Abstract:ObjectivesDrawing on recent work in policing and organizational psychology, we examined factors related to openness to organizational change and to adopting evidence-based interview techniques among law enforcement investigators.HypothesesWe hypothesized that a procedurally fair organizational climate would predict support for organizational change, mediated by organizational identification and perceived legitimacy, and that outcome oriented factors (i.e., rewards, sanctions) would predict support for organiza… Show more
“…Taken together, this body of work suggests that organizational support has an important influence on how the police do their job, potentially through how officers think about their own ability. Most obviously, officers who are better trained often feel more able to effectively navigate their authority (Davidson, 2014), but this proposition goes a step further to generally argue that officers in ‘better’ – and, especially, more fair – organizational contexts feel more supported in structuring their assertions of power (Brimbal, Bradford, Jackson, Hartwig, & Joseph, 2020). We therefore present the second theoretical proposition of legitimacy as follows:The effect of organizational support on authority is mediated by powerholders’ perceived ability to wield power.…”
Purpose
Despite a common conceptual root, research applying legitimacy theory addresses any number of more or less distinct behaviours, attitudes, and processes. Although this variety in approaches has complicated theoretical development, we argue that it is critical to addressing the breadth of the construct. To address this state of affairs, we offer the Concentric Diagram of Legitimacy as an organizing tool for the literature. The diagram roots itself in the dialogue of legitimacy, and argues that legitimacy theory is fundamentally comprised of five key theoretical propositions. Proposition 1 addresses the link between authority and acquiescence directly while the remaining propositions link organizational support (Proposition 2) and public approval (Proposition 3) with authority, and interactions (Proposition 4) and the social context (Proposition 5) with acquiescence.
“…Taken together, this body of work suggests that organizational support has an important influence on how the police do their job, potentially through how officers think about their own ability. Most obviously, officers who are better trained often feel more able to effectively navigate their authority (Davidson, 2014), but this proposition goes a step further to generally argue that officers in ‘better’ – and, especially, more fair – organizational contexts feel more supported in structuring their assertions of power (Brimbal, Bradford, Jackson, Hartwig, & Joseph, 2020). We therefore present the second theoretical proposition of legitimacy as follows:The effect of organizational support on authority is mediated by powerholders’ perceived ability to wield power.…”
Purpose
Despite a common conceptual root, research applying legitimacy theory addresses any number of more or less distinct behaviours, attitudes, and processes. Although this variety in approaches has complicated theoretical development, we argue that it is critical to addressing the breadth of the construct. To address this state of affairs, we offer the Concentric Diagram of Legitimacy as an organizing tool for the literature. The diagram roots itself in the dialogue of legitimacy, and argues that legitimacy theory is fundamentally comprised of five key theoretical propositions. Proposition 1 addresses the link between authority and acquiescence directly while the remaining propositions link organizational support (Proposition 2) and public approval (Proposition 3) with authority, and interactions (Proposition 4) and the social context (Proposition 5) with acquiescence.
“…In people's lives in a country filled with various characters and interests, the possibility of conflict is very large; so that the existence of the law is very necessary, and the community must comply with the existing law (Brimbal et al, 2020;Aziz et al, 2021). Basically, submitting to the law is done with all his consciousness, but in practice, it is hard to come by, so in the end law enforcement must often be carried out also with coercive firmness (Wells & Gibson, 2017;Lyons et al, 2017).…”
This study aims to analyze the reconstruction of other paradigms of action and police discretion in order to minimize potential disparities in law enforcement with justice. This study uses a normative juridical method, to link the relationship between norms and the situation in question. Researchers use a philosophical approach, a conceptual approach, and a sociological approach in the sense that several cases are studied for reference to a legal issue, and a statutory approach. The results of this study require an effort to reconstruct the paradigm through refining the norms regarding Other Actions and Discretion, so that the philosophical, social, and juridical objectives of existence and being given the authority to carry out Other Actions and Discretion are right on target.
“…Moreover, given Hamm et al's emphasis on the interplay between power-holder authority and audience acquiescence, it is important to also consider how police officers' understand their own ability to influence people's behaviour. Like other researchers before them (Bottoms & Tankebe, 2013;Bradford & Quinton, 2014;Brimbal et al, 2020;Kyprianides et al, 2021;Mccarthy et al, 2021;Meško et al, 2017;Tankebe, 2014;Trinkner et al, 2016Trinkner et al, , 2019, Hamm et al (2022) argue that how police understand their own power, authority and position in society is just as central to the legitimacy dialogue as how citizens think about-and respond to-the power and influence of the police. They focus on self-legitimacy, that is how officers think about the 'rightfulness of their authority' and how they 'justify their own assertions of power' (p. 5), judgements that are partially founded in organizational support and public approval and which produce, in turn, a sense of authority.…”
The excellent target article raises much food for thought. In this commentary we first discuss what is included in their proposed category of ‘positive evaluations and responses to police assertions of power to attempt social influence’. We then consider some of the implications of the concentric diagram for our understanding of police authority and power.
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