Young people and the formation of attitudes towards the police

Abstract

Much is now known about public trust and confidence in the police, especially regarding the important role of procedural justice in police–citizen engagements. However, less is known about perceptions of the police amongst young people and how their views are formed. We use survey data from more than 1500 young people aged 10–15 years whose parents were also interviewed in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2010–12) to explore the extent that children’s views of the police correspond with those of their parents. We find a strong and consistent link between the views of children and their parents – a relationship moderated by perceptions of police visibility, experience of victimization and the age of the child.