intro to law, criminal justice, and society - module 10 - legitimacy of criminal justic institutions

4 mechanisms facilitating social order

habits, instrumental factors, structural constraints, normative compliance

habits

ingrained patterns of behavior that individuals follow without conscious deliberation, often shaped by socializiation and repetition

instrumental factors (deterrence and rational choice)

behaviors motivated by self-interest and shaped by the percieved costs and benefits of compliance vs. deviance

structural constraints

unrban planning that prevents loitering, or school systems that regulate youth behavior through schedules and supervision

normative compliance

refers to adherence to rules and norms based on a belief in their legitimacy and moral rightness

normative model of crime control

people's compliance stems from personal commitment to law abiding behavior, people comply with the law because it is the right thing to do, institutions can secure compliance and cooperation by developing policies that generate legitimacy

Tom Tyler's research

placed legitimacy center stage and showed that legitimacy exercised a direct and independent influence on legal compliance

legitimacy

a characteristic of an authority/institution that leads people to feel that the authority/institution is entitled to be deferred to and obeyed

Bottoms and Tankebe's hypothesis

legitimacy has an impact on both people's feeling of obligation to obey and support for legal authorities through cooperation with the police and compliance with the law

legitimate power

power which is aknowledged as rightful by relevant agents, who include powerholders and their staff, those subject to the power, and third parties whose support/recognition may help confirm it

4 elements of rightful power

lawfulness, distributive fairness, procedural fairness, effectiveness

lawfulness

enatils policing under the rule of law, police officers should not be seen as making the law, but rather enforcing the law as currently valid and doing so within the boundaries of law

distributive fairness

whether outcomes/allocation of police resources are fair among groups/individuals with competing claims/needs, authorities should avoid discrimination in the allocation of resources/outcomes people recieve

concrete resources

court fines, tickets for offenses, police protection

symbolic resources

respect, courtesy, and dignity

procedural fairness

indicates the fairness of the process employed to reach specifc outcomes/decisions

effectiveness

legal authorities successfully/effectively respond to the needs of citizens

quality of procedure

fair decision-making and fair treatment by authorities who regulate the allocative process

2 determinants of quality of procedure

procedural justice and interactional justice

6 criteria to evaluate procedural justice

consistency, bias suppression, accuracy, correctaibility, ethicality, representativeness

consistency

the allocation process should be consistent across persons and over time

bias suppression

personal self-interest in the allocation process should be prevented

accuracy

decisions should be made based on accurate information

correctability

opportunity must exist to enable decisions to be modified

representativeness

the allocation process must exist to enable decisions to be modified

ethicality

the allocation process must be based on prevailing moral and ethical standards

interactional justice

reflected in respect, dignity, propriety, politeness, and quality of information shared

Lind and Tyler's Group Value Model

posited that people who are subject to an authority's decision are not only interested in process control/outcome of decision, but also in the percieved fairness of the decision-making process

distributive justice

fairness in outcome, especially across social and economic groups, impacts victim satisfaction

corrective justice

reverses the harm and losses suffered by the victim

retributive justice

has dimensions of revenge and just deserts, calls for punishment of the offender proportionate to the harm suffered by the victim

formal justice

ensures equality before the law, which leads to comparable fairness across different cases

restorative justice

repairs the harm caused to the victim and the community and reintegrates the offender

effectiveness of the police

necessary to establish authority and power and to maintain it, ensures the delivery of justice, an ordered society, and serves the broader interest of society

ineffectiveness of the police

signals a sense of alienation and abandonment of the people

informal social control

family, religion, and peer influence

Max Weber's concept of authority

coercive power of social institutions forces people to do things and voluntary obligation of people to do things (comply with the law)

process

involves how the justice system operates and how people percieve it

voice

ability of an individual to be tell their story

outcome

results of the process (distributive justice)

4 dimensions of trust and confidence in the police

shared priorities about crime control, belief in the police's competency to achieve goals, dependability and follow-through of the police, whether they act in a respectful manner toward citizens

crucial factors in judge's conduct increasing effectiveness

consistency with the principles of procedural justice, respect for defendants, fair treatment, taking interest in defendants and giving them a "voice", close judical supervision of clients

Casper, Tyler, and Fagan's (1988) Study

concludes that police's treatment of defendants and the amount of time lawyers spent with defendants were prime determinants of their satisfaction with the criminal justice system

strategies for increasing police legitimacy

reducing police behavior that undermines legitimacy, foster action enhancing legitimacy, reduce use of deadly force and excessive physical force

procedures for reducing deadly and excessive physical force

clear written policies, extensive training, close supervision and coaching, written reports on all critical incidents, thorough and unbiased investigation on all alleged police misconduct, imposing appropriate discipline, honor or life, EIS, reducing unconscious biases

honor or life

a strategy for reducing police use of force is to direct officers to de-escalate encounters when there is conflict between an officer and citizen, respond verbally wand walk away from non-physical encounters

early intervention system (EIS)

computerized database of performance of all officers (use of force, citizen complaints, stop and frisks) to analyze data and identify officers with a problem record for intervention

community-oriented policing

improves citizen satisfaction by engaging people in programs they believe are consistent with their interests, typically in beat or community meetings

mediation programs

citizen complaints about officers are held in front of a mediator to give a voice to both sides, resulting in greater satisfaction

ways to improve procedural justice in courts

transparent plea bargaining, give victims voice in plea negotiations, treat defendants with respect

improve procedural justice in prisons

improve behavior of officals