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9 - The Potential Contribution of Subjective Causality to Policing Research

The Case of the Relationship between Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

from Part III - Innovations in Tools of Evaluation and Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2023

By
Gali Perry ,
Tal Jonathan-Zamir  and
James J. Willis
Edited by
David Weisburd ,
Tal Jonathan-Zamir ,
Gali Perry  and
Badi Hasisi
David Weisburd
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and George Mason University, Virginia
Tal Jonathan-Zamir
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gali Perry
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Badi Hasisi
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Summary

Questions of causality are central to evidence-based policing (EBP), and have been occupying policing scholars in numerous areas. Experiments are considered the “gold standard” for determining causality, but they are not without limitations and are not always feasible. The present chapter explores the potential contribution of “subjective causality” to policing research. Subjective causality is a complementary, qualitative approach to establishing causality, in which relationships are examined and causality is determined through the subjective lens of the individual. Such an explicit approach to causality is uncommon in qualitative research in policing, and could assist in overcoming some of the challenges of the field. In this chapter we demonstrate how subjective causality can contribute to policing by focusing on an area where establishing causality is receiving particular attention: the presumed effect of police-provided procedural justice on police legitimacy. We use in-depth interviews with protestors who participated in “Occupy Israel” demonstrations in 2012 to explore how qualitative data can be used to identify the subjective, causal relationships that individuals make in their own minds between procedural jusice and legitimacy. We also discuss the applicability and potential contribution of this method to policing research more generally.

Keywords

Subjective CausalityQualitative researchPolice LegitimacyProcedural JusticeIn-depth interviewsgroup-level PJProtestMethodologyEvidence-based policing
Type
Chapter
Information
The Future of Evidence-Based Policing , pp. 170 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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