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Article
Juvenile Attitudes towards the Police: The Importance of Subcultural Involvement and Community Ties
Journal of Criminal Justice (2009)
  • Bradley T. Brick, Old Dominion University
  • Terrance J. Taylor, University of Missouri–St. Louis
  • Finn-Aage Esbensen, University of Missouri–St. Louis
Abstract
Citizens' attitudes toward police have been examined in a variety of contexts during the past several decades. Additionally, the importance of juveniles' attitudes towards the police has received considerable attention during the past decade. The current article examines attitudes toward police from a large, multi-site study of sixth to ninth grade youths. Three specific questions were examined: (1) What is the influence of police contact (generally and by different types of contact) on juvenile attitudes toward the police? (2) How does involvement in delinquent subcultures affect these attitudes? (3) How do community contexts and ties influence juvenile attitudes toward the police? Results suggested that community ties and involvement in delinquent subcultures substantially mediate the influence of police contact on juveniles' attitudes toward the police.
Disciplines
Publication Date
September 1, 2009
DOI
10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2009.07.009
Citation Information
Bradley T. Brick, Terrance J. Taylor and Finn-Aage Esbensen. "Juvenile Attitudes towards the Police: The Importance of Subcultural Involvement and Community Ties" Journal of Criminal Justice Vol. 37 Iss. 5 (2009) p. 488 - 495
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/terrance-taylor/9/