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published online 1 April 2013Youth Violence and Juvenile JusticeDaniel M. Stewart, Robert G. Morris and Henriikka Weir

Youth Perceptions of the Police: Identifying Trajectories  

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Article

Youth Perceptions of thePolice: IdentifyingTrajectories

Daniel M. Stewart1, Robert G. Morris2, and Henriikka Weir3

AbstractThe relevance of examining juveniles’ attitudes toward the police has been firmly established in theliterature. Employing group-based trajectory modeling, the present study builds upon this previousresearch by estimating police attitudinal trajectories among a general sample of youths. The modelsproduced a 5-group solution for both males and females, with four of the trajectories remainingrelatively stable over the time observed and one noticeably experiencing a downward trend.Furthermore, of the items making up the police attitudinal scale, for several of the groups, the itemmeasuring prejudice most consistently oscillated away from the trajectory profile. Policy implica-tions are discussed.

Keywordsyouth, juveniles, attitudes, police

Maintaining a favorable image has been a prominent goal of the American police institution since its

public relations crisis of the 1960s and the subsequent emergence of the community policing move-

ment, stressing positive collaborative relationships between the police and the citizenry to tackle

fear, crime, and disorder (Community Policing Consortium, 1994; Skolnick & Bayley, 1988; Walker

& Katz, 2011; Wycoff, 1988). It is theorized that a collaborative citizenry, one that is more likely to

assist the police in carrying out its core functions and serve as coproducers of protective services, is

also one that is more likely to hold favorable attitudes toward the police (Decker, 1981; Goldstein,

1987; Skolnick & Bayley, 1988; Wycoff, 1988). One group that increasingly consumes a substantial

amount of police time and resources (see Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2011; Leiber, Nalla,

& Farnworth, 1998; Snyder & Sickmund, 1996; Truman, 2011; Walker & Katz, 2011) and, thus, is

an important target concerning the creation and maintenance of good public police relations is juve-

niles. Evidence even suggests that perceptions of legal actors, particularly police officers, can lead to

either compliance or rejection of legal and social norms among children and adolescents (Fagan &

1 University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA2 University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA3 University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Corresponding Author:

Daniel M. Stewart, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.

Email: daniel.stewart@unt.edu

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice00(0) 1-18ª The Author(s) 2013Reprints and permission:sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navDOI: 10.1177/1541204013480369yvj.sagepub.com

Tyler, 2005). Being cognizant of juveniles’ perceptions of the police, then, has significant practical

implications, and it is why researchers and administrators over the last few decades have shown

considerable interest in the topic (see below).

The literature on juveniles’ perceptions of the police, though not as extensive as that of adults’

perceptions, reveals that a cornucopia of factors affect attitudes, such as race, gender, delinquency,

and the nature of police contacts, just to name a few (Brick, Taylor, & Esbensen, 2009; Geistman &

Smith, 2007; Hinds, 2007; Hurst & Frank, 2000; Hurst, Frank, & Browning, 2000; Hurst, McDer-

mott, & Thomas, 2005; Leiber et al., 1998; Sullivan, Dunham, & Alpert, 1987; Taylor, Turner,

Esbensen, & Winfree, 2001). Very little, however, has been written on juveniles’ attitudes toward

the police over time (Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, Peterson, & Freng, 2001; Esbensen, Peterson,

Taylor, & Osgood, 2012; Piquero, Fagan, Mulvey, Steinberg, & Odgers, 2005), and only one study

exists that has identified and chronicled the changes in a longitudinal capacity across distinct

attitudinal developmental groups (Piquero et al., 2005)—and even this work does not exclusively

focus on attitudes toward the police.

Here, we build upon existing literature by estimating trajectories of juveniles’ attitudes toward

the police using the longitudinal component of the National Evaluation of the Gang Resistance

Education and Training program (G.R.E.A.T. I; Esbensen et al., 2001). The current research, after

bifurcating subjects based on sex, attempts to identify and track the course of adolescents grouped

along attitudinal levels toward the police. It further seeks to examine the mean rates of the altitudinal

scale’s indicators about possible trajectory profiles. Its originality and value are rooted in this dis-

tinction since this approach has infrequently been applied to juvenile attitudes toward the police and,

thus, the identification of such attitudinal developmental groups requires further exploration. By

isolating the possible different attitudinal groups and following their course, while concurrently

examining mean rates of specific indicators, we will not only be adding to the knowledge base, cre-

ating a more complete understanding of juveniles’ attitudes toward the police but also be providing a

springboard for future research as well as for the creation of juvenile-focused police policies that can

take into account the nuances of attitudinal development.

