Fairness in policing: how does internal procedural justice translate to external procedural justice?

Abstract

A growing body of research has shown the experience of fair treatment within police organizations (internal procedural justice) leads to a greater willingness among police officers to treat members of the public fairly (external procedural justice). Despite recent scholarship in this area, the associations between internal and external procedural justice, and the intervening mechanisms at play, are still not well understood. Using survey data from new police officers in England and Wales, we test the direct association between internal and external procedural justice, and indirect connections through self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and well-being. Self-efficacy, but not job satisfaction or well-being, was found to partially mediate the relationship between internal and external procedural justice. In other words, perceived internal procedural justice promoted external procedural justice through (in part) cultivating greater confidence in officers’ abilities to perform their job effectively.