The Context for Legal Cynicism

• Author: Patrick J. Carr,Susan Clampet-Lundquist,Brooklynn K. Hitchens
• Published date: 01 January 2018
• Date: 01 January 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/2153368717724506
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Context for Legal

Cynicism: Urban Young

Women’s Experiences With

Policing in Low-Income,

High-Crime Neighborhoods

Brooklynn K. Hitchens

1

, Patrick J. Carr

1

,

and Susan Clampet-Lundquist

2

Abstract

Research and public discourse on urban policing and the collateral consequences of

mass incarceration often center on the experiences of young males, particularly young

Black and brown men who live in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods. Conse-

quently, less is known about how young women are policed in these contexts; and

whether their experiences and dispositions toward police vary across racial and ethnic

groups. Drawing on 70 in-depth interviews with low-income Black, Latina, and White

young women between the ages of 14 and 24, in the City of Philadelphia, the current

research explores the differences and similarities in their experiences with and per-

ceptions of police, and the social contexts that influence those interactions. A com-

parative analysis reveals important nuances in young women’s direct and indirect

experiences with police by race and ethnicity. The findings indicate that, within dis-

advantaged neighborhoods, particularly among young Black and Latina women, direct

and vicarious experiences with policing contribute to expressions of legal cynicism.

Keywords

youth, policing, race, neighborhoods, violence

1

Department of Sociology, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

2

Department of Sociology, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Brooklynn K. Hitchens, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, 26 Nich ol Avenue, New Brunswick ,

NJ 08901, USA.

Email: bkh40@scarl etmail.rutgers.edu

Race and Justice

2018, Vol. 8(1) 27-50

ªThe Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/2153368717724506

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Introduction

Recent events in several cities within the United States have highlighted the ongoing

tensions and vexed relationship between the police and many urban residents. This is

especially true in disadvantaged communities where experiences with police and dis-

positions toward them often coalesce into legal cynicism—essentially a distrust of law

and those who enforce it (Kirk & Papachristos, 2011; Sampson & Bartusch, 1998).

These sentimentsare especially strong among low-income African Americans living in

cities (Payne, Hitchens, & Chambers, 2017; Sampson & Bartusch, 1998; Scaglion &

Condon, 1980), fo r whom the feeling o f being overpolic ed and underprote cted is

common (Brooks, 2000). Certainly, research has shown that in contexts where crime

is prevalent and policing is intense, trust between law enforcement and the community

is low, and much of this has to do with the nature, quality, and frequency of police-

community encounters (e.g., Carr, Napolitano, & Keating, 2007; Tyler & Huo, 2002).

Much of the research on policing in urban, predominantly African American

neighborhoods focuses on the experiences of young men (for instance, Brunson, 2007;

Brunson & Miller,2006a; Clampet-Lundquist, Carr, & Kefalas, 2015;Goffman, 2015).

Statistically,more so than other groups, Black males are disproportionately more likely

to be targeted by police, and subjected to police use of force (Brunson, 2007; Engel &

Calnon, 2004; Gau& Brunson,2010; Jones-Brown, 2000; Maclin, 1998). Considerably

less attentionis paid explicitly to urban youngwomen, especially those under the age of

18, and how they experience and understand p olicing in low-income, high-crime

neighborhoods (for exceptions see Brunson & Miller, 2006b; Brunson & Stewart,

2006; Hurst,McDermott, & Thomas, 2005; Jones,2009; Ramos-Zayas, 2012).Thus, we

have limited information about young women’s experiences with and perceptions of

police, and how social constructs about gender influence the way urban young women

are perceived and treated by law enforcement (Browning, Cullen, Cao, & Kopache,

1994; Fine et al., 2003).

While some research explores negative police encounters among young, low-

income Black American women (e.g., African American Policy Forum [AAPF],

2015; Richie, 2012), we know little about experiences with police among similarly

situated young, low-income Latina and White women (for exceptions see Galvan &

Bazargan, 2012; Flores, 2016; Hurst et al., 2005; Madriz, 1997). Here, we examine the

experiences of young Black, Latina, and White women who live in Philadelphia. We

take an approach that acknowledges the multiple identities that we all inhabit

simultaneously, and consider how the raced and gendered direct and indirect inter-

actions with police may contribute to the legal cynicism expressed by many of the

young women in our sample.

Literature

Legal Cynicism

Legal cynicism or “anomie about the law” (Sampson & Bartusch, 1998), is understood

as a “cultural orientation” (Kirk & Matsuda, 2011) that perceives the criminal justice

28 Race and Justice 8(1)