In search of Respect: Examining Arrestee Satisfaction with Police - Research Paper Example

? Article Analysis of a Recent Research on Criminal Justice s Introduction Criminal justice is described as a study or application of laws concerning criminal behavior. There are different professionals involved in studying criminal justice such as the police and different legal practitioners. Criminal justice has the goal of ensuring fairness for the accused and the complainant. Consequently, Hinds and Murphy (2007) explains that justice is not only about ensuring a fair trial for the accused but it also seeks to ensure the just retribution to victims of crime. Although criminal justice seeks to ensure justice for all, this goal is not always achieved, due to flexibility in use of laws, changes in laws and the interpretation of law by the judiciary. There have been numerous researches conducted to assess the criminal justice system, its effectiveness in transforming criminals and how different parties are treated. The issue of how the police treat suspects of crime is one issue that has been researched, since this determines whether criminals receive the required justice. This paper is an analysis of the research conducted by Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot (2010) titled In search of Respect: Examining Arrestee Satisfaction with Police. Purpose and research question The research was conducted to assess the process-based model of policing which looks into the interactional dynamics between the citizens and the police (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). The process model is based on a hypothesis that the behavior of the police during their interactions with members of the public influences the opinions of the legality of police actions. This ultimately influences willingness of citizens to volunteer information to the police and to comply with their directives Hinds and Murphy (2007). The Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot (2010) study focused on police behavior within a context of police to citizen events, which culminated to an arrest. In addition, the research assessed the effect of police actions on arrestees’ perception of the police officers (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). The research was influenced by a realization that citizens have a problem complying with police orders. According to Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot (2011), although the basic focus of a process-based model is on particular actions and strategies that police can adopt to improve the public judgment, the basis for this model is compliance. To the police, getting citizens to comply with their orders is a symbol of their effectiveness and the ability of police to discharge their mandate is pegged on citizens’ cooperation (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). The means that police use to achieve cooperation is a thorny issue with modern police being defined by their feature of using coercive force to get compliance. Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot (2011) explains that research has shown that this is not an effective way to gain cooperation and, therefore, this research strives to assess what other alternative strategies and actions can police use to get compliance from members of the public. The second problem addressed by the research stems from the perception held in the process-based model that argues that citizen cooperation is related to perceived legitimacy of the police and the resulting benefits or costs of non-compliance. Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot (2011) explained that people who feel that police have legitimate authority to arrest them have no problem with them dictating behavior and, therefore, obey because of the sense of duty and obligation. Furthermore, citizens’ cooperation is influenced by motive-based trust. This is described as the trust that citizens have on the police actions; are they motivated by good objectives and service for all? It is, therefore, critical to understand factors that enhance or reduce police legitimacy. The study, therefore, examines how the behavior of police officers influences the perceptions and judgments of a particular group of the population; that is, those arrested and taken to jail. Design of the study The research addressed the question of instrumental concerns by modeling changeability in respondent contentment with police officers although holding constant the favorability of the choice of the officer who they had interacted in the recent past. The respondents in the research had received less than favorable treatment from police either being arrested or jailed (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). Data used in the study was from Washington County Arrestee Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, which was a study that had been designed to assess the prevalence of illegal drug use in adults in Washington County, Arkansas. The sampling frame used comprised all adults arrested and booked into Washington County Detention Center for local or state crimes within a period of two weeks in September 2007. Those who had been booked for non-criminal detention were not included in the study. In addition, those arrested by federal agents were also left out in the study (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). The protocol of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program was used as a model and arrestees were sampled based on the time of booking. The day was divided into two specific periods, a stock period and a flow period. The flow period starts at 12.00 am to 3.59 pm while flow period starts from 4.00pm to 11.59 p.m. Stock period is defined as the time when interviewees are not on the ground conducting research while the flow period is when the researchers are on site to conduct interviews. During the flow period, interviews were carried out continuously, as suspects were booked. All interviews had to be conducted within two days after arrest. In the two weeks of study, 383 arrests were made, 289 being men while 94 were women. However, only 151 were approached for interviews and 139 of them agreed to participate in the research. The dependent variable as explained by (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011) was that arrestees were asked whether they were satisfied with the performance of the local police and responses were weighed in a likert scale ranging from one to nine, which represents totally satisfied. They were also asked whether the officer clearly explained the reasons for their arrest. This was followed with a question on whether in respect to the events of the arrest they felt that the police treated them with respect and fairly (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). Moreover, they were asked to rate how the police are helpful and friendly. To rule out any bias in the respondents they were asked whether police without any valid reason while walking or driving had stooped them. This research is quantitative since the responses were weighed on a numerical scale that can be analyzed. Findings of the research The arrestees in the study were not married, non-Hispanic Whites aged between 18 and 34. 60 percent of the respondents were employed with a majority of them on a full-time basis (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). 25 percent were unemployed while another 8 percent showed some disability that kept them away from employment. The rest were students, homemakers or retiree (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). Most of them reported previous experience with the criminal justice system with almost 65 percent having spent a night at a correctional facility. 14 percent of the respondents had spent more than a year in jail. The respondents reported to have observed some misconduct among the police. 55 percent had been stopped for no reason walking while 61 percent had a bad interaction with the police while driving for no reason. Half of the respondents reported that police had used abusive language on them during arrest and a further 41 percent said that the police had used excessive force during arrest. More than 50 percent said that police had harassed their friends or family members and 36 percent claimed to have witnessed corruption among police (Myrstol and Hawk-Tourtelot, 2011). The research, therefore, concluded that all respondents had experienced negative relationship with the police. Slightly more than a third of the respondents in the study reported an average level of satisfaction with the police. In addition, the analysis of data from the research shows that arrestee satisfaction is directly related to the perception of procedural justice, treatment received from the police and the motive-based trust. Respondents registered high level of satisfaction when they believed that police acted in good faith and for the general good of members of the society. They also expressed high satisfaction with police when they believed that they had been treated with respect. The researchers concluded that police must realize that compliance is critical for fair and effective performance of the criminal justice system. Secondly, coercion is not the only way of getting compliance although it is necessary for the safety of the officer. Therefore, police should enhance compliance through their own conduct. When the citizens are handled respectively and with dignity, the police will achieve voluntary cooperation. Conclusion From a personal point of view, I assume, the researchers tried to design their research well to limit any intervening factors that could affect the quality of their research. They narrowed to a specific area to ensure that they could research effectively into the topic. However, I propose that they could have carried out research in another state to come up with more conclusive data results. This is because police in a particular state can behave in a particular way given the work conditions that have been exposed to them. In addition, I propose that the researchers could have deployed some research staff to monitor as police arrest suspects. This would eliminate the biasness of the respondents as the staff may observe some physical movements that indicate a confrontation. The researchers should also have interviewed the police to assess what they go through during arrests. References Hinds, L., & Murphy, K. (2007). Public satisfaction with police: Using procedural justice to improve police legitimacy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 40(1), 27–42. Myrstol, B., & Hawk-Tourtelot, S. (2011). In Search of Respect: Examining Arrestee Satisfaction with Police. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(4), 371-391 Read More