An empirical approach to the study of legal socialization in adolescence

Abstract

Considering research on juvenile delinquency more broadly, few studies have examined the legal socialization process whereby adolescents come to accept legal authority and comply with the law as a result of the interaction with informal and formal socializing agents. Police legitimacy is an important dimension of legal socialization, because the police are the visible face of the legal system and contribute to the internalization of norms and values in society. Therefore, this article aims to analyse police legitimacy perceptions as an element of the legal socialization process in Spain among a subsample of 2041 youths aged from 13 to 18 from the Third International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-3). The results using structural equation modelling reveal that adolescents who perceive the police as a legitimate institution commit fewer criminal offences. Additionally, police legitimacy perceptions mediate the association of parental monitoring, school attachment and procedural justice of the police with juvenile delinquency. Other explanations for juvenile delinquency are discussed from a legal socialization perspective.

Socializing justice: The interface of just world beliefs and legal socialization

“…Past research has demonstrated that parenting and school variables do influence legal legitimacy variables across cultural contexts (Akinlabi, 2017;Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Nivette et al, 2015;Trinkner & Cohn, 2014;Trinkner et al, 2012). However, legal and non-legal authorities are qualitatively different relationships, so the current study suggests that non-legal authorities may influence Law legitimacy not through a direct projection (which was not significant), but through an indirect process of worldview construction.…”

“…These negative contacts, in turn, erode legitimacy, increasing RVB (Kaiser & Reisig, 2019;Trinkner et al, 2020). These findings have been replicated outside of Anglo-American societies (Akinlabi, 2017;Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Trinkner et al, 2020). However, little research on the procedural justice-legitimacy connection has been examined regarding the legitimacy of the law itself.…”

“…The most notable non-legal sources mentioned in the literature are families and schools, but these contexts have been understudied in legal socialization research (Granot & Tyler, 2019;. Empirical studies have demonstrated that parenting and school variables are related to legal legitimacy and cynicism (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Nivette et al, 2015;Trinkner & Cohn, 2014;Trinkner et al, 2012). However, longitudinal evidence is scant, and more studies are necessary to establish temporal precedence between the perceived justice of school and family authorities and the legitimacy of laws and RVB.…”

Perceiving teachers as procedurally just limits the negative effects of delinquent peer associations: An analysis of Australian adolescent boys’ and girls’ perceptions of school authority

“…Adolescence is a particularly important time for legal socialization because it is a period of change in which the influence of peers and friends increases in significance (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007;Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Indeed, research shows that the development of legal socialization attitudes and beliefs about legal authorities are modified by peer and friend associations during adolescence (Fagan & Tyler, 2005) and are important to account for when studying how legal attitudes are learned and developed (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Ferdik et al, 2019;Fine et al, 2016;McLean et al, 2019;Romain & Hassell, 2014;Walters, 2019;Wolfe et al, 2017). Most of the research on legal socialization shows that peer associations are important in shaping perceptions of the legitimacy of police and the criminal justice system (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Fine et al, 2016;Ferdik et al, 2019;McLean et al, 2019;Romain & Hassell, 2014;Walters, 2019).…”

“…Indeed, research shows that the development of legal socialization attitudes and beliefs about legal authorities are modified by peer and friend associations during adolescence (Fagan & Tyler, 2005) and are important to account for when studying how legal attitudes are learned and developed (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Ferdik et al, 2019;Fine et al, 2016;McLean et al, 2019;Romain & Hassell, 2014;Walters, 2019;Wolfe et al, 2017). Most of the research on legal socialization shows that peer associations are important in shaping perceptions of the legitimacy of police and the criminal justice system (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Fine et al, 2016;Ferdik et al, 2019;McLean et al, 2019;Romain & Hassell, 2014;Walters, 2019). Findings show that young people have poorer perceptions of police or the criminal justice system when they associate with peers who engage in antisocial behavior (Baz Cores & Fernández-Molina, 2020;Walters, 2019;Wolfe et al, 2017), have friends who have been arrested (Fine et al, 2016), and associate with friends who have favorable attitudes toward delinquency (Ferdik et al, 2019;McLean et al, 2019).…”