This study examined the effectiveness of Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP) to improve youths’ perceptions of the police, willingness to cooperate with police, and perceptions of procedural justice. It utilized an experimental design in 36 schools in Milwaukee, WI. Pretest and posttest were administered to assess the outcomes before and after the STOP program. The results indicated that STOP was effective in improving youths’ perceptions of the police, youths’ willingness to cooperate with the police, and youths’ perceptions of procedural justice. Additional analysis suggested that STOP was able to reverse some of the negative effects these encounters had on youths’ perceptions, as those with prior negative interactions of police experienced significantly greater rates of change in their perceptions of procedural justice than those who did not have a negative encounter.
AllportG. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.
2.
AsplerR.CumminsM. R.CarlS. (2003). Perceptions of the police by victims of domestic partner violence. Violence Against Women, 9, 1318–1335.
3.
BarlowF. K.PaoliniS.PedersenA.HornseyM. J.RadkeH. R. M.HarwoodJ.…SibleyC. G. (2012). The contact caveat: Negative contact predicts increased prejudice more than positive contact predicts reduced prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1629–1643.
4.
BerkR. (2005). Randomized experiments as the bronze standard. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 1, 417–433.
5.
BlackD.ReissA. J.Jr (1970). Police control of youths. American Sociological Review, 35, 63–77.
6.
BorduaD. J.TifftL. L. (1971). Citizen interview, organizational feedback, and police–community relations decisions. Law and Society Review, 6, 155–182.
7.
BottomsA.TankebeJ. (2012). Beyond procedural justice: A dialogic approach to legitimacy in criminal justice. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 102, 119–170.
8.
BrandlS. G.FrankJ.WordenF. T.BynumT. S. (1994). Global and specific attitudes toward the police: Disentangling the relationship. Justice Quarterly, 11, 119–134.
9.
BrickB. T.TaylorT. J.EsbensenF. (2009). Juvenile attitudes towards the police: The importance of subcultural involvement and community ties. Journal of Criminal Justice, 37, 499–495.
10.
BroaddusE. T.ScottK. E.GonsalvesL. M.ParrishC.PhodesE. L.DonovanS. E.WinchP. J. (2013). Building connections between officers and Baltimore city youth: Key components of a police–youth teambuilding program. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 3, 48–60.
11.
BrownB.BenedictW. R. (2002). Perceptions of the police: Past findings, methodological issues, conceptual issues and policy implications. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25, 543–580.
12.
BrowningS.CullenF. T.CaoL.KopacheR.StevensonT. (1994). Race and getting hassled by the police: A research note. Police Studies, 17, 1–11.
13.
BrykA. S.RaudenbushS. W. (1987). Application of hierarchical linear models to assessing change. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 147–158.
14.
CallananV. J.RosenbergerJ. S. (2011). Media and public perceptions of the police: Examining the impact of race and personal experience. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 21, 167–189.
FaganJ.TylerT. R. (2005). Legal socialization of children and adolescents. Social Justice Research, 18, 217–242.
17.
FreiburgerT. L.JordanK. L. (2016). Race and ethnic issues in juvenile justice. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
18.
FriedmanW.LurigioA. J.GreenleafR.AlbertsonS. (2004). Encounters between police officers and youths: The social costs of disrespect. Journal of Crime and Justice, 27, 1–25.
19.
FurstenbergF. F.WellfordC. F. (1973). Calling the police: The evaluation of police service. Law and Society Review, 7, 393–406.
20.
GainesL.KappelerV.VaughnJ. (1994). Policing in America. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
21.
GoodrichS. A.AndersonS. A.LaMotteV. (2015). Evaluation of a program designed to promote positive police and youth interactions. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 3, 55–71.
22.
GroffE. R.RatcliffJ. H.HabermanC. P.SorgE. T.JoyceN. M.TayorR. B. (2015). Does what police do at hot spots matter? The Philadelphia policing tactics experiment. Criminology, 53, 23–52.
23.
Guarino-GhezziS. (1994). Reintegrative police surveillance of juvenile offenders: Forging an urban model. Crime and Delinquency, 40, 131–153.
24.
HaganJ.SheddC.PayneM. R. (2005). Race, ethnicity, and youth perceptions of criminal injustice. American Sociological Review, 70, 381–407.
