Police procedural justice and adolescents’ internalization of the law: Integrating self‐determination theory into legal socialization research

2021/03/15 by Stijn Van Petegem, Rick Trinkner, Jolene van der Kaap‐Deeder +2 · 30 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Compliance (psychology) #Conformity #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Economic Justice #Epistemology #Internalization #Law #Legal psychology #Obligation #Operationalization #Policing Practices and Perceptions #Political science #Procedural justice #Psychology #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social psychology #Socialization #Vignette

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/josi.12425

published in Journal of Social Issues 77(2), 336-366 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2021/03/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Abstract The procedural justice model is a common framework for understanding how and why fair procedures conveyed by legal authorities (such as police officers) shape the legal socialization process. The present contribution draws upon self‐determination theory (SDT) to advance the procedural justice model through its focus on internalization, in terms of identification and external regulation. Study 1 is a questionnaire‐based study conducted among 268 Belgian adolescents that provides initial evidence for the incremental value of the SDT‐based operationalization of internalization, above and beyond the classic operationalization (i.e., obligation to obey), for explaining why perceived procedural justice is linked to more compliance and less defiance. These results are corroborated in Study 2, which involves an experimental, vignette‐based study ( N = 210) contrasting a procedurally just versus unjust situation. The discussion focuses on how SDT may inform the legal socialization literature.

Citations

• Viewing Things Differently: The Dimensions of Public Perceptions of Police Legitimacy
• Facilitating Internalization: The Self‐Determination Theory Perspective
• Psychological Needs and the Facilitation of Integrative Processes
• Why do People Comply with the Law?: Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions
• Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.

Cited by

• Evaluating the causal mechanisms from procedural justice to police legitimacy and compliance in the United States: An in‐depth mixed‐methods approach
• Framing adolescent sexting: How media discourses influence parents’ attitudes and practices towards sexting
• How the Stringency of the COVID-19 Restrictions Influences Motivation for Adherence and Well-Being: The Critical Role of Proportionality. [europepmc]
• Autonomy over authority: the role of autonomous motivation in law compliance. [europepmc]

Related

• Putting the “social” back in legal socialization: Procedural justice, legitimacy, and cynicism in legal and nonlegal authorities.
• Learning About the Binding Nature of the Law: Police Violence, Criminal Offending and Adolescent Legal Socialization
• Why do people cooperate with the police and criminal courts? A test of procedural justice theory in 30 countries
• The (ir)relevance of procedural justice in the pathways to crime.
• Testing the Effects of Procedural Justice and Overaccommodation in Traffic Stops