What predicts university students’ compliance with the law: Perceived legitimacy or dull compulsion?

Abstract

Studies on police legitimacy, particularly from the developed western societies have shown that compliance with the law is primarily shaped by feelings that laws and legal authorities are legitimate and should be obeyed. However, we are unsure whether such findings would be consistent if tested among university students in a transitional society like South Africa where police-students relationship is driven by conflict, and where police misconduct is relatively high. That is, do university students comply with the law in South Africa because they perceived the police as legitimate or due to feelings of pervasive helplessness or what scholars refer to as 'dull compulsion". This article explores the exact factor that shapes compliance with the law among South African university students. Findings indicate that police effectiveness, predatory policing and experience of police abuse predicted voluntary compliance with the law among university students. Additionally,

Perception of Correctional Officers’ Legitimacy in South African Correctional Centers

“…The legitimacy of correctional officers, therefore, is what nurtures in offenders the belief that correctional officers are authority figures and should be obeyed and respected (Bello & Matshaba, 2022a;Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012;Steiner & Wooldredge, 2015;Tankebe, 2013;Tyler, 2006). Research maintains that the perceived legitimacy of correctional officers is critical for order and safety in corrections (Bello & Matshaba, 2023;Hacin & Mesˇko, 2018).…”

“…The importance of correctional officers’ legitimacy to offenders’ compliance and cooperation is an important area of research considering the regular contact between offenders and correctional officers (Bello & Matshaba, 2023; Franke et al, 2010; Hacin, 2018). Aptly defined by Sunshine and Tyler (2003) as the “property of an authority or institution that leads people to feel that that authority or institution is entitled to be deferred to and obeyed.” (p. 514), legitimacy is critical to the effectiveness of legal institutions.…”

“…Judgment about the legitimacy of correctional officers is instrumental to offenders’ compliance with correctional rules (Franke et al, 2010; Meško & Hacin, 2019, Steiner & Wooldredge, 2018). If incarcerated offenders consider correctional officers legitimate, they are more likely to defer to them and comply with correctional rules, ahead of their personal interests (Bello & Matshaba, 2022a, 2023; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2015; Tankebe, 2013). Beyond offenders’ interests, deference to correctional officers and custodial rules is also instrumental to promoting offender well-being, safety, and institutional effectiveness (Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2015).…”

Exploring Festac Town, Lagos Residents’ Observations on Crime and the Influx of Unskilled Migrants from Northern Nigeria and other Illegal Migrants from Sahel Region

“…This phenomenon is different from a civil wrong (a tort), which is an action against an individual that requires compensation or restitution. Therefore, citizens' confidence in the police is a fundamental requirement for effective policing in modern societies (Bello & Johannes, 2020).…”