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Abstract
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PURPOSE
Whether public members feel satisfied with law enforcement is a fundamental determinant of their willingness to cooperate with the police, and comply with the law. Numerous studies have uncovered predictors of citizen satisfaction with the police, including race and procedural justice. To date though, the role of strain in affecting this outcome has been largely ignored.
Methods
Electronic survey data were collected from a convenience sample of university students to determine if respondent strain levels shared any empirical association with their satisfaction with the police.
Results
Ordinary least squares regression equations uncovered a negative and statistically significant relationship between strain and satisfaction with law enforcement, net of controls.
Discussion
If strain is an antecedent to eventual criminal behavior, whereby possibly involving police contact, officers are encouraged to deploy therapeutic policing strategies to address the underlying distress affecting citizens.
Language: en |