Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Perceptions of Incarcerated Youth About Police Violence and Legitimacy in Trinidad and Tobago

  • Published:
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study was focused on the youth’s perceptions in Trinidad and Tobago, a developing Caribbean nation. It describes their personal experiences with and perceptions of police misbehavior or excessive use of force on juveniles and young adults held in the two reformatory institutions, as well as in the country’s only juvenile facility. The main objective of the present empirical research was to explore the diachronic conceptual relationship between violence and the levels of police legitimacy as perceived or experienced by the youth from 13 to 23 years old. Short questionnaires were used to capture the youth’s opinions on institutional violence, a distinct and long-lasting phenomenon in the region. Multivariate analyses of the quantitative data also examined the role of trust as an influencing factor for police legitimacy (and legitimation), being previously evaluated in terms of efficiency and equality. Although most of the research participants had a bad impression about the police, overall, whether the police operations were efficient or their procedures fair had no impact or influence on the particular sample’s levels of trust and general perceptions of the TTPS. Finally, recommendations on changes in the police’s administrative procedures were made along with a shift in organizational culture, and the promotion of community policing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Currently, the duration of the basic training program of the Police Academy in Trinidad and Tobago is short (6 months) compared to its European counterparts, which spans over 3 to 4 years.

  2. See below for relevant information regarding the TT Police Complaints Authority.

  3. It was practically impossible to calculate with accuracy the number of complaints sent to the PCA according to age because in the 2011 and 2012 reports, the corresponding age group was divided into two categories: “0–20 years” and “20–30 years,” then in the 2013 and 2014 reports, the age classification changed into three categories: “under 18 years,” “18–25 years,”and “25–30 years,” while in the 2015 report, the same division now had four categories: “under 16 years,” “16–20 years,” “20–25 years,” and “25–30 years.”

  4. From those 2139 filed complaints, the 1279 were still under active investigation, the 254 were sent before the Court, and the 606 were completed (PCA 2015).

  5. From 54 complaints in 2011 to 89 in 2012, followed by 95 complaints in 2013, dropping to 85 in 2014, and increasing again to 89 in 2015.

  6. The Supplemental Police Act 15:02 of 1906, which was amended in 1993

  7. Although both Homes and the YTC are obliged to transfer all juveniles to the adult prison on their 18th birthday for any remaining sentence, at the time of my visits, both institutions were hosting few young adults who were beyond that age. The reason was fairly legitimate: the YTC staff had decided to withhold all those juveniles who had served the majority of their sentence in St. Michael’s or in YTC deeming that if they were sent to the adult prison, all rehabilitative efforts made during their time in those institutions would have gone down the drain.

  8. Although the vast majority of the young participants were Afro-Trinidadians [the ethnic group bearing disproportionately the burden of the recent escalation of violent crime in T&T (Townsend 2009)], ethnicity was deliberately omitted as a demographic variable based on a previous study indicating no significant differences in perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy among different ethnic groups (Nuño 2018).

  9. Or “Unfair”/“Inefficient”/“Never” to “Fair”/“Efficient”/“Always”

  10. A reliability coefficient of .70 or higher is considered “acceptable” in most social science research situations.

  11. The “n” shows the total number of valid cases.

  12. All percentages mentioned in the analysis are valid percentages (VP).

  13. The number 13 reflects the minimum age of the respondents and not the minimum age at which a child can be sent to a reformatory school, which is 11 years old.

  14. Only p values under .05 are considered to be statistically significant.

  15. Trinidad & Tobago Police Service

  16. This question was treated as “multiple response” with a total percent of cases: 233.3%.

  17. Such as being injured or beaten up

  18. In a way that is experienced in the imagination through the actions of another person

References

  • Akinlabi OM (2015) Young people, procedural justice and police legitimacy in Nigeria. Policy and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy 27:419–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akinlabi OM, Murphy K (2018) Dull compulsion or perceived legitimacy? Assessing why people comply with the law in Nigeria. Police Pract Res Int J 19:186–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amnesty International (2006) Trinidad and Tobago: end police immunity for unlawful killings and deaths in custody. Retrieved from: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR49/001/2006/en. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Amnesty International (2017/2018) The state of the world’s human rights. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1067002018ENGLISH.PDF. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Anyanwu D (2012) The state of private security companies in Trinidad and Tobago: towards the development of a governance system. AJCJS 6:45–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett R (1997) Excessive force: a comparative study of police in the Caribbean. Justice Q 14:651–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop ML (2013) Private security companies in the Caribbean: case studies of St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. The University of West Indies and Project Ploughshares. Pandora Print, Kitchener