Attitudes and Group-Based Trajectory Modeling

Longitudinal studies in which attitudes toward the police are presented as the primary variable of inter-

est have almost exclusively focused on adults; therefore, the empirical reality concerning juveniles’

attitudes toward the police over time is comparatively unknown. The adult-focused research, however,

shows that attitudes toward the police are relatively stable with prior attitudes serving as the best

predictors of subsequent attitudes (Brandl, Frank, Worden, & Bynum, 1994; Chermak, McGarrell,

& Weiss, 2001; Gau, 2010; Rosenbaum, Schuck, Costella, Hawkins, & Ring, 2005). In the only

longitudinal study examining juveniles’ perceptions that has employed a similar methodology as the

one used here, it was also revealed that attitudes concerning legitimacy of law changed very little over

time (Piquero et al., 2005). These findings correspond with the various conceptions of attitudes, which

have referred to their enduring natures or settled dispositions as well as with the characterizations of

attitudes as traits with fairly permanent qualities (see Eagly & Chaiken, 1993).

Attitudes are not entirely immutable, though. Among adult populations, while not as powerful as

preexisting notions, evidence holds personal experiences play a role in attitudinal variability. For

instance, research by Gau (2010) examining respondents’ perceptions of police officers’ ability to

prevent crime revealed that, even when controlling for prior attitudes, perceptions of police contact

quality and being subjected to an unjustified stop were significant predictors. Brandl et al. (1994),

after taking into consideration prior global satisfaction, found that global attitudes of the police were

influenced by assessments of police assistance and information contacts. Even in the aforementioned

Piquero et al. (2005) research, a group of juveniles was identified whose legitimacy perceptions

2 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

dramatically increased during the period under study. Furthermore, research holds that adults hold

more favorable attitudes toward the police than juveniles (Apple & O’Brien, 1983; Boggs & Galli-

her, 1975; Scaglion & Condon, 1980; Smith & Hawkins, 1973), evidence that over time those atti-

tudes are indeed changing, becoming increasingly positive. In sum, though the parameters of

attitudinal ranges might be limited once formulated, evidence shows there is still room for

change—even if it is merely a slight oscillation away from the mean.

A portion of the attitudinal stability that is observed, however, is undoubtedly a product of the

multitude of factors behind perceptions combined with limitations of the methodologies and sta-

tistical analyses employed when measuring the development of attitudes. Without providing an

exhaustive discussion of construct validity and the difficulties related to measuring change, it

should simply be noted that attitudes in general can be conceived as being the products of a com-

plex set of factors such as beliefs, feelings, and past behaviors (see Maio, Esses, Arnold, & Olson,

2004; Zanna & Rempel, 1988), impacting individuals over a protracted period and most likely

beyond the time frame of empirical observation. By employing group-based trajectory (GBT)

modeling (aka finite mixture modeling) and utilizing a panel study design in which juveniles’

attitudes toward the police are examined over a 5-year period as we do here, we can more closely

inspect the issue of attitudinal stability and increase the likelihood of capturing meaningful change

as it occurs.

It is important to note that GBT modeling has become commonplace within the criminological

literature surrounding life course transitions and behavioral development. Nagin and Land (1993)

originally popularized the technique as a means of investigating processes evolving over time or age

by isolating individuals into finite developmental groups or trajectories. While other popular

schemes used to analyze longitudinal data, such as hierarchal linear modeling (i.e., growth curve

models), assume a continuous, normal distribution of trajectories in the population, GBT modeling

makes no such parametric assumptions; rather it stresses the possibility of a limited number of

clusters—groups within the distribution that are distinguishable by similar developmental trajec-

tories. Further, whereas standard growth curve models describe the average probability trajectory

of some development process as well as the individual variability about the mean trajectory (with

the ultimate goal entailing the identification of factors explaining such variability), GBT modeling

focuses on assigning cases to latent classes to which they have the highest probability of belonging

and subsequently identifying factors distinguishing group membership in addition to factors impact-

ing the intercepts and slopes of development within each particular latent class (Nagin, 2005; Nagin

& Piquero, 2010). This technique has been used to explain the development of criminality across

varying stages of the life course (e.g., Bushway, Piquero, Broidy, Cauffman, & Mazzerolle,

2001; Hay & Forrest, 2006; Laub, Nagin, & Sampson, 1998; Morris, Carriaga, Diamond, Piquero,

& Piquero, 2012; Morris & Piquero, 2012; Sampson & Laub, 1993) but has rarely been used to

explore attitudes toward the police (discussed further below).

