Theory and research highlight the importance of procedural justice for inculcating people’s obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with legal authorities, yet questions remain about the universality of these relationships across cultures and contexts. We examine the influence of procedural justice and other factors on Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with police. The findings suggest that when police are perceived to behave in a procedurally just manner, people feel an increased obligation to obey their directives and willingness to cooperate with them. Perceived police effectiveness does not influence Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey police, but is the most dominant factor in shaping their willingness to cooperate with police. Respondents’ views of police in Ghana did not influence obligation or cooperation. The implications of the results for theory development, empirical research, and policies intended to improve police–immigrant relations are discussed.

This study is the first to examine the impact of procedural justice on general satisfaction with the police in a sample of Ghanaian immigrants in the United States. After refining the legitimacy variable used in prior research, trust was found to load disparately from obligation to obey. Obligation to obey was thus employed as an independent variable in the regression analyses. Procedural justice was found to be the strongest predictor of satisfaction with police, although effectiveness and personal experiences also significantly predicted satisfaction. These results establish the importance of procedural justice in gaining satisfaction with the police, and show that obligation may be a discrete variable from legitimacy. Overall, this study's findings show that the police should weave together normative and instrumental models of policing for increased satisfaction with the police in the Ghanaian immigrant community.

Objective This study tests U.S. citizens’ attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Immigrants and immigration educe strong, divergent sentiments in the U.S. population. While these sentiments, which are tied to public policy, have been examined in prior studies, it is important to test them regularly in empirical studies to observe any changes in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Methods I rely on the 2014 General Social Survey and employ hierarchical multivariate regression models to test the effects of patriotism, nationalism, xenophobia, and “world citizenship” on pro‐immigration attitudes. Results Females, respondents with higher education, and respondents who were more patriotic were more likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Conversely, older respondents and respondents who held greater xenophobic attitudes were less likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Finally, respondents who viewed themselves more as citizens of the world than citizens of a particular country were more likely to hold pro‐immigration attitudes. Conclusion The study's results are generally consistent with findings from prior research, and point to a general invariability in Americans’ views about immigrants and immigration. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This study examines the relative impacts of normative and instrumental models of policing on willingness to empower the police in a sample of sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States. Using data from a survey of 304 Ghanaian immigrants, obligation to obey, procedural justice, effectiveness, and gender predicted police empowerment; legitimacy of Ghana police and risk of sanctioning did not. The results also show that obligation to obey may be distinct from legitimacy. The findings from the current study point to the importance of the process-based model of policing in different geopolitical contexts, including the sub-Saharan African immigrant community in the United States. Specifically, obligation to obey and procedural justice play pivotal roles in engendering willingness to empower the police in the sub-Saharan African immigrant community. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The relationship between the police and African Americans has had a contentious history for decades. To explore this topic further, we interviewed 77 African Americans in the City of Durham, NC, about the declining relationship between their community and the police. We find that African Americans’ perceptions of the police are nuanced and complicated by personal experiences, vicarious experiences of relatives and friends, and news from social media and television regarding policing practices and treatment, including police harassment and/or brutality. We characterize these direct and vicarious experiences as the transmission of trauma. Even for the proportion of African Americans who had positive perceptions and interactions with the police, their views of the police seemed to be further complicated by broader concerns of discriminatory treatment. We proffer solutions to improve the relationship between the police and African Americans. The implications of our findings for future research are also discussed.

The relationship between the police and African Americans has been beset by a lack of trust for decades. Improving this relationship is important to scholars, practitioners, and citizens; as a result, we examine in this study African Americans’ trust and confidence in the police. Using trust questions found in the literature, we interviewed 77 African Americans in Durham, NC, to assess their views about the police. We found that for the police to earn the trust of African Americans, the police should treat African Americans equitably, invest in community policing, and respect African Americans. Although some respondents do not believe that their relationship with the police could be repaired, this is a small percentage of respondents, less than 5%.

No abstract

No abstract