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop ML, Montoute A (2017) Private security in the Caribbean. In: Izarali R (ed) Crime, violence and security in the Caribbean. Routledge Publishing, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bottoms A, Tankebe J (2012) Beyond procedural justice: a dialogic approach to legitimacy in criminal justice. J Crim Law Criminol 102:119–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford B, Huq A, Jackson J, Roberts B (2014) What price fairness when security is at stake? Police legitimacy in South Africa. Regulation and Governance 8:246–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandt DE, Marcus KA (2000) Adolescent attitudes toward the police: a new generation. J Police Crim Psychol 15:10–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buttle J (2010) Officer safety and public safety: training the police to use force. In: Kuhns J, Knuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmona ATA (2016) Address: opening of the police complaints authority’s conference. Port-of-Spain: 16 March

  • Citizen Security Programme (2015) National Crime & Victimization Survey: final report. Ministry of National Security, Trinidad & Tobago

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark JP, Wenninger EP (1964) The attitudes of juveniles toward the legal institution. J Crim Law Criminol Police Sci 55:482–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coicaud JM (2002) Legitimacy and politics: contribution to the study of political right and political responsibility. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Crichlow VJ (2013) Trinidad and Tobago. In: Nalla MK, Newman G (eds) Community policing in indigenous communities. CRC Press-Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Cristi M (2012) Durkheim on moral individualism, social justice, and rights: a gendered construction of rights. Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers Canadiens de Sociologie 37:409–438

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis R (2000) The use of citizen surveys as a tool for police reform. Vera Institute of Justice, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Deosaran R (2002) Community policing in the Caribbean: context, community and police capability. Policing 25:125–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duntzker ML, Hunter RD (2012) Research methods for criminology and criminal justice, 3rd edn. Jones and Bartlett Learning, Sudbury

    Google Scholar 

  • Egharevba S (2017) Policy brutality, racial profiling, and discrimination in the criminal justice system. IGI Global, Hershey

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fagan J, Tyler TR (2005) Legal socialization of children and adolescents. Soc Justice Res 18:217–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine A, Cavanagh C, Donley S, Frick PJ, Steinberg L, Cauffman E (2017) Is the effect of justice system attitudes on recidivism stable after youth’s first arrest? Race and legal socialization among first-time youth offenders. Law Hum Behav 2:146–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan T, Vaughn M (1996) Public opinion about police abuse of force. In: Geller W, Toch H (eds) Police violence: understanding and controlling police abuse of force. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1930/2010). Civilization and its discontents. Eastford: Martino Fine Books

  • Geistman J, Smith BW (2007) Juvenile attitudes toward police: a national study. J Crime Justice 30:27–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glebbeek ML (2010) Mano Dura: fighting crime, violence and insecurity with an iron fist in Central America. In: Kuhns J, Knutsson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Praeger Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomes C (2007) Police accountability in the Caribbean: where are the people?. Paper presented at the workshop on police accountability at the Civicus World Assembly. Glasgow: May 23–27

  • Greene JR, Mouhanna C, Taheri SA, Jones DS (2016) Improving police legitimacy by measuring all that matters: reflections from the United States and France. In: Deflem M (ed) The politics of policing: between force and legitimacy, vol 21. Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley

    Google Scholar 

  • Guarino-Ghezzi S, Carr B (1996) Juvenile offenders versus the police: a community dilemma. Caribb J Criminol Soc Psychol 1:24–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Harriott A (2000) Police and crime control in Jamaica: problems of reforming ex-colonial constabularies. UWI Press, Barbados

    Google Scholar 

  • Herd I (1999) Legitimacy and authority in international politics. Int Organ 53:379–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinds L (2007) Building police-youth relationships: the importance of procedural justice. Youth Justice 7:195–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman E, Harti B, Gangl K, Harter-Tiefenthaler M, Kirchler E (2017) Authorities’ coercive and legitimate power: the impact on cognitions underlying cooperation. Front Psychol 8:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes MD, Smith BW (2008) Race and police brutality: roots of an urban dilemma. SUNY Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Hough M, Jackson J, Bradford B (2013) Legitimacy, trust and compliance: an empirical test of procedural justice theory using the European Social Survey. In: Tankebe J, Liebling A (eds) Legitimacy and criminal justice: an international exploration. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Huggins M (2010) Systematic police violence in Brazil. In: Kuhns J, Kuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurst YG, Frank J (2000) How kids view cops: the nature of juvenile attitudes toward the police. J Crim Just 28:189–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson J, Trinkner R, Tyler TR (2018) Bounded authority: expanding ‘appropriate’ police behavior beyond procedural justice. Law Hum Behav 42:280 ISSN 0147- 7307

