Legitimacy, Justice, and Justification of Intergroup Violence Between the Police and Protestors in Chile

Abstract

Why do people justify intergroup violence between police and protesters in social protests? This article examines attitudes towards violence perpetrated by police officers against protesters and violence carried out by protesters against police officers in the context of the post-social outbreak of October 18, 2019 in Chile. We evaluate the role played by the perception of injustice in procedures and treatment of police officers towards protesters, the evaluation of the legitimacy of police officers and group identification with protesters and police officers in predicting the justification of violence towards the police and towards protesters. We present the results of an online non-probabilistic survey on legitimacy and police violence carried out among adults in Chile during January 2021 (n = 2,594). Through a path analysis, we found that the perception of injustice in the procedures through which the police treat protesters is a key factor in predicting the perception of legitimacy of the police. Furthermore, by reducing the legitimacy of the police, the perception of injustice in the procedures and the treatment translates into lower levels of justification of police violence and to greater levels of justification of protestors’ violence. The article finishes by highlighting the importance of considering the perceptions of injustice in procedures and treatment of police officers in order to reduce the conflict between police officers and protesters in Chile