News

Police & Young People

 

It comes as no surprise that young people due to their visibility and use of public spaces interact with police on a regular basis. More so than other age groups. 

However, research into police interactions with young people reveals that police may be having a detrimental effect on our next future leaders.

 

1. More offending

 

For instance, research suggest young people who come into contact on a regular basis with police are more likely to re-offend.

As stop and searches on young people can result in a lack of trust of police, which may increase the likelihood of offending amongst youths.  Researchers in the United Kingdom (UK) examined young people’s experiences of stop-and-search in two Scottish and two English cities, and tested the relationship between these experiences, their trust in the police, their perceptions of police legitimacy and their compliance with the law.  

The findings suggested that stop-and-search may damage trust in the police and perceptions of police legitimacy, regardless of the volume of police stop-and-search, and this may result in increased offending behaviour among the youths that were stopped and searched.[1]

 

2. Changes in attitude

 

Another research study also revealed the more police-initiated encounters with young people, the younger people are likely to experience an unwillingness to report crime, have a more positive attitudes towards the use of personal violence, and experience more feelings of procedural injustice leading to increase delinquency conduct among youths.[2]

The research also went on to reveal that experiences with the police also have implications for how people handle conflicts and threats to their safety. As perceived mistreatment by the police may lead people to believe that they cannot turn to the law or other authorities for assistance and instead must be responsible for their own safety.

In this scenario, retaliation becomes an acceptable manner of responding to victimization and violence is viewed as a way to gain respect and prevent future attacks.

Since, when young people are dissatisfied with how the police have treated them, it can push them to adopt norms that allow the use of violence in some circumstances because they are reluctant to seek out the help of law enforcement.[3]

 

3. Adverse effects & the labelling theory

 

Another study found more detrimental effects. In that the more police-initiated encounters with youths the more it can lead to an adverse change in the short-term criminogenic life of a young person.[4]

This study findings supports the labelling theory rationale which holds that negative effects can arise from labelling, such that the person labelled takes on the role prescribed in the label.  

AND once the person has been labelled, he or she is treated differently, from those who may engage in the same behaviour but are not labelled. This general process can be represented as follows: -

1. Negative labelling
2. Stigmatisation
3. New identity formed in response to negative labelling
4. Commitment to new identity based on available roles and relationships

Labelling is usually seen to produce negative consequences as young people have a propensity to change their identity to fit the label. As the stigma sticks, and it affects how others see them, as well as how they perceive themselves. The effect of labelling also produces a need to seek out to find comfort in the company of others who have likewise been cast as outsiders (or labelled the same way).

Thus, it creates impetus for similarly labelled people to associate with each other ie: delinquent or criminal subcultures. Plus, with young people in particular the stigmatisation of official criminal justice intervention may well propel them into criminal career for activity that for most people is generally transitory in nature. [5]

 

4. Reduction in academic scores

 

Another study revealed that even school performance and academic results are adversely affected when young people interact with police.[6]

To demonstrate, across the United States (US) and in response to rising crime rates, police departments around the US implemented aggressive policing strategies and tactics often inspired by the broken-windows theory.[7]

A study of measuring the effects of the police strategy presented the first causal evidence of the impact of aggressive policing on minority youths’ educational performance.

The study found …aggressive policing might negatively influence educational outcomes due to direct and indirect confrontations with the police. Direct police contact, such as pedestrian stops, police harassment, or arrests, can erode trust in state institutions, lead to system avoidance, and induce stress or other health problems, which in turn reduce educational performance …Police contact can also hinder children’s educational performance through negative health consequences related to stress, fear, trauma, and anxiety.[8]

.. These findings should encourage police reformers, along with legislators, and researchers to consider the broader implications and social costs of policing strategies and tactics.

 

5. Mental health

 

Another adversity of police contact with young people is the mental health consequences.

A study in the US highlighted the heighten level of stress and anxiety experienced. Even though the sample was of young men aged 18-26yrs it is relevant to the mental health experience of young people and police.[9]

Of Course, police are not entirely in control of how youth perceive their interactions. AND there are times when police involvement is necessary.

Nevertheless, alternative way to accomplish this task should be policy driven. And a paradigm shift in how police interact with youth should be the key focus.

Shifting the focused from arrest and deterrence to connecting youth to the resources they require and avoiding negative interactions. Diversion programs are one way to achieve this goal.[10]