Representation Is Not Enough: Symbolic Representation and Perceptions of the Police
| Author | Mark Benton |
| DOI | 10.1177/0095399720905368 |
| Published date | 01 May 2020 |
| Date | 01 May 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2020
Article
Administration & Society
2020, Vol. 52(5) 794 –822
Representation Is
© The Author(s) 2020
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Not Enough: Symbolic
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399720905368
DOI: 10.1177/0095399720905368
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Representation and
Perceptions of the Police
Mark Benton1
Abstract
Representation in government tends to improve clients’ outcomes, but
often has not done so for Black police clients. Representation may have
perceptual effects on Black clients separate from its ability to influence
outcomes. This mixed-methods research examines representation’s effects
on Blacks’ perceptions of police. Representation did not seem to improve
perceptions. Results led to a consideration of why representation was not
effective. Qualitative analysis revealed that some Black police clients see
Black officers as more like White officers than themselves. Participants came
to understand that representation did not improve outcomes and adjusted
their perceptions of Black officers.
Keywords
police identity, representative bureaucracy, representation, mixed methods,
perceptions, policing
Introduction
The purpose of this research is to explore and explain the empirical state of
Black perceptions of the police in conditions of demographic matching, moti-
vated by current discourse that argues a need for police–African American1
1University of Missouri, Columbia, USA
Corresponding Author:
Mark Benton, Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri, 907 University
Ave., Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Email: mbenton158@gmail.com
Benton
795
relational reform. Although supports for reform are numerous (Brainard &
Edlins, 2015; Epp et al., 2014, 2017; Futterman et al., 2017; Glasser &
Denhardt, 2010; Singla et al., 2019; Stoughton, 2015), they are also ongo-
ing, indicating a dissatisfaction with existing reform and a desire for further
action.
One reform option—training police officers to be less racially biased—
seems unlikely to reduce bias because officers have been largely resistant to
that resocialization (Oberfield, 2014, 2019). Another option, managerial
enforcement of policy to reduce racial inequity (Epp et al., 2014, 2017), also
seems unlikely to limit bias because police managers have not had enough
control over street-level police officers to enforce policy reform (Lipsky,
1980). The difficulties of controlling street-level bureaucrats have been espe-
cially prevalent in police organizations because of the conditions of that work
(Novak, 2003; Vinzant & Crothers, 1998).
Demographic representation is a typical public administration solution for
problems during interactions with minority clients. Representative bureau-
cracy theory expects that the demographic matching of bureaucrats to clients
will improve clients’ outcomes (Mosher, 1982). Passive demographic repre-
sentation has often transformed into active outcome improvements when
there were not factors preventing it (Keiser et al., 2002). However, a higher
proportion of Black police officers in departments has not translated into
improved outcomes for Black clients (Shjarback et al., 2017; Wilkins &
Williams, 2008). If there has been any relationship between Black police
bureaucrats and Black clients’ outcomes, it has been that a higher proportion
of Black police officers tends to result in worse outcomes for Black clients
(Nicholson-Crotty et al., 2017).
On the other hand, some research suggests that public officials’ clients
perceive them more positively in conditions of demographic and cultural
matching (Gade & Wilkins, 2013; Riccucci et al., 2014, 2018; Shah, 2009;
Theobald & Haider-Markel, 2009), separate from their outcomes. These con-
siderations led to two questions that required answering with the most current
data available: How did African Americans perceive their police interactions
in conditions of demographic matching? If representation did not improve
African Americans’ perceptions of police, why?
This research uses data from the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS),
administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the years 2011 and 2015.
It extends on Theobald and Haider-Markel (2009) who analyzed similar data
using more contemporary survey years, perceptions with a larger number of
respondents, and employing mixed methods. Expectations were that percep-
tions of the police would improve for Black clients in conditions of represen-
tation, as was the case in Theobald and Haider-Markel (2009).
796
Administration & Society 52(5)
This research found that representation did not seem important for improv-
ing African Americans’ perceptions of police officers. To explain this out-
come, the researcher conducted qualitative interviews with African Americans
to thematic saturation to understand why representation might not improve
their perceptions. Interviews revealed that participants perceived officers as
more representative of police culture than of themselves—a finding echoed
in criminal justice research (Caldero & Larose, 2001; Rokeach et al., 1971;
Sidaneus et al., 1994)—and that participants understood that African
American police officers did not provide them with improved outcomes.
Representation seems at best to be a solution that works weakly and inconsis-
tently for African Americans and police.
Literature Review
Symbolic Representation
Symbolic representation research examines government clients’ perceptions
in conditions of demographic matching between client and bureaucrat. The
theory hypothesizes that, regardless of their actual outcomes, people will
tend to have more positive perceptions of government officials when they
match one another demographically. In most symbolic representation
research, when government represents clients’ demographics, clients are
more likely to view government as legitimate than unrepresented clients
(Riccucci & Van Ryzin, 2016).
In their research on symbolic representation in policing, Theobald and
Haider-Markel (2009) used the 1999 PPCS to show that African Americans
who had contact with African American police officers viewed their encoun-
ter and its outcomes as more legitimate than African Americans that had con-
tact with an officer of a different race. Their paper showed support for
symbolic representation in policing, and this research extends on theirs.
Riccucci and colleagues (2018) came to similar findings, showing that
African Americans felt more positively toward police when their department
had a high degree of Black representation. Similarly, Whites felt more posi-
tively toward the police when the department had a high degree of White
representation. Conversely, Whites felt more negatively to the police when
their department had a high proportion of Black officers. Wang and col-
leagues (2019) also found support for symbolic representation by demon-
strating that diverse citizens in Los Angeles perceived lower levels of criminal
justice misconduct when their departments were diverse.
However, some research shows a lack of support for representation. This
is especially true in criminal justice research. Barrick and colleagues (2014)
Benton
797
show that assaults against police officers of all kinds tend to increase as the
ratio of the proportion of Black officers to non-Black officers and the propor-
tion of Black citizens in their jurisdiction to non-Black citizens increases, a
finding that does not support symbolic representation. Similar to Barrick
et al. (2014), Ozkan and colleagues (2016) use national administrative data to
show that police diversity did not reduce the number of assaults against
police officers at the department level of analysis. Hickman and Piquero
(2008) find that, nationally, representation was unrelated to either complaints
against police departments or the number of those complaints sustained by
review boards.
Considering representation’s effects on clients’ perceptions outside of
policing, Gade and Wilkins (2013) found that veteran clients reported more
positive behaviors from, and higher satisfaction with, their doctors if the
doctors themselves were veterans. Shah (2009) showed that Latino parents
tended to demonstrate an increased willingness to participate in their chil-
dren’s educations when their teachers matched their ethnic demographics.
Riccucci and colleagues (2015) showed that represented women demon-
strated an increased willingness to participate in a recycling program.
Overall, public affairs research tends to support representation’s symbolic
effect in policing and in general.
Representative Bureaucracy
Representative bureaucracy theory is rooted in the work of Donald Kingsley
(1944), which examines matching between government officials and their
clients. Rather than examining clients’ perceptions, as is the case in symbolic
representation research, representative bureaucracy research examines how
representation in government improves clients’ outcomes. Beyond the nor-
mative benefits of demographic representation (Selden, 1997), representative
bureaucracy theory predicts that minority clients will experience better out-
comes from government when government officials match their demograph-
ics than would have occurred absent matching. Because representation
provides more diverse viewpoints in government, it provides opportunities
during practice to have those viewpoints put into action (Bradbury &...
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