative (Allport, 1954). Many of the early studies of intergroup contact

414 Criminal Justice Review 44(4)