HopkinsN.HewstonM.HantziA. (1992). Police-Schools Liaison and young people’s image of the police: An intervention evaluation. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 203–220.
27.
HurstY. (2007). Juvenile attitudes toward the police: An examination of rural youth. Criminal Justice Review, 32, 121–141.
28.
HurstY. G.FrankJ. (2000). How kids view cops: The nature of juvenile attitudes toward the police. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 189–202.
29.
HurstY. G.FrankJ.BrowningS. L. (2000). The attitudes of youths toward the police: A comparison of black and white youth. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 23, 37–53.
30.
HurstY. G.McDermottM. J.ThomasD. L. (2005). The attitudes of girls toward the police: Differences by race. Policing: An International Journal of Policing Strategies & Management, 28, 578–593.
31.
KirkR. E. (2013). Experimental design: Procedures for the behavioral sciences (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
LyonsK. S.ZaritS. H.SayerA. G.WhitlatchC. J. (2002). Caregiving as a dyadic process: Perspectives from caregiver to receiver. Journal of Gerontology, 57B, P195–P204.
34.
MazerolleL.AntrobusE.BennettS.TylerT. R. (2013). Shaping citizen perceptions of police legitimacy: A randomized field trial of procedural justice. Criminology, 51, 33–64.
35.
PayneB. K.GaineyR. R. (2007). Attitudes about the police and neighborhood safety in disadvantaged neighborhoods: The influence of criminal victimization and perceptions of a drug problem. Criminal Justice Review, 32, 142–155.
36.
PettigrewT. F.TroppL. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751–783.
37.
PickettJ. T.RyonS. B. (2017). Procedurally just cooperation: Explaining support for due process reforms in policing. Journal of Criminal Justice, 48, 9–20.
38.
PiqueroA. R.FaganJ.MulveyE. P.SteinbergL.OdgersC. (2005). Developmental trajectories of legal socialization among serious adolescent offenders. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 96, 267–298.
39.
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. (2015). Final report of the president’s task force on 21st century policing. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
40.
RaudenbushS. W.BrykA. S. (2002). Hierarchal linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
41.
ReisigM. D.ParksR. B. (2000). Experience, quality of life, and neighborhood context: A hierarchical analysis of satisfaction with police. Justice Quarterly, 17, 607–630.
42.
RenL.CaoL.LovrichN.GaffneyM. (2005). Linking confidence in the police with the performance of the police: Community policing can make a difference. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 55–66.
SchuckA. M. (2013). A life-course perspective on adolescents’ attitudes to police: DARE, delinquency, and residential segregation. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50, 679–607.
46.
SkoganW. G. (2006). Asymmetry in the impact of encounters with police. Policing & Society, 16, 99–126.
47.
SnyderH.SickmundM. (1996). Juvenile offenders and victims: A national report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
48.
SorgE. T.WoodJ. D.GroffE. R.RatcliffJ. H. (2016). Explaining dosage diffusion during hot spot patrols: An application of optimal foraging theory to police officer behavior. Justice Quarterly, 34, 1044–1068.
49.
SunshineJ.TylerT. R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law and Society Review, 37, 555–589.
50.
TaylorT. J.TurnerK. B.EsbensenF.WinfreeT. L. (2001). Coppin’ an attitude: Attitudinal differences among youths toward police. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29, 295–305.
51.
TylerT. R. (1990). Why people obey the law. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
52.
TylerT. R. (2006). Legitimacy and legitimation. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 375–400.
53.
TylerT. R.FaganJ. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help police fight crime in their communities?Ohio State Journal of Criminal Justice, 6, 231–275.
WatsonG. (1946). Action for unity. New York, NY: Harper.
56.
WattsB.WashingtonH. (2017). Evaluability assessment of the NAFI youth and policing initiative training, final report. Albany, NY: Center for Human Services Research, University at Albany.
57.
WebbV. J.MarshallC. E. (1995). The relative importance of race and ethnicity on citizen attitudes toward the police. American Journal of Police, 14, 45–66.
58.
WordenR. E.McLeanS. J. (2017) Mirage of police reform: Procedural justice and police legitimacy. Berkeley: University of California Press.
