Exploring determinants of citizen satisfaction levels with the police: The role of strain

Frank V. Ferdik1

1Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of West Florida, fferdik@uwf.edu

 

Citizen satisfaction with law enforcement can greatly influence crime levels and even police officer job effectiveness. Copious research to date has explored predictors of citizen satisfaction with the police, and while this research is informative, currently no study has examined the influence of individual strain levels in predicting this outcome. Questionnaire data collected from a convenience sample of university students (N = 623) were used to examine whether strain statistically significantly predicted citizen satisfaction with the police. After controlling for important variables such as race and procedural justice, strain negatively correlated with police satisfaction. Policy implications are discussed.


Biography

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