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, King WR, Katz CM, Fox AM, Goulette N (2008) Youth perceptions of the police in Trinidad and Tobago. Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Public Safety 13:217–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, Maguire ER, Kuhns JB (2014) Public perceptions of the legitimacy of the law and legal authorities: evidence from the Caribbean. Law Soc Rev 48:947–978

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaminski R, Adang O (2010) Pepper spray: practice, policy and research. In: Kuhns J, Kutsson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennelly J (2011) Policing young people as citizens-in-waiting: legitimacy, spatiality, and governance. Br J Criminol 51:336–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirton RM, Anatol M, Braithwaite N (2010) The political culture of democracy in Trinidad & Tobago: democracy in action. UWI St. Augustine. Retrieved from: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/trinidad-tobago/2010-political-culture.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Knutsson J, Norée A (2010) Police use of firearms in the Nordic countries: a comparison. In: Kuhns J, Kuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Kochel TR (2017) Legitimacy judgments in neighborhood context: antecedents in “good” vs “bad” neighborhoods. Policing 40:529–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhns J, Knutsson J (2010) Police use of force: a global perspective. Praeger Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhns J, Johnson D, King WR (2011) Resident perceptions of police mistreatment and use of force in a troubled Trinidadian neighborhood. J Crime Justice 34:234–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy KSC (2001) The relationship between adolescent attitudes towards authority, self-concept, and delinquency. Justice Q 15:151–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieber MJ, Nalla MK, Farnworth M (1998) Explaining juveniles’ attitudes toward the police. Justice Q 15:151–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu S, Liu J (2017) Police legitimacy and compliance with the law among Chinese youth. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X17740559

  • Market and Opinion Research International/MORI (2003) Opinion Leaders Panel: Wave 3 Report, Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.opinionleaders.gov.tt/reports. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Market and Opinion Research International/MORI (2005) Opinion Leaders Panel: Wave 5 Report, Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.opinionleaders.gov.tt/reports. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Mastrofski SD, Lum C (2008) Meeting the challenges of police governance in Trinidad and Tobago. Policing 2:481–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthew A (2018) The influence of gender on social capital resources and youth problem behaviour outcomes in Trinidad and Tobago. In: Joosen KJ, Bailay C (eds) Caribbean crime and criminal justice: impacts of post-colonialism and gender. Routledge Publishers, Abington

    Google Scholar 

  • Meško G, Tankebe J (2015) Exploring trust and legitimacy in police (part II). In: Meško G, Tankebe J (eds) Trust and legitimacy in criminal justice: European perspectives. Spinger, London

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Noope J, Verhage A, Van Damme A (2017) Police legitimacy: an introduction. Policing 40:474–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuño L (2018) Hispanics’ perceived procedural justice, legitimacy, and willingness to cooperate with the police. Police Pract Res Int J 19:153–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ottley C (1972) A historical account of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Syncreators, Trinidad and Tobago

    Google Scholar 

  • Overseas Security Advisory Council (2017) Trinidad and Tobago Crime and Safety Report. Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips D (2010) The political economy of school violence in Trinidad: towards a Caribbean theory of youth crime. Retrieved from: https://sta.uwi.edu/nlc/2008/documents/papers/DPhillips.doc. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Piquero AR, Fagan J, Mulvey EP, Steinberg L, Odgers C (2005) Developmental trajectories of legal socialization among serious adolescent offenders. J Crim Law Criminol 96:267–298

