The organizational justice doctrine has been applied widely in understanding the performance of criminal justice institutions. Although most of the research has been conducted in the West, few studies have focused on postcolonial societies. Given the importance of cross-cultural investigations, the current study attempts to test the validity of organizational justice theory in Ghana by exploring how key organizational justice components impact correctional officers’ perception of job satisfaction and job commitment. The results reveal significant support for organizational justice hypotheses in Ghana. Practical policy implications of the findings are discussed.

The study of perceived organizational support (POS) has received considerable attention in the academic literature. However, in police circles, POS has received minimal scholarly attention. To address this gap, the present study surveyed 145 police officers selected randomly from five police districts in Accra, Ghana, to investigate how officers’ perception of organizational support influence their effectiveness in performing assigned duties. The study further examined the influence of officers’ demographic characteristics on their perception of organizational support. Findings revealed that the perception of organizational support among officers influenced their perception of effectiveness and that older and shorter tenured officers expressed perceptions of greater support. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Primarily, this article examines the role of organizational justice in understanding prison officers' behavior. The authors surveyed 169 correctional officers across five correctional facilities in Ghana to explore the role of three organizational justice dimensions in prison misconduct and job stress. Results from the negative binomial and ordinal logistic analyses revealed the significant contributions of two dimensions of organizational justice in explaining misconduct and stress among officers. Officers who had higher perceptions of distributive fairness and interaction in the organization had lower odds of receiving misconduct-related complaints. Also, greater interaction was found to be associated with reduced job stress among prison officers. In addition, several officers' characteristics were found to predict the number of times officers received misconduct complaints.

Police researchers have long argued that favorable evaluations of the police eventually lead to citizens' willingness to cooperate with the police. However, this assumption has barely been studied empirically. The current study examines the association between attitudes toward the police and crime reporting behavior of victims. Furthermore, the study explores the influence of victims' characteristics on their decisions to report crime to the police. Using field data originally collected in Ghana, the study found that victims' levels of confidence in the police and satisfaction with police work positively predict their decisions to report sexual assault and robbery to the police. Moreover, findings revealed that age, marital status, and employment status are important predictors of victims' reporting behavior. Several practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

For more than 50 years, research has been accumulating on how regime differences impact Mainland China and Taiwan in terms of socioeconomic transformation, the development of politics and constitutions, and diverse issues of foreign policy. Much less is known, however, about differences in public confidence in the criminal justice system. To address the obvious gap, this study utilized second-wave data collected by the Asian Barometer cross-national survey. Findings demonstrated that Chinese citizens reflect higher levels of trust in criminal justice institutions than their Taiwanese counterparts and public perceptions of the degree of democracy had a positive effect on public attitudes. Citizens who acknowledge more satisfaction with institutional performance also tend to have more trust in the criminal justice system.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the contours of police integrity among Chinese police officers. Specifically, this study explores how Chinese police evaluate integrity based on official policy governing interactions, discipline governing infractions, views of seriousness, and willingness to inform when others engage in misconduct. Design/methodology/approach In total, 353 police officers were surveyed representing those attending in-service training program at a Chinese police university in May 2015. Questionnaires containing 11 scenarios describing police misbehaviors were distributed to officers during classes. Findings There was a strong correlation between officers’ perceptions of rule-violation, misconduct seriousness, discipline, and willingness to report. Additionally, preliminary results suggest there exists a code of silence among Chinese officers, and that Chinese officers hold a lenient attitude toward the use of excessive force. Research limitations/implications This study utilizes a convenient sample, which restricts the generalizability of the results. Practical implications The results indicate the existence of code of silence among Chinese officers and their lenient attitude toward the use of excessive force. Originality/value Although there has been a growing body of research examining police integrity in both western democracies and transitional societies, China as the largest developing nation in the world and with a unique police system (falls somewhere between the centralized model and the integrated model) is understudied. This study addresses this gap in previous literature by exploring the contours of police integrity among Chinese police officers.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of three indicators of police performance on residents' evaluations of their local police in Ghana. Specifically, the study attempts to address the question ''Can performance theory be utilized to explain variations in citizens' attitudes toward the police?'' This question is addressed using cross-sectional data collected on 1024 residents from 25 neighborhoods in five urban cities in Ghana. Findings obtained find evidence to support the applicability of performance theory in the Ghanaian context. Findings from this study have both theoretical and practical implications and provide important insights for the police to enhance their performance and develop better relationship with the public.