Reducing the gap in perceptions of legitimacy of victims and non-victims
| Author | Gali Aviv,David Weisburd |
| Published date | 01 May 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758015627041 |
| Date | 01 May 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Reducing the gap in
perceptions of legitimacy
of victims and non-victims:
The importance of police
performance
Gali Aviv
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
David Weisburd
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Abstract
Crime victims are a unique subgroup who evaluate the police and police legitimacy more harshly
than those who have not been victimized. This could be explained by their victimization, and
their special needs from and expectations of the police. Due to the importance of crime victims
for the criminal justice system, the current study examines the mechanisms underlying differ-
ences in legitimacy evaluations of victims and non-victims. We focus on the two main ante-
cedents of legitimacy: procedural justice and police performance. We find that procedural justice
operates similarly for victims and non-victims, but that police performance plays a much more
important role as an antecedent for victims. These findings suggest that managing perceptions
of police performance may be key to closing the gap in legitimacy evaluations between victims
and non-victims.
Keywords
Crime victims, evaluations of the police, police legitimacy, police performance
Corresponding author:
Gali Aviv, Director of the Israeli Courts Research Division, The Supreme Court of Israel, Sha’arei Mishpat St., Jerusalem
91950, Israel.
Email: galia@court.gov.il
International Review of Victimology
2016, Vol. 22(2) 83–104
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758015627041
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Introduction
Disparity in policing often focuses on differences in attitudes between majorities and minorities,
and has come to be a central theme in policing research. In our paper, we focus on a different type
of disparity that has important implications for the criminal justice system: the disparity between
crime victims and the non-victimized population. Studies have found that victims show signifi-
cantly more negative attitudes toward the police than those who have not been victimized
(Ashworth and Feldman-Summers, 1978; Aviv, 2014; Koenig, 1980; Percy, 1980; Van Dijk
et al., 2007).
1
This finding is robust across a variety of contexts, among them geographical
location, aspects of policing, policing practices, and programs (Aviv, 2014; Brown and Be nedict,
2002; Flatley et al., 2010; Friedmann, 1987; Maxson et al., 2003; O’Connor, 2008; Orr and West,
2007;Percy,1980;VanDijk,etal.,2007).Notonly are their evaluations lowerthanthoseofthe
general population, but studies have also shown that these evaluations have been declining since
the beginning of the twenty-first century (Allen et al., 2006; Van Dijk et al., 2007). It is also
interesting to note that victims have not been found to hold more punitive attitudes than those
who have not been victimized (Costelloe et al., 2009; Frost, 2010; Hartnagel and Temp leton,
2012).
It is troubling that within the criminal justice system, those who often have the most contact
with the police, and are critical to its operation, have more negative perceptions of them. This is
also an issue of concern because crime victims are the main reporters of criminal activity and the
main providers of crucial information that assists the police in the identification and apprehen-
sion of criminals. Without their cooperation and assistance, the police’s ability to accurately
gauge criminal activity would diminish, affecting not only the police but the criminal justice
system as a whole (Black, 1970; Brandl and Horvath, 1991; Herman et al., 2003; Hickman and
Simpson, 2003; Hindelang and Gottfredson, 1976; JUSTICE, 1998; NIJ, 2006; Shapland, 1984;
Walklate, 2007).
Our paper is one of the first studies to attempt to identify why crime victims have more negative
evaluations of the police than the general public. In understanding these differences we focus in
particular on the question of evaluations of ‘police legitimacy’ (National Research Council, 2004;
Sunshine and Tyler, 2003). Two main antecedents, police performance and procedural justice,
have been identified in the literature. Our analyses suggest that these factors are also important for
victims, but that police performance plays a more central role in victim evaluations than those of
non-victims. The study was conducted in the context of an Israeli sample of victims and non-
victims. The data were analyzed by using multiple regression techniques, including interaction
terms between victimization and these antecedents. In our discussion and conclusions we consider
the implications of our work as well as the limitations of our study.
Disparity between victim and non-victim perceptions of police
legitimacy
The literature on victim evaluations of the police does not focus in detail on the mechanisms
underlying these negative attitudes and the disparity between victims and non-victims, with only a
few studies providing initial explanations (Ashworth and Feldman-Summers, 1978; Brandl and
Horvath, 1991; Percy, 1980). One explanation can be found in the theoretical framework of
consumer psychology. In this context, researchers have applied the expectancy disconfirmation
model with regard to crime victim evaluations. In accordance with this model, sat isfaction is
84 International Review of Victimology 22(2)
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