The group-based approach to juvenile attitudes toward the police is appropriate since it is

reasonable to assume that not all juvenile attitudes follow a common increasing or decreasing devel-

opmental pattern—counter to processes that lend themselves more to standard growth curve models

(see Raudenbush, 2001; Warr, 2002). As mentioned previously, demographics and experiential

factors account for much of the variance surrounding favorable or unfavorable evaluations of par-

ticular issues. It makes sense then to assume that some youths will always have highly positive views

of the police, others will never hold the police in such regard, and some will develop an increasingly

positive view toward police, and for others initially positive attitudes will deteriorate (i.e., become

negative) over time. Furthermore, it is reasonable to believe that the mean rates of certain items

comprising the attitudinal scale, while consistent enough to belong to particular groups, will notice-

ably depart from the trajectory. The goal of this exploratory article is to identify those unique group-

ings and their developmental patterns.

Stewart et al. 3

Though Piquero et al. (2005) were the first and, to the current authors’ knowledge, only research-

ers to have taken a similar methodological/statistical approach when examining juveniles’ attitudes

toward the police, the current research is different in a variety of ways. First, the attitudinal measures

used here exclusively pertain to the police; that is, in Piquero et al., the legitimacy scale, which was

one of their primary variables of interest, measured respondents in terms of their perceptions about

judges and the courts as well the police. Second, we observe five points of data collected annually

over a 5-year period, whereas Piquero et al. examined four repeated observations spanning only 18

months. Third, we examine a younger sample of youths, with all participants at the first wave of data

collection being 12 years of age. The average baseline age in the work of Piquero et al. was 16.04

(range 14–18). And finally, although Piquero et al. examined a sample of serious adolescent offen-

ders from two cities, here we study a more general sample of juveniles across six U.S. cities. Other

differences exist as well, but the point being illustrated here is that the current research makes a

unique and significant contribution to the literature by determining whether developmental patterns

concerning attitudes toward the police exist among a general sample of juveniles. Moreover, if

different patterns emerge, we seek to determine whether they remain stable or experience marked

change over the time observed. Finally, contingent upon the presence of discrete patterns, the current

research will analyze the variability of the items’ mean rates, making up the specific profiles.

Data and Method

Data

Data for the present study were culled from the longitudinal component of the G.R.E.A.T. program

(see Esbensen et al., 2001). These data provide a multi-item police attitudes scale, which is consis-

tent across five annual waves of data collection, making them ideal for assessing attitudinal

development. The G.R.E.A.T. data were originally collected from students attending 22 middle

schools from within six U.S. cities. The original sample consisted of over 3,500 students of which

parental consent was obtained from 2,045 (57%). The original research team surveyed these students

annually from 1995 (sixth and seventh grade) through 1999. We limited our analysis to youth who

were 12 years old at Wave 1, who participated completely through the fifth wave, and who reported

to at least 4 of the 7 items regarding attitudes toward police—discussed below (n ¼ 927).

We further stratified the sample by gender in order to tease out such differences in attitudinal

development. Although gender differences in relation to police attitudes have not been conclusively

established in the literature, with one study reporting higher police perceptions among adolescent

males than females (Hurst & Frank, 2000) and others finding gender to be a relative nonfactor (Brick

et al., 2009; Chow, 2011; Griffiths & Winfree, 1982; Moretz, 1980; Winfree & Griffiths, 1977),

several pieces of research have shown gender to be directly or indirectly related to attitudes toward

the police, with adolescent females reporting more favorable perceptions of the police than males

(Bouma, 1969; Brandt & Markus, 2000; Geistman & Smith, 2007; Hurst, Frank, & Browning,

2000; Portune, 1971; Taylor, Turner, Esbensen, & Winfree, 2001). And while it is largely main-

tained that cultural expectations and norms produce much of the general behavioral differences

observed in males and females (Feingold, 1992; Grossman & Grossman, 1994), differentiation

between the sexes is nonetheless extant and warrants examination in this context. Moreover, this

distinction is not lost on the juvenile justice system, which in recent years has increasingly invested

in gender-specific delinquency programs (see Foley, 2008). Our sample consisted of 421 (45%)

males and 506 (55%) females.

