Legal cynicism is a domain of legal socialization defined by a perception that the legal system and law enforcement agents are "illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill equipped to ensure public safety."[1][2] It is related to police legitimacy, and the two serve as important ways for researchers to study citizens' perceptions of law enforcement.[3]

Definitions

Sampson and Bartusch (1998) defined legal cynicism as ""anomie" about law".[4] Based on Sampson & Bartusch's work, and on that of Leo Srole,[5] Piquero et al. (2005) defined it based on respondents' answers to a five-question survey. In the survey, respondents were asked to rank, on a four-point scale, the extent to which they agreed with each of these statements:

  1. Laws are meant to be broken,
  2. It is okay to do anything you want,
  3. There are no right or wrong ways to make money,
  4. If I have a fight with someone, it is no one else's business, and
  5. A person has to live without thinking about the future.[6]

Causes and correlates

Legal cynicism can be exacerbated when police engage in aggressive misconduct in a community, which can lead to greater violence and less cooperation between the community's citizens and the police.[7] It has been found to be higher in neighborhoods with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage, even after controlling for demographic factors and crime rates.[4] The strongest predictor of legal cynicism is self-reported delinquency.[8]

Effects

Legal cynicism and legitimacy both have significant effects on criminal offending, even after accounting for self-control.[2] Legal cynicism is also associated with lower rates of desistance from intimate partner violence,[9] higher homicide rates,[10] and higher recidivism rates among released prisoners.[11] It has also been found to affect parents' assessments of their adolescent children's violent behavior.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kirk, David S.; Matsuda, Mauri (2011-05-01). "Legal Cynicism, Collective Efficacy, and the Ecology of Arrest". Criminology. 49 (2): 443–472. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00226.x. ISSN 1745-9125. S2CID 31487782.
  2. 1 2 Reisig, Michael D.; Scott E. Wolfe; Kristy Holtfreter (2011-12-01). "Legal Cynicism, Legitimacy, and Criminal Offending: The Nonconfounding Effect of Low Self-Control". Criminal Justice and Behavior. 38 (12): 1265–1279. doi:10.1177/0093854811424707. ISSN 0093-8548. S2CID 145230048.
  3. ↑ "Police Legitimacy and Legal Cynicism: Why They Matter and How to Measure in Your Community" (PDF). Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program.
  4. 1 2 Sampson, Robert J.; Bartusch, Dawn Jeglum (1998). "Legal Cynicism and (Subcultural?) Tolerance of Deviance: The Neighborhood Context of Racial Differences". Law & Society Review. 32 (4): 777–804. doi:10.2307/827739. JSTOR 827739. S2CID 144846460.
  5. ↑ Srole, Leo (1956). "Social Integration and Certain Corollaries: An Exploratory Study". American Sociological Review. 21 (6): 709–716. doi:10.2307/2088422. JSTOR 2088422.
  6. ↑ PIQUERO, ALEX R.; FAGAN, JEFFREY; MULVEY, EDWARD P.; STEINBERG, LAURENCE; ODGERS, CANDICE (2005-09-01). "Developmental Trajectories of Legal Socialization Among Serious Adolescent Offenders". The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 96 (1): 267–298. ISSN 0091-4169. PMC 2776646. PMID 19915683.
  7. ↑ Abt, Thomas (2016-09-30). "The surge in violent crime is overblown — but here's how to combat it". Vox. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  8. ↑ Amy E. Nivette; Manuel Eisner; Tina Malti; Denis Ribeaud (2015-03-01). "The Social and Developmental Antecedents of Legal Cynicism" (PDF). Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 52 (2): 270–298. doi:10.1177/0022427814557038. hdl:10072/172567. ISSN 0022-4278. S2CID 145696864.
  9. ↑ Emery, Clifton R.; Jolley, Jennifer M.; Wu, Shali (2011-12-01). "Desistance from Intimate Partner Violence: the Role of Legal Cynicism, Collective Efficacy, and Social Disorganization in Chicago Neighborhoods". American Journal of Community Psychology. 48 (3–4): 373–383. doi:10.1007/s10464-010-9362-5. ISSN 1573-2770. PMID 20963479. S2CID 23574976.
  10. ↑ Kirk, David S.; Papachristos, Andrew V. (2011-01-01). "Cultural Mechanisms and the Persistence of Neighborhood Violence". American Journal of Sociology. 116 (4): 1190–1233. doi:10.1086/655754. ISSN 0002-9602. PMID 21648250. S2CID 12686833.
  11. ↑ Visher, Christy (2004-01-01). "Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry: Maryland Pilot Study: Findings from Baltimore". Urban Institute. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  12. ↑ Soller, Brian; Jackson, Aubrey L.; Browning, Christopher R. (2014-07-01). "Legal Cynicism and Parental Appraisals of Adolescent Violence". The British Journal of Criminology. 54 (4): 568–591. doi:10.1093/bjc/azu027. ISSN 0007-0955. PMC 4055156. PMID 24932013.
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