Institutional trust and performance: A study of the police in Ghana
| Author | Francis D Boateng |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0004865817712335 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
Institutional trust and
2018, Vol. 51(2) 164–182
! The Author(s) 2017
performance: A study of the
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police in Ghana
DOI: 10.1177/0004865817712335
journals.sagepub.com/home/anj
Francis D Boateng
University of Mississippi, USA
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of three indicators of police
performance on residents’ evaluations of their local police in Ghana. Specifically, the study
attempts to address the question ‘‘Can performance theory be utilized to explain variations in
citizens’ attitudes toward the police?’’ This question is addressed using cross-sectional data
collected on 1024 residents from 25 neighborhoods in five urban cities in Ghana. Findings
obtained find evidence to support the applicability of performance theory in the Ghanaian
context. Findings from this study have both theoretical and practical implications and provide
important insights for the police to enhance their performance and develop better relation-
ship with the public.
Keywords
Citizens, Ghana, performance, police, theory, trust
Date received: 14 February 2017; accepted: 9 May 2017
Introduction
This paper aims to explore the influence of police performance on citizens’ trust in the
police in a non-Western postcolonial society. There have been numerous studies con-
ducted to assess the factors that affect citizens’ trust in the police (Bradford, 2011;
Flexon, Lurigio, & Greenleaf, 2009; Hough, 2007; Lai & Zhao, 2010). Despite these
efforts, few studies have attempted to explain the causes of trust by appealing to factors
relating to police performance. Dowler and Sparks (2008) believed that disorderly
behaviors reduce confidence in the police because they are signals of police ineffective-
ness. As Goldsmith (2005) noted, the competency of the police to control crime in the
community is necessary to build public trust, and the lack of it undermines institutional
trust. Public trust is a concept that, according to Govier (1997), ‘‘involves a sense of the
other’s competency’’ (cf. Goldsmith, 2005, p. 14).
Corresponding author:
Francis D Boateng, Department of Legal Studies, University of Mississippi, P. O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677, USA.
Email: fboateng@olemiss.edu
Boateng
165
In postcolonial societies, the ability of the police to reduce crime and its associated
fear might play a pivotal role in shaping citizens’ attitudes toward the police. Ghanaians’
sense of the police’s ability to prevent crime and ensure personal security everywhere in
their communities will inform their thinking that the police are trustworthy. Tankebe
(2008) argued that Ghanaians’ perceptions of police effectiveness influenced their evalu-
ation of police trustworthiness. However, this suggests that the police must earn the
public’s trust through effective performance and not simply through authoritative
means.
The primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of three indicators of
police performance on residents’ evaluations of their local police in Ghana. Specifically,
the study attempts to address the question ‘‘Can performance theory be utilized to
explain variations in citizens’ attitudes toward the police?’’ The secondary objective is
to contrast the effects of the performance indicators with that of procedural justice. The
author believes that citizens’ assessments of how fair the police treat them will moderate
the relationship between performance and institutional trust. These issues are addressed
using cross-sectional data collected from 25 neighborhoods in five urban areas in Ghana.
Conceptual clarification: Police legitimacy and institutional trust
Although police legitimacy has no single dimensional definition (Boateng, 2017), it has
been largely considered as the moral authority the police possessed to issue commands,
keep the peace, and enforce the law (Gau, Corsaro, Stewart, & Brunson, 2012). The
police are viewed as legitimate when citizens voluntarily defer to and obey police dir-
ectives without necessarily been forced to do so. As research suggests, the voluntary
acceptance of the police promotes positive behavioral outcomes—cooperation, compli-
ance, and providing information—that enhance police performance (Mazerolle, Bennett,
Davis, Sargeant, & Manning, 2013; Tyler, 1990). Previous studies have identified certain
core elements that determine whether people will defer to the police and obey their
commands. Among these elements are public trust and confidence in the police, which
scholars have argued, are important factors in maintaining legitimacy (Lee, Boateng, &
Marenin, 2015). Per Lee et al. (2015), a police force that is not considered trustworthy is
unlikely to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the public. Conceptually, trust has been viewed
as the faith that people have in the police to protect and provide them with essential
services. Procedural justice is another factor that shapes citizens’ voluntary acceptance of
the police. The concept, which refers to the fairness and appropriateness of the proced-
ures used by the police to exercise their authority (Tyler, 2004), has been widely studied.
Findings suggest that people consider the police as legitimate when they believe that the
police use fair and objective procedures, and treat people with respect and dignity
(Bradford, Murphy, & Jackson, 2014; Mazerolle et al., 2013).
Performance theory: Explanation of institutional trust
Performance theory has been used extensively by police scholars to explain the causes of
institutional trust and distrust in police institutions. Generally, performance theory
relates institutional trust and distrust, respectively, to good and bad performance of
government institutions (Bouckaert, Van de Walle, Maddens, & Kampen, 2002;
166
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 51(2)
Brown & Coulter, 1983; Espinal, Hartlyn, & Kelly, 2006; Lipset & Schneider, 1983). The
theory suggests that citizens will trust government institutions that perform well or
effectively and distrust institutions that perform badly. Performance theory, therefore,
assumes that the public recognizes whether government institutions are performing well
or poorly and reacts accordingly. Two types of performance theory can be discussed:
micro-performance theory and macro-performance theory.
Micro-performance theory is concerned with the actual performance of institutions.
As argued by scholars, this type of performance theory links variations in levels of
institutional trust in the institution to differences in the actual provision of services by
the institution (Bouckaert et al., 2002; Van Crean, 2012). This implies that citizens, for
instance, will trust the police less if actual services provided by the police fall short of
citizens’ expectations (see McLoughlin, 2015 for detail discussion). Conversely, if police
services meet citizens’ expectations, citizens will trust the police more. Bouckaert,
Kampen, Maddens, and Van de Walfe (2001) and Bouckaert et al. (2002) identified
several key indicators for judging micro-performance of any institution. These indicators
include quality of service, existence of a service, and level of service. The authors sug-
gested that service institutions can mold the perceptions of their clients by gaining
adequate knowledge about what the clients consider important and normal, and
acting accordingly. At the micro level, an institution such as the police can be judged
to perform well when citizens consider that institution to be responsive to and competent
in addressing individual crime problems.
Macro-performance theory states that differences in citizens’ trust in institutions arise
from differences in the range of social phenomena for which responsibility is attributed
to the institutions (Van Craen, 2012). Indicators for judging macro-performance of an
institution include a host of criteria such as unemployment rates, poverty rates, eco-
nomic growth, quality of life, and years of democracy in the country (Bouckaert et al.,
2001, 2002; Lane & Ersson, 1994). In policing, the police can be judged at the macro-
level by considering crime rates, insecurity, levels of fear of crime, and neighborhood
disorder.
Police researchers have examined the effects of several performance indicators on
citizens’ attitudes toward the police, even though some of these indicators have received
minimal attention. As an indicator of police performance, public perceptions of police
effectiveness measure how well the police perform their duties. These may include per-
ceptions about how the police control crime, maintain order, and provide services to
citizens. In citizens’ evaluations of the police, perception of police effectiveness is as
important a factor as actual police effectiveness. As Goldsmith (2005) noted, ‘‘actual
incompetence is not necessary to undermine trust’’ (p. 14). Instead, believing that the
police are ineffective or performing poorly is a necessary condition for citizens’ negative
ratings of the police. Despite the trust-eroding potential of public perception of police
effectiveness, very few empirical studies have directly examined the link between the two
variables. Most of the studies have either found modest or no influence of perceptions of
effectiveness on citizens’ trust and confidence in the police. For example, using an
Australian sample of 2611 residents, Hinds and Murphy (2007) found that police per-
formance had the same effect on police...
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