Dual-process theory of racial isolation, legal cynicism, and reported crime

Abstract

SignificanceCynicism about lawlessness and police crime prevention and protection efforts is often high in predominately African-American neighborhoods, but residents persist in calling 911 and requesting police assistance. These calls continue to rise in neighborhoods that have recently experienced further increases in racial isolation, incarceration, and home foreclosures. These patterns are independent of statistical controls for an array of potentially confounding variables. The implication is that in the absence of alternatives, and despite past and continuing perceived police ineffectiveness, residents in racially isolated and disadvantaged neighborhoods will continue to call 911, seeking crime prevention and protection by police.

Inequalities and crime

“…The findings from this research demonstrate long‐term, persistent (Ward, , ), and contemporary (e.g., Fasching‐Varner, Reynolds, Albert, & Martin, ; Nix, Campbell, Byers, & Alpert, ; Rios, ) racial bias in police–citizen and other justice system interactions. When patterns of racism combine with the social isolation in disadvantaged communities, it may produce high levels of legal cynicism and diminish the legitimacy of criminal justice actors, which increases reluctance to call the police to help control crime and may impede engaging in cooperative actions among persons that can create community control (e.g., Hagan, McCarty, Herda, & Chandraskher, ; Kirk & Papachristos, ; Sampson & Bartusch, ; Tyler & Fagan, ).…”

The mismeasure ofTerrystops: Assessing the psychological and emotional harms of stop and frisk to individuals and communities

“…See, e.g., Lerman and Weaver (2014b) (in a study of the use of 311 [non-emergency] calls in NYC, even controlling for a host of influences that could shape civic participation, it is overwhelmingly the case that living in a neighborhood with a disproportionate concentration of "surplus" police contact that neither yields a finding of contraband nor leads to a summons, citation, or arrest is predictive of disproportionately low per capita calls for service to police and per capita calls to local city government institutions) and Desmond, Papachristos, and Kirk (2016) (in Milwaukee, 911 [emergency] calls decreased in Black neighborhoods after a particularly public incident of police abuse). But see Hagan, McCarthy, Herda, and Chandresekher (2018) (in a study of the use of 911 calls in Chicago, residents of underserved neighborhoods persisted in calling 911 despite their lack of expectation of a timely or adequate response). studies suggest that intergenerational lesson plans include messaging about respect, compliance, proactive avoidance, and coping in the aftermath of a police encounter (Haldipur, 2017;Johnson, Rich, & Keene, 2016;Staggers-Hakim, 2016).…”

Understanding when people will report crimes to the police

“…In a recent PNAS article, Hagan et al (1) use administrative records of 911 calls to study how people in urban neighborhoods decide whether to report crimes to the police. The authors argue that an important factor in the decision is what researchers have called "legal cynicism," or a general distrust in the fairness and efficacy of the law and police enforcement (2).…”

“…The authors argue that an important factor in the decision is what researchers have called "legal cynicism," or a general distrust in the fairness and efficacy of the law and police enforcement (2). But whereas others have argued that such cynicism discourages people from interacting with the police, Hagan et al (1) propose that legal cynicism encourages them to report crimes, that it does so because people carry both conscious and unconscious cultural attitudes that encourage a desire for protection, and that this desire is shaped by racial isolation and other neighborhood factors. Research of this kind is important for both social and scientific reasons.…”

“…The Hagan et al (1) research is socially important given the national debate over policing. The relationship between police authorities and African Americans, immigrants, and other minority populations has been particularly contentious, as video-recorded incidents of abuse of authority, of people dying at the hands of the police, and of children being detained by border agents have been shown repeatedly throughout social and news media.…”