Immigrants’ confidence in police: do country-level characteristics matter?

Abstract

This study examines the effects of national-level factors on immigrant levels of confidence in police across different countries. Data are pulled from the World Values Survey, which is linked to country information regarding population composition, levels of discrimination, government efficiency, and homicide rates. Results from hierarchical logistic regression analyses reveal that individuals who reside in countries with higher political discrimination are more likely to hold police in lower regard, while confidence in police is higher in countries with higher immigrant concentration and more government efficiency. In addition, the results reveal that immigrants are more likely to hold police in lower regard than native-born citizens. Most importantly, the negative effect of immigrant status is amplified in countries where political discrimination occurs more frequently. The overarching suggestion is that these variations must be considered, as they have important implications for immigrant assimilation to the country of destination.