Examining the direct and conditional relationships between dimensions of social exclusion, procedural justice, and police legitimacy in Europe

Perceptions of procedural justice and legitimacy are important for cooperation, trust, and confidence in the police. However, how individuals form their procedural justice judgments varies and remains unclear. Group membership and feelings of belonging are important aspects of social life, which can in turn influence attitudes and perceptions of fairness. Presumably also the perceptions of the police. The current paper uses the European Social Survey (wave 5) to investigate the role of social exclusion on procedural justice perceptions and in turn police legitimacy in 27 European countries (N = 41,696). The results show that socially excluded citizens perceive the police to be more procedurally unjust, and that procedural justice positively influences police legitimacy. The results contradict the group value model and social bond theory, which state that the relationship between procedural justice and police legitimacy is weaker for