Media Influence on College Students' Perceptions of the Police
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University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations Summer 2019 Media Influence on College Students' Perceptions of the Police Matilda Foster Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Foster, M.(2019). Media Influence on College Students' erP ceptions of the Police. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5336 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MEDIA INFLUENCE ON COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE POLICE by Matilda Foster Bachelor of Arts North Georgia College and State University, 2006 Master of Public Administration North Georgia College and State University, 2007 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2019 Accepted by: Robert J. Kaminski, Major Professor Robert Brame, Committee Member Scott Wolfe, Committee Member Eric Jefferis, Committee Member Cheryl L. Addy, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School © Copyright by Matilda Foster, 2019 All Rights Reserved. ii DEDICATION For John-Mark. You are my world. Thanks, Buddy. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The number of people who have helped make this dissertation possible is too numerous to count. First and foremost, I must thank my family, who have fully supported and put up with me during my time in graduate school and in life in general. I would also not be here without the love and support from many friends, who have become family over the years. I have also been blessed with many teachers and educators over the years who helped me believe in my educational abilities, despite having a learning disability. During my time at the University of South Carolina, the entire Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice have been nothing but supportive and accommodating. However, I must give special recognition to Robert Brame, who was willing to serve on my committee his first semester in the program; Scott Wolfe, who was willing to stay on my committee despite leaving the department; Eric Jefferis, who’s work on Easton’s theory of support for political institutions inspired this project; and last, but not least, I need to give special recognition to Robert Kaminski for his continuous support and guidance, not only during this project but throughout my entire time at the University of South Carolina. Without him, I would not be where I am today. iv ABSTRACT The first of Sir Robert Peel’s nine principles of law enforcement (1829) tells us that the police exist to prevent crime. However, the next six principles address the police’s need to develop a relationship with the public and maintain the publics’ approval, favor, respect, and voluntary cooperation. Although these principles were written in 1829, they still apply to police organizations today. This paper addresses the struggles policing organizations in the United States of America had over the years in maintaining these principles of law enforcement, the strategies the police have used to increase public approval, and factors associated with how the public perceives the police. In keeping with the tradition of the literature on citizens’ perceptions of the police, this paper analyzes and discusses influences on perceptions of the police that relate to specific support for the police. One gap in the literature is that there are few studies examining perceptions of the police using Easton’s (1965) systems theory of support for public institutions and possible ways of cultivating diffuse support, instead of specific support. One possible influence on this type of support is citizens’ vicarious interactions with the police, via media consumption. To address this gap in the literature, a survey asking respondents questions regarding their perceptions of the police, consumption of different media outlets, and other factors that have been shown to influence perceptions of the police was administered to undergraduate criminal justice majors at two state universities (N = 782). Ordinary least squares regression (OLS) and ordered logistic regression (OLR) models were used to analyze the influence of media consumption on respondents’ perceptions of the police. Results of the OLR models found v that levels of media consumption were significantly related to changes in perceptions of the police in their community, but not when asked questions about the police in general. Results of the OLS models indicated that consumption levels of different types of media outlets (TV entertainment, Internet entertainment or traditional news) did not significantly influence how a respondent perceived the police vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Abstract .............................................................................................................................. v List of Tables .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Theoretical Frameworks of Citizens’ Perceptions of the Police ............. 16 Chapter 3: Influences on Citizens’ Perceptions of the Police ..................................... 41 Chapter 4: Data and Methods ....................................................................................... 62 Chapter 5: Results........................................................................................................... 75 Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion ....................................................................... 100 Reference ....................................................................................................................... 112 Appendix A: Survey Instrument ................................................................................. 150 Appendix B: Description of Variables ........................................................................ 163 Appendix C: Regression Models.................................................................................. 167 Appendix D: Multicollinearity Test ............................................................................ 223 Appendix E: Categorical Principal Components Analysis ....................................... 236 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Police-Citizen Contacts..................................................................................... 25 Table 5.1 Frequency Table for Sample Description ......................................................... 76 Table 5.2 Frequency Table for Perceptions of the Police Index ....................................... 97 Table C.1 Linear Regression model for situational variables predicting overall levels of trust and confidence in the Police………………………………………………………167 Table C.2 Linear Regression model for different media platforms influence on overall levels of trust and confidence in the police ..................................................................... 168 Table C.3 Linear Regression model for different media outlets’ influence on overall levels of trust and confidence in the police ..................................................................... 169 Table C.4 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Helpful" .................. 172 Table C.5 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Safer” ..................... 177 Table C.6 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Avoid” .................... 182 Table C.7 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Directions” ............. 187 Table C.8 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Community Problems” .................................................................................................. 192 Table C.9 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Good Job” .............. 197 Table C.10 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Respond” .............. 200 Table C.11 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Solve Crime” ........ 205 Table C.12 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Speeding” ............. 210 viii Table C.13 Ordered Logistic Regression with dependent variable “Drinking” ............. 215 Table C.14 Ordered Logistic Regression with “Trust & Confidence” predicting rating of the vignette “Speeding” .................................................................................................. 221 Table C.15 Ordered Logistic Regression with “Trust & Confidence” predicting rating of the vignette “Drinking” ................................................................................................... 222 Table C.16 Ordered Logistic Regression with “Trust & Confidence” predicting rating of the vignette “Ticket” ....................................................................................................... 222 Table D.1 Variance Inflation Factor Table ..................................................................... 223