Immigrant Perceptions of the Police: The Role of Country of Origin and Length of Settlement

Abstract

Relationships between police and minority groups have been shown to be strained with members of these groups often viewing police in a more negative light. Distinguishing between minority group and immigrant populations, more recent work has shown that foreign-born individuals are more likely to view the police in a more favourable light than native-born populations. Adding to this literature, we examine group-specific factors that shape foreign-born individuals’ views of the police. We find that country of origin and length of settlement are important factors in better understanding immigrants’ perceptions of the police. The study concludes with a discussion of trust in police and recommendations for future research.

Does Perceived Cultural Discrimination Influence Immigrants’ Perceptions of the Police? Evidence from Married Immigrant Women Living in South Korea

“…However, upon including measures of police contact, group position (i.e., social inclusion), and changes in institutional frames, the relationship between immigration status and perceptions of police legitimacy was insignificant, suggesting that the relationship between immigration status and attitudes toward police is complex. Recent work by Jung et al (2019) extended this line of research by showing that type of government of the country of origin and recency of immigration interact in predicting perceptions of police officers. Collectively, this work provides partial support for Wu et al’s (2017) theoretical framework by showing that a host of situational characteristics and contextual factors, pre-and post-arrival, influence the relationship between immigration status and perceptions of police.…”

“…The literature on immigrants’ perceptions of the police is limited (Bradford & Jackson, 2018; Jung et al, 2019; Weitzer, 2014) and relatively atheoretical in nature (Wu et al, 2017), and has produced mixed results. For instance, some studies have found that immigrants to report more positive perceptions of the police than non-immigrants (Correia, 2010; Davis & Hendricks, 2007; Rengifo & Fratello, 2015; Wortley & Owusu-Bempah, 2009).…”

“…Other studies have found immigrants to exhibit more negative views of the police than native-born citizens (Davis & Mateu-Gelabert, 2000; McCluskey et al, 2008; Wu et al, 2011). Still, others have failed to find significant differences in perceptions of the police between immigrants and non-immigrants (Skogan et al, 2002), or shown that other factors condition the relationship between immigration status and perceptions of the police (Bradford & Jackson, 2018; Jung et al, 2019).…”

“…Collectively, this work has shown that younger persons, men, and members of minority groups, hold more negative attitudes toward the police than members of comparison groups—although the relationship between these demographic characteristics seems to be mediated by situational components surrounding the nature and type of police contact (i.e., voluntary or involuntary, police effort, communication, and assistance) (Reisig & Parks, 2000; Skogan, 2005). Recently, policing researchers have extended this line of inquiry to immigration status (e.g., Choi, 2019; Chu & Song, 2015; Correia, 2010; Jung et al, 2019; Röder & Mühlau, 2012) This is an important, understudied area of research, particularly considering the increasing global immigrant population (Castles et al, 2013). The police serve as one of the most visible symbols of government in a country (Choi & Kruis, 2020), and as such, the actions of police can shape immigrant perceptions of a host country’s system of government.…”

Does racial discrimination matter: explaining perceived police bias across four racial/ethnic groups

“…As race, ethnicity and immigration are closely intertwined, it is worthwhile to briefly review research on the relationship between immigrant status and perceptions of police (Jung et al. , 2019; Wu, 2010; Choi, 2019).…”