Can Procedural Justice Nurture Young People’s Perceptions of Police Legitimacy?

Abstract

Attitude formation, either positive or negative, towards police and other legal institutions tends to be formed predominantly during the stage of adolescence. There appears to be an increasing body of research, mostly from the developed Western societies, confirming that encounters between youth and police can be strengthened if police can employ procedural justice in their official engagements with adolescents and young people. At present, very little is known about how procedural justice conditions young people’s perceptions of police legitimacy, especially in non-Western jurisdictions. This chapter assesses the strength of procedural justice effect in comparison with other police behaviour as well as the innate and essential characteristics of young people in Nigeria vis-à-vis perception and judgement of police legitimacy. The finding in this chapter substantiates the studies in the West: confirming that young people who perceived police as using fair procedures were more likely to see police as legitimate. The implication of this current finding is discussed.