Descriptive statistics for the youth represented in our analyses are presented in Table 1. After

partitioning the sample based on sex, we opted to include descriptive statistics on variables the lit-

erature has found to be relevant to attitudes toward the police, such as race, perceptions of safety,

4 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

victimization, delinquency, and arrests (Brick, Taylor, & Esbensen, 2009; Brown & Coulter, 1983;

Dean, 1980; Frank, Brandl, Cullen, & Stichman, 1996; Geistman & Smith, 2007; Homant, Kennedy,

& Fleming, 1984; Hurst & Frank, 2000; Hurst et al., 2000, 2005; Koenig, 1980; Leiber et al., 1998;

Sullivan et al., 1987; Taylor et al., 2001). As shown in Table 1, the majority of the sample for both

sexes is White (60% of males and 55% of females). And while perceptions of school safety appear to

be similar between the two groups, males report on average 3 times as many incidents of

delinquency than females. Victimization, gang membership, and number of arrests appear to be

more frequent among males than among females (see scale items).

Measurement

The G.R.E.A.T. data are rich in measures and of focus here are a series of indicators measuring

attitudes toward police. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale, respondents were asked about their level

of agreement, with higher scores indicating higher levels of agreement (i.e., more positive), to the

following statements: ‘‘police officers are honest,’’ ‘‘most police officers are usually rude’’ (reverse

coded), ‘‘police officers are hardworking,’’ ‘‘most police officers are usually friendly,’’ ‘‘police

officers are usually courteous,’’ ‘‘police officers are respectful toward people like me,’’ and

‘‘police officers are prejudiced against minority persons’’ (reverse coded). Responses to these ques-

tions were then averaged to represent overall attitude toward police at each wave. Internal consistency

for the attitude scale was strong at each wave (a coefficients were .84, .86, .88, .87, and .89 at Waves 1

through 5). For cases missing only one wave worth of data for a given scale item, data were imputed by

taking the average response from the previous and next report when the datum was missing at Waves

2, 3, or 4, respectively. A missing datum on Wave 1 was imputed with the Wave 2 report to the same

item, and a missing datum at Wave 5 was imputed with that which was reported at Wave 4.

Analytical Procedure

This study assessed the development of attitudes toward police among high-risk youth from age 12

to age 16, relying on GBT modeling (aka finite mixture modeling). Our GBT analysis was carried

out in a series of steps that directly account for the nested nature of the data (i.e., repeated observa-

tions over time are nested within an individual). The first stage of the analysis involved

Table 1. Sample Demographics by Gender.

Male Female

M SD M SD

White 0.60 0.49 0.55 0.50Black 0.12 0.33 0.14 0.35Hispanic 0.20 0.40 0.19 0.39Other 0.08 0.28 0.12 0.32School environment 2.77 0.27 2.72 0.26Delinquency 19.61 58.81 6.68 19.46Victimization 5.46 22.92 3.11 15.72Gang membershipa 0.05 0.21 0.03 0.16Arrestsb 0.26 0.92 0.07 0.37n 421 506

a Variable indicating gang membership was missing some observations (n ¼ 342 for males; n ¼ 424 for females). b Number ofarrests reported for 6 months prior to interview truncated to 10 arrests, which was generally at the 99th percentile. Numberof arrests was not collected in Waves 1 and 2.

Stewart et al. 5

approximating a longitudinal latent class analysis (LLCA), which is one form of GBT modeling

(Nagin & Land, 1993). The mathematical underpinnings of this analytical technique are covered

in more detail elsewhere (see Feldman, Masyn, & Conger, 2009). LLCA systematically classifies

the observed attitude trajectories into one group among a user-specified number of group of trajec-

tories. It is important to note that unlike other GBTs, LLCA assumes no functional form of the

trajectory (e.g., linear, quadratic, etc.) but classifies individuals based on patterns of development.

We relied on contemporary standards for determining the final number of groups to retain, which is

the focus of the findings section presented below.

Results

Trajectory Analysis

In this study, trajectory analysis was used to model the development of attitudes toward police for a

5-year period among high-risk youth from ages 12 through 16. One of the benefits of LLCA

approach is that it does not presume any specific time function or proportional odds. Therefore,

complicated models of change can be evaluated without violating assumptions that some other

techniques may impose (Feldman et al., 2009).

