Citation

Lim H, Lee JS. Policing (Bradford) 2021; 44(5): 926-940.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Emerald Group Publishing)

DOI

10.1108/PIJPSM-02-2021-0022

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to examine how direct-negative and indirect-negative contact experiences affect students' attitudes toward the police by race and test the mediation effect of social distance on the relationship.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Using the data collected from two US 4-year public universities, this study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the impacts of the key variables, direct-negative and indirect-negative contact experience, on the students' attitudes toward the police. This study also tests whether indirect negative contact with the police is a stronger factor than direct negative contacts among racial/ethnic minority people.

FINDINGS Results show that both direct-negative and indirect-negative contacts are stronger predictors of the dependent variable. In particular, the indirect-negative contact has significant direct and indirect effects through social distance on the dependent variable in racial minorities. The study also shows that indirect contact more strongly affects racial minorities than direct-negative contact experiences do.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE This study is the first sophisticatedly to examine students' negative contact experiences into two variables: direct-negative and indirect-negative contacts with the police.

Language: en

Keywords

Attitudes toward the police; Indirect contact; Negative contact; Race; Social distance