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Police Complaints Authority (2011) Annual Report, Trinidad & Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.pca.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PCA-ANNUAL-REPORT-2011.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Police Complaints Authority (2012) Annual Report, Trinidad & Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.pca.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PCA-ANNUAL-REPORT-2012.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Police Complaints Authority (2013) Annual Report, Trinidad & Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.pca.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PCA-ANNUAL-REPORT-2013.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Police Complaints Authority (2014) Annual Report, Trinidad & Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.pca.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PCA-ANNUAL-REPORT-2014.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Police Complaints Authority (2015) Annual Report, Trinidad & Tobago. Retrieved from: http://www.pca.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PCA-ANNUAL-REPORT-2015.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Reisig MD, Lloyd C (2009) Procedural justice, police legitimacy, and helping the police fight crime: results from a survey of Jamaican adolescents. Police Q 12:42–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusinko WT, Johnson KW, Hornung CA (1978) The importance of police contact in the formulation of youth’s attitudes toward the police. J Crim Just 6:53–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan S, Rampersad I, Bernard L, Mohammed P, Thorpe M (2013) No time to quit: engaging youth at risk, executive report of the Committee on Young Males and Crime in Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved from: http://caribbean.cepal.org/content/no-time-quit-engaging-youth-risk. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Sarre R, Langos C (2014) Policing young people; can the notion of police legitimacy play a role?. University of South Australia. Retrieved from: http://search.ror.unisa.edu.au/media/researcharchive/open/9915909838201831/53108613850001831. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Sherman LM (1993) Defiance, deterrence and irrelevance: a theory of the criminal sanction. J Res Crime Delinq 30:445–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogan WG (1994) Contacts between police and public: findings from the 1992 British crime survey. HM Stationery Office, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Skogan WC, Antunes GE (1979) Information, apprehension, and deterrence: exploring the limits of police productivity. J Crim Just 7:217–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunshine J, Tyler TR (2003) The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law Soc Rev 37:513–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tankebe J (2008) Police effectiveness and police trustworthiness in Ghana: an empirical appraisal. Criminol Crim Just 8:185–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tankebe J (2009) Public cooperation with the police in Ghana: does procedural fairness matter? Criminology 47:701–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tankebe J (2013) Viewing things differently: the dimensions of public perceptions of police legitimacy. Criminology 51:103–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tankebe J, Asif M (2016) Police legitimacy and support for vigilante violence in Pakistan. Int J Comp Appl Crim Just 40:343–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2016.1217425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terrill W, Paoline E (2010) Non-lethal force by police: the various lenses through which appropriateness is examined. In: Kuhns J, Kuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Terrill W, Paoline EA, Gau JM (2016) Three pillars of police legitimacy: procedural justice, use of force, and occupational culture. In: Deflem M (ed) The politics of policing: between force and legitimacy, vol 21. Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend D (2009) No other life: gangs, guns, and governance. Small Arms Survey, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Transparency International (2017) People and corruption: Latin America and the Caribbean—the global corruption barometer. Retrieved from: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/global_corruption_barometer_people_and_corruption_latin_america_and_the_car. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  • Tyler TR (2003) Procedural justice, legitimacy, and the effective rule of law. Crime Justice 30:283–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR (2004) Enhancing police legitimacy. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 593:84–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR (2006) Why people obey the law. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR, Huo YJ (2002) Trust in the law: encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. Russell-Sage Foundation, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR, Jackson J (2013a) Future challenges in the study of legitimacy and criminal justice. In: Tankebe J, Justice, Liebling A (eds) Legitimacy and criminal justice: an international exploration. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR, Jackson J (2013b) Popular legitimacy and the exercise of legal authority: motivating compliance, cooperation and engagement. Psychol Public Policy Law 20:78–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler TR, Goff PA, MacCoun RJ (2015) The impact of psychological science on policing in the United States: procedural justice, legitimacy, and effective law enforcement. Psychol Sci Public Interest 16:75–109

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waddington P, Wright M (2010) Police use of guns in unarmed countries: the United Kingdom. In: Kuhns J, Kuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • White M, Ready J (2010) Police use of the TASER in the United States: research, controversies and recommendations. In: Kuhns J, Kuttson J (eds) Police use of force: a global perspective. Prager Security International, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • Woo Y, Maguire ER, Gau JM (2018) Direct and indirect effects of procedural justice on cooperation and compliance: evidence from South Korea. Police Pract Res Int J 19:168–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Nikolaos Stamatakis

Authors
  1. Nikolaos Stamatakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nikolaos Stamatakis.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that he has no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

The research has been granted relevant approval from the UTT Research Ethics Committee, as well as permission to enter the custodial settings for research purposes from the TT Prison Service.

Informed Consent

All participating prisoners were given an informed consent form to sign prior filling in the questionnaire.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stamatakis, N. Perceptions of Incarcerated Youth About Police Violence and Legitimacy in Trinidad and Tobago. J Police Crim Psych 34, 314–329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9309-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9309-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation