Police–youth relationships: A qualitative analysis of Flemish adolescents’ attitudes toward the police
| Author | Dave Gelders,Stephan Parmentier,Astrid Dirikx |
| Published date | 01 March 2012 |
| Date | 01 March 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1477370811427518 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
European Journal of Criminology
9(2) 191 –205
© The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370811427518
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Police–youth relationships: A
qualitative analysis of Flemish
adolescents’ attitudes toward
the police
Astrid Dirikx
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
Dave Gelders
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
Ghent University, Belgium
Stephan Parmentier
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
Abstract
This article reports on focus group interview-based research conducted to improve knowledge of
European adolescents’ Attitudes Toward the Police (ATP). The study explores Flemish Belgian youths’
perceptions of three main aspects of policing (performance, procedural justice and distributive justice)
and how much importance they attach to those perceptions. The 106 13–19 year olds who participated
in 12 focus group interviews proved to have nuanced and mature conceptions of police work. They
stated that proclaiming a negative ATP is ‘part of the deal’ of being young rather than a reflection of
negative perceptions of police functioning. This study shows the importance of complementing the
largely survey-based research on adolescents’ ATP with qualitative research.
Keywords
adolescents, police, attitude, perceptions, qualitative research method
Since beliefs about legal authorities are mainly developed during the teenage years,
adolescent perceptions of the police are important (Piquero et al., 2005). Bittner (1990)
found that negative attitudes developed by youth can lead to confrontational encounters
Corresponding author:
Astrid Dirikx, doctoral candidate of The Research Foundation Flanders, affiliated with the Leuven School for
Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, K.U.Leuven, Parkstraat 45, PO Box 3603,
3000 Leuven, Belgium
Email: astrid.dirikx@soc.kuleuven.be
427518EUCXXX10.1177/1477370811427518Dirikx et al.European Journal of Criminology
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