The first stage of a trajectory analysis involves the decision about the appropriate number of

classes to retain in a final solution. This is usually done by using unconditional trajectory models,

which are models without covariates (see Nylund & Masyn, 2008). Model selection is typically

based on the evaluation of comparative fit indices. The final solution was based on the evaluation

of Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) statistics, posterior probabilities, class proportions,

graphically visualized mean trajectories for each class, and parsimony. Tables 2 and 3 present the

fit statistics of the 2-group, 3-group, 4-group, 5-group, and 6-group LLCA results for males and

females, respectively.

Based on a preponderance of the evidence, the 5-group model was determined as the most appro-

priate in representing the development of attitudes toward police from age 12 to age 16 for both

males and females, respectively. Although the 6-group solutions resulted in improved BIC, posterior

probabilities were weakened as were proportions for males. Considering this along with model

parsimony, we decided upon the 5-group solution. Based on this solution, these distinct attitudi-

nal–developmental trajectory profiles were labeled as low-stable, midrange-stable, upper

mid-stable, high-stable, and midrange declining. Figures 1 and 2 display the trajectory profiles for

the five-class solutions retained, again for each gender.

Heterogeneity in Attitudes Toward the Police

The male and female trajectory profiles share several characteristics, with attitudes toward the police

tending to be stable for most youth, although at varying degrees of positivity.

Each gender is predominantly represented by individuals who have midrange (26.6% for males;

38.7% for females) or upper midrange (38.5% for males; 36.4% for females) attitudes toward police,

which tend to remain stable from 12 to 16 years of age. Both genders are also represented by a group

of juveniles who report very high attitudes toward police (10.4% of males; 8.5% of females), also

remaining stable. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are groups of juveniles who tend to

report negative attitudes toward police (9.3% of males; 10.0% of females) across the full observation

period, and these youths’ attitudes tend to be relatively stable. Perhaps more interesting is that one of

the five groups, for both males and females, the midrange declining group (15.2% of males; 5.5% of

females), reports mid to mid-upper level attitudes toward police; but at about age 13, their attitudes

begin to deteriorate; and by age 16, these youth have the lowest attitudes toward police. Unlike their

more stable counterparts, the midrange decliners are considerably different with regard to

6 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

proportional representation between genders. Proportionally speaking, we found 2.76 times more

males in this group than females.

In sum, nearly half of males (48.9%) and more than half of females (53.4%) tend to have rather

positive outlooks toward the police, and these attitudes tend to remain stable from 12 to 16. A sizable

proportion of both genders have midrange attitudes that remain stable and a smaller group has poor

attitudes, both of which tend to remain across time. However, some youth tend to have positive

attitudes until about age 13, but then their attitudes decline rapidly through age 16. In the end, these

findings show that there is in fact considerable heterogeneity in the development of attitudes toward

the police. Most youth’s attitudes are consistent during this time period (i.e., they remain high if they

start high, low if they start low, etc.) though other youth tend to report degenerative attitudes about

the police as time goes on.

In an effort to extend the exploration further, we also plotted the mean levels for each specific

item underlying the attitude scale at each wave along with the estimated trajectory profile (see

Figure 2). This was done for both males and females separately. These findings suggest that for most

trajectory groups, the mean rates of specific attitude indicators fall consistently within the trajectory

profile; however, in some cases, 1 or more items tend to fall outside of the overall pattern. For exam-

ple, in the low-stable male group (notated as Group 1 in Figure 2), which is the group whose

members hold the least favorable attitudes toward the police, members tend to maintain compara-

tively better attitudes about the police regarding the idea that the police are prejudiced toward

Table 2. Longitudinal Latent Class Analysis Results for Males.

Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6BIC 4,730.581 4,538.843 4,468.967 4,439.928 4,420.043

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 2-group modelProb. % #Class 1 0.930 50.4 212Class 2 0.949 49.6 209

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 3-group modelClass 1 0.935 11.9 50Class 2 0.921 50.1 211Class 3 0.921 38.0 160

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 4-group modelClass 1 0.889 38.9 164Class 2 0.934 10.7 45Class 3 0.890 39.7 167Class 4 0.937 10.7 45

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 5-group modelClass 1 0.943 9.3 39Class 2 0.823 15.2 64Class 3 0.816 26.6 112Class 4 0.938 10.4 44Class 5 0.883 38.5 162

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 6-group modelClass 1 0.935 9.7 41Class 2 0.865 33.7 142Class 3 0.762 7.6 32Class 4 0.833 13.1 55Class 5 0.956 9.5 40Class 6 0.847 26.4 111

Note. BIC ¼ Bayesian Information Criterion.

