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Procedural Justice, Perceived Legitimacy, and Reoffending Behavior: In Police and Court Setting

Matthias van Hall https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9748-8510 [email protected], Anja J. E. Dirkzwager, […], Peter H. Van der Laan, and Paul Nieuwbeerta+1View all authors and affiliations
Volume 50, Issue 12
https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206833

Abstract

Despite the increasing body of procedural justice research studying individuals involved in the criminal justice system, this strand of literature has used different approaches to measure procedural justice and legitimacy. The present study assesses the different theoretical assumptions of these approaches across two criminal justice settings, namely, policing and courts. In addition, we examine how procedural justice stemming from interactions with police officers and judges is related to legitimacy and reoffending behavior postrelease. Using data on adult detainees who entered Dutch pretrial detention centers, our findings support the theoretical assumptions regarding procedural justice and felt obligation to obey the law in both criminal justice settings. Furthermore, path analyses show that perceptions of procedural justice arising from encounters with police officers and judges are related to a higher sense of obligation to obey the law, which in turn is associated with a lower risk of reoffending.

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Biographies

Matthias van Hall, MSc, works as a PhD candidate at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. His research interests include criminal justice–involved individuals’ procedural justice perceptions experienced in encounters with different authorities, and the consequences of those perceptions on legitimacy and reoffending behavior.
Anja J. E. Dirkzwager, PhD, works as a senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. Her research interests include the effects of imprisonment on further life course, the mental and physical health of criminal justice–involved individuals, and the determinants and consequences of a procedural just treatment by criminal justice agencies.
Peter H. van der Laan, PhD, is a professor at the department of Criminal Law and Criminology of Free University Amsterdam and senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. His research interests include the impact of (semi)criminal justice interventions and issues regarding justice-involved youth, individuals on probation, and people convicted for homicide.
Paul Nieuwbeerta, PhD, is a professor at the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology of Leiden University in the Netherlands. His research interests include criminal behavior over the life course, homicide, and the determinants and consequences of imprisonment.

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