A street corner education: Stop and search, trust, and gendered social norms

Abstract

Drawing on work into procedural justice and legal socialisation, we test the empirical link between experiences of stop and search and the extent to which male adolescents hold negative gendered beliefs regarding sexuality and intimate partner relations. We reason that procedurally unfair stop/searches can signal to young people that it is ‘ok’ to abuse power at an interpersonal level. Using data from a survey of male Londoners aged 14-16, we find support for the notion that unjust stop and search experiences are associated with lower levels of trust in the police, higher levels of involvement in and exposure to gang-related activities, and believing it is acceptable to harass females in public space and control one’s intimate partner.