Stewart et al. 7

minorities. Males in the high-stable group (those with the most positive attitudes toward police) are

fairly consistent across items; however, it is interesting that the prejudice item is clearly the lowest

ranking item. In other words, these youth have positive attitudes toward the police, but the aspect

about the police that generates the most negativity has to do with prejudice.

For females in the low-stable group, respondents had comparatively more agreement with the

statement about police being hardworking. And somewhat similar to that of males, as the same group

members got older, their perceptions of police prejudice improved as well; that is, they increasingly

viewed the police as less prejudiced. Also like their male counterparts, the two female groups with

the most positive attitudes toward the police consistently ranked the police prejudice item lower than

other attitudinal items (Figures 2 and 3).

Discussion and Conclusion

The emphasis on gauging public perceptions of the police sprouted from movements aimed at

improving relationships between the police and the community. Juveniles have long been a segment

of the community that experiences frequent encounters with the police—and because of the discre-

tionary nature of policing, in many cases police officers are the only agents of the criminal justice

system with whom juveniles come into contact (Caldwell & Black, 1971; Cavan & Ferdinand,

1975). Consequently, these contacts can be extremely valuable in forming the basis for future

Table 3. Longitudinal Latent Class Analysis Results for Females.

Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6BIC 4,964.064 4,720.257 4,645.168 4,609.971 4,581.032

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 2-group modelProb. % #Class 1 0.911 46.4 235Class 2 0.939 53.6 271

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 3-group modelClass 1 0.931 16.2 82Class 2 0.910 55.5 281Class 3 0.875 28.3 143

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 4-group modelClass 1 0.895 9.9 50Class 2 0.870 41.5 210Class 3 0.892 38.7 196Class 4 0.862 9.9 50

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 5-group modelClass 1 0.929 10.9 55Class 2 0.863 5.5 28Class 3 0.839 38.7 196Class 4 0.887 8.5 43Class 5 0.883 36.4 184

Posterior probabilities and class proportions for 6-group modelClass 1 0.899 1.2 6Class 2 0.909 13.8 70Class 3 0.858 36.8 186Class 4 0.864 34.6 175Class 5 0.839 6.1 31Class 6 0.906 7.5 38

Note. BIC ¼ Bayesian Information Criterion.

8 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

police–community relations (Winfree & Griffiths, 1977). The importance of maintaining a positive

police image in the eyes of juveniles as well as studying juveniles’ attitudes toward the police then

cannot be overstated.

While previous research has mostly examined juveniles’ perceptions of law enforcement in cross-

sectional capacities, this study adds to the scant literature devoted to examining juveniles’ attitudes

Females

Males

12

34

5

12 13 14 15 16Age

Class 1, 10.% Class 2, 5.5%Class 3, 38.7% Class 4, 8.5%Class 5, 36.4%

Development of Attitudes Toward Police (Ages 12-16, n=506)1

23

45

12 13 14 15 16Age

Class 1, 9.3% Class 2, 15.2%Class 3, 26.6% Class 4, 10.4%Class 5, 38.5%

Development of Attitudes Toward Police (Ages 12-16, n=421)

Figure 1. Trajectories of attitudes toward police: males and females.

Stewart et al. 9

of the police over time. Using the LLCA approach to GBT modeling, a 5-group model was retained

from data produced by the national evaluation of G.R.E.A.T. for both males and females. The results

revealed that most respondents held relatively favorable attitudes toward the police, with four of the

groups from each gender remaining relatively stable over the time observed. That is, those juveniles

that started off with high baseline attitudes also ended the period of observation with high attitudes.

The findings of relative stability correspond to those in the police attitudinal literature concerning

adults, with most longitudinal designs focusing on adults’ attitudes toward the police demonstrating

a comparative degree of constancy over time (Brandl et al., 1994; Chermak et al., 2001; Gau, 2010;

Rosenbaum et al., 2005). The degree of stability and number of groups retained was also similar to

the findings of Piquero et al. (2005) wherein they retained five groups when examining individuals’

perceptions of legitimacy of law. But unlike these studies, we employed GBT modeling and iden-

tified unique attitudinal groupings among a general sample of juveniles, allowing us for the first time

to conclude based on empirical evidence that not all juvenile attitudes exclusively pertaining to the

police follow a common increasing or decreasing trajectory.

