Perceptions of Police Among Kenyan Female Immigrants in the United States

• Author: Joselyne L. Chenane,Melissa S. Morabito,Teresa Irene Gonzales
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/15570851221101144
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Feminist Criminology

2022, Vol. 17(5) 587–618

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/15570851221101144

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Perceptions of Police Among

Kenyan Female Immigrants in

the United States

Joselyne L. Chenane, PhD

1

, Melissa S. Morabito, PhD

1

, and

Teresa Irene Gonzales, PhD

2

Abstract

We explored how highly educated and middle-class Kenyan female immigrants per-

ceive their encounters with the police in the United States, including the decision to

access the criminal justice system in response to their victimization. We found a

positive correlation between perceptions of procedural justice and cooperation among

Kenyan women immigrants. Conversely, prior victimization was inversely associated

with help-seeking among these women. When Kenyan female immigrants perceived

high police effectiveness in dealing with IPV, they were more likely to feel obligated to

obey the U.S. police. Implications and recommendations for future research are

discussed.

Keywords

police legitimacy,immigrants,procedural justice,Kenyan,intersections of race/class/gender

Introduction

Procedural justice is a crucial element to understanding police legitimacy. While

there exists a vast literature exploring the components and application of

1

School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA

2

Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joselyne L. Chenane, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts, 113 Wilder

Street, HSSB 473, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.

Email: Joselyne_nkogo@uml.edu

procedural justice, this body of work has largely centered on U.S. and other

Wes te rn c on te xt s (Bradford & Jackson, 2018;Murphy & Cherney, 2011;Sunshine

& Tyler, 2003;Tyler & Huo, 2002).Arapidlygrowingbodyofresearchsuggests

that there are differences in def‌inition, understanding, and outcome of procedural

justice across both nations (Akinlabi & Murphy, 2018;Boateng, 2018;Bradford

et al., 2014;Woo e t al ., 2 01 8) and individuals (Bradford et al., 2017;Wolfe et al.,

2016).

Scant research has explored perceptions of African immigrants and how they

relate to their own experiences with the police in their countries of origin and their

adopted homes. The intersection of identities of Black female immigrants that takes

into consideration class, education levels, and immigration status has largely been

unexplored. A handful of researchers have focused on the experiences of citizens of

sub-Saharan Africa (Akinlabi, 2017;Bradford et al., 2014;Pryce & Wilson, 2020;

Tankebe, 2009) and how procedural justice theory does not adequately explain their

experiences (i.e., Tankebe, 2009). However, this research only brief‌ly touches on

gender differences and does not fully explore how gender and class may affect

perceptions of procedural justice and, ultimately, cooperation with the police—

especially around interpersonal violence. Furthermore, even less attention has

been centered on how these experiences translate to the United States, where African

and Black immigrants must also contend with the historically antagonistic rela-

tionship between African Americans

1

and the police as well as their status as

immigrants.

While previous research suggests that women may have more procedurally just

interactions with the police (Mastrofski et al., 2016) and more positive perceptions of

them (Weitzer & Tuch, 2004) than men, the same studies note that people of color

receive less procedurally just treatment (Mastrofski et al., 2016) and have negative

perceptions (Wheelock et al., 2019). Furthermore, immigrant status, class posi-

tionality, and educational attainment may have differential effects on perceptions of

procedural justice and the police (e.g., Pryce, 2019). Thus, the relationship between

procedural justice and the intersection of these identities is less clear—in particular,

whether the mechanisms that bolster or undermine public willingness to cooperate

with the police are constant for women who are also immigrants. Much more re-

search is needed to clarify the procedural justice-legitimacy nexus, particularly

among female immigrants and especially those who are Black and African. Using

survey data from a sample of Kenyan female immigrants, we examine their per-

ceptions of police legitimacy both in their country of origin and in the United States.

Further, we explore how their experiences in Kenya affect their perceptions of and

encounters with the police in the United States, including the decision to access the

criminal justice system in response to their own victimization while controlling for

important correlates such as immigration status, prior victimization, and socio-

economic status.

588 Feminist Criminology 17(5)

Literature Review

Police Legitimacy and Procedural Justice

In assessing the relationship between public perceptions of police and citizen

cooperation with police, scholars have noted that when citizens feel that the police

treated them in a procedurally just manner, they will be more willing to cooperate

with the police (Chenane et al., 2020;Engel, 2005;Gau, 2013;Gibson et al., 2010;

Reiss, 1971;Tyler & Fagan, 2008). Studies have also consistently shown that

procedural justice improves the public’s perception of police legitimacy (Tyl er &

Huo, 2002;Woo et al., 2018). Procedural justice is def‌ined as “the fairness of the

process employed to reach specif‌ic outcomes or decisions”(Tankebe, 2009, p. 111)

and is based on norms about proper procedures (Lind & Tyler, 1988). There are two

components of procedural justice—quality of decision-making and quality of

interpersonal treatment (Murphy et al., 2009;Tyler, 1990). Quality decision-

making entails allowing citizens to have a voice in the decision-making pro-

cess, as well as neutrality, competence, and consistency on the part of decision

makers. Quality of interpersonal treatment involves treating individuals with

dignity and respect, acknowledging their rights, and considering their needs (Nix,

2017).

Tyl er ’s process-based model argues that procedural justice is a primary antecedent

of police legitimacy. However, scholars have debated the conceptual and operational

def‌inition of police legitimacy. Some researchers have conceptualized legitimacy as

trust and obligation to obey the police (e.g., Sunshine & Tyler, 2003), while other

scholars have challenged this conceptualization when they observed that trust and

obligation to obey loaded onto different scales when items for both constructs were

factor analyzed simultaneously (e.g., Gau, 2011;Pryce et al., 2017;Tankebe, 2009).

Bottoms and Tankebe (2012) contend that procedural justice (as well as distributive

justice, police effectiveness, and right to power) is a dimension of police legitimacy.

In the United States and other Western democracies, it appears that procedural justice

outperforms both distributive justice and police performance/effectiveness as sources

of legitimacy, but in transitional societies, police effectiveness seems to be a stronger

antecedent of police legitimacy (see Akinlabi & Murphy, 2018;Tankebe, 2009).

Thus, according to Bottoms and Tankebe (2012),inordertofullyunderstandle-

gitimacy, researchers must think of it as an ongoing dialogue between two parties:

power-holders and audience. The dialogic process involves the power holders (e.g.,

the police) f‌irst making a claim to legitimacy, then the audience (e.g.,the community)

responds –either positively or negatively –to that claim. Power holders, in turn,

observe the audience’s response to their claim to legitimacy and may or may not

choose to alter it as a result. It is important to consider the views of both power-

holders and audiences because the way each perceives legitimacy has implications

for policing.

Chenane et al. 589