Although extending well beyond the scope of the G.R.E.A.T. I data, future projects could entail

panel studies wherein participants are followed into adulthood. Such an approach would provide a

more holistic picture of attitudinal development and one wherein specific shifts in trajectories could

be identified that possibly comport with significant life events. For instance, the extant literature

demonstrates that juveniles hold the police in lower regard than adults (Apple & O’Brien, 1983;

Boggs & Galliher, 1975; Scaglion & Condon, 1980; Smith & Hawkins, 1973) and that even younger

adults have less favorable attitudes about the police than older adults (Murphy & Worrall, 1999;

Nofziger & Williams, 2005; Schafer, Huebner, & Bynum, 2003; Weitzer & Tuch, 2002). By extend-

ing the time period under study, researchers might be able to identify when and how the trajectories

begin their lasting upward trends. Perhaps groups differ in response to graduating college, obtaining

career employment, getting married, or having children. The period of observation in the current

study only surveys juveniles from the ages 12 to 16.

Our finding that males held the police in lower regard than females do, albeit slightly, comports

with the bulk of the literature showing more positive attitudes toward the police among females than

males (Bouma, 1969; Brandt & Markus, 2000; Geistman & Smith, 2007; Hurst et al., 2000; Portune,

1971; Taylor et al., 2001). Further, the mid-declining group (Group 2), the group from each sex that

started at a moderate level but dropped precipitously at around age 13, contained a greater percent-

age of males (15.2%) than females (5.5%). Such disparities in attitudes between the sexes are often

explained by the nature of police contacts, with positive contacts (i.e., assistance, providing infor-

mation, etc.) producing positive perceptions of the police and negative contacts (i.e., invocation

of social control) detrimentally impacting attitudes toward the police (Brown & Benedict, 2002;

Smith, Graham, & Adams, 1991; Worrall, 1999). A specific type of contact that produces negative

sentiments, among juveniles as well as adults, is arrest (Brick et al., 2009; Smith & Hawkins, 1973);

and since males make up over two thirds of juvenile arrests (Puzzanchera & Adams, 2011; Snyder,

2008), the differential in male and female attitudes found here is not too surprising. In fact, male

respondents in the current sample reported more arrests on average than females. Further, it could

be that the members of the low-stable and mid-declining group for both sexes experienced a greater

incidence and/or frequency of arrests than members of other groups.

Delinquency is another factor that could be producing the modest variance in attitudes toward

police between the sexes. Males consistently report more delinquent acts than females (Canter,

1982; Sampson, 1985; Snyder & Sickmund, 2006; White & LaGrange, 1987), as they did here in

the current sample—a possible indicator, along with arrests, of adhering to subcultures with distin-

guishable values that stress hostility toward authority figures (see Anderson, 1999; Cohen, 1955;

Cloward & Ohlin, 1960; Miller, 1958). Brick et al. (2009) found that, after controlling for serious

delinquency, initial differences between the sexes concerning attitudes toward the police

10 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

disappeared. Although the current study exclusively focuses on identifying trajectories and describ-

ing them in terms of the sole demographic of sex, our future research aims at identifying other fac-

tors that distinguish group membership, giving particular attention to arrests, delinquency,

victimization, and race. All of which, in cross-sectional studies, have been shown to affect juveniles’

attitudes toward the police (Brick et al., 2009; Geistman & Smith, 2007; Hurst & Frank, 2000; Hurst

et al., 2000, 2005; Leiber et al., 1998; Sullivan et al., 1987; Taylor et al., 2001).

The discovery of the mid-declining group is noteworthy because its trajectory illustrates a partic-

ular point in time wherein attitudes significantly shift downward—between the ages of 12 and 13. In

fact, among females, members of this group held the lowest perceptions of the police—eventually

Figure 2. Group attitude trajectory by specific question: males.

Stewart et al. 11

dipping below the low- and middle-stable groups. Regardless of the particular factors behind this

descending trend, an important implication of this finding is the necessity for early intervention. And

since the literature demonstrates a relationship between delinquency and attitudes toward the police

(Brick et al., 2009; Cox & Falkenberg, 1987; Leiber et al., 1998), predelinquent intervention

programs already in place could be utilized to shore up attitudes toward the police with the value

addition of producing a more collaborative citizen in adulthood. Practitioners looking for solutions

to poor police–juvenile relations, then, would do well to research to the numerous promising inter-

vention programs identified by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention currently

carried out in schools and communities (Loeber, Farrington, & Petechuk, 2003). These programs,

Figure 3. Group attitude trajectory by specific question: females.

12 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)

which entail a variety of curricula such as classroom and behavior management, conflict resolution

and violence prevention, anti-bullying directives, mentoring, and afterschool recreation, can be

adapted to include instruction conducive to prosocial attitudes toward the police. Police Athletic

Leagues, which have chapters all across the country, already incorporate such practices in their

programming, with one of their goals being developing strong positive attitudes toward the police

(National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, Inc., 2013). The G.R.E.A.T. program,

whose evaluation provided the data used here, is another such program that focuses on prevention.

Its antigang and delinquency message is delivered in schools directly by school resource officers and

police officers, with the aim of developing positive relations with law enforcement. Cross-sectional

as well as longitudinal evaluations of the program have suggested that many participants end up hav-

ing more positive attitudes toward the police than nonparticipants (Esbensen & Osgood, 1999;

Esbensen et al., 2001; Esbensen, Peterson, Taylor, & Osgood, 2012). Finally, an evaluation of the

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, from which G.R.E.A.T. was loosely

modeled, revealed that police officers who provided the instruction received better evaluations than

nonpolice officer instructors (Hammond et al., 2008).

The discovery of visible differentials between individual items making up the attitudinal scale

is important, as well—particularly the finding concerning the prejudice item. Recall that, although

the members making up the groups with the most positive attitudes toward the police (Groups 4

and 5) consistently rated the police on all attitudinal items higher than members of the groups with

the worst attitudes of the police, in relation to the mean scores on other items within the group, the

item measuring prejudice among Groups 4 and 5 was consistently the lowest, for both sexes (with

lower scores indicating higher perceptions of police prejudice). The opposite was true for the

groups with the least favorable attitudes toward the police, however (i.e., those group members

consistently rated the police less prejudiced in relation to other items—Groups 1 and 2 for males).

This seemingly perplexing finding could be due to police contact, with members of higher attitu-

dinal groups possibly having little contact with the police and basing their perceptions on external

sources as to how the police typically interact with monitories. The groups with lower attitudes,

though, possibly because their members have experienced a greater degree of police contact and

thus are more directly knowledgeable of the reality of police officer behavior, might be contending

that, even though they are comparatively dissatisfied with the police, the police are not racially

biased in the commission of their duties—particularly in relation to other officer behaviors.

Research does show that aspects of citizen demeanor are better indicators of police behavior

toward citizens than race and class (Black, 1971; Mastrofski, Reisig, & McCluskey, 2002; Piliavin

& Briar, 1964). Regardless of the reason, these particular findings have implications for the field

of procedural justice. The theory of procedural justice maintains that public perceptions of fairness

of the criminal justice system and respect for the law are inextricably intertwined with perceived

legitimacy and, ultimately, willingness to comply with the law (Tyler, 1990, 2007; Tyler & Huo,

2002). Believing that the police are prejudiced, then, more than likely, compromises conceptions

of fairness and respect, increasing the chances of delinquency. When attempting to build police–

youth relationships, police officials should pay particular attention to youth’s notions of racial

discrimination.

As with any social scientific endeavor, replication is necessary to ensure a more complete under-

standing of the phenomena under study as well as prior to committing to any consequential public

policy. For example, it is important to discover whether these trajectories would emerge using other

populations. Nonetheless, administrators should look to the aforementioned intervention programs

as viable options for developing cordial relationships between the police and juveniles that can con-

tinue into adulthood. With the identification of different developmental trajectories, however, it is

evident that a one-size-fits-all approach might be ineffective. In future research, it is our intention

to identify factors determining group membership as well as factors associated with developmental

Stewart et al. 13

patterns themselves. The current study, then, can be viewed as a first step in understanding how juve-

niles’ attitudes toward the police develop as they age.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publi-

cation of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

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Author Biographies

Daniel M. Stewart is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University

of North Texas. His current research interests include policing, organizational behavior, and senten-

cing policy.

Stewart et al. 17

Robert G. Morris, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Criminology and a Director of the Center for

Crime and Justice Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. His research encompasses contem-

porary issues in criminal justice and criminology and has been published in journals such as Justice

Quarterly, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, Criminal Justice and

Behavior, and Intelligence.

Henriikka Weir is an assistant professor of criminal justice at University of Colorado Colorado

Springs as well as a former police officer. Her research interests include policing, substance abuse,

child maltreatment, violence, and biosocial criminology.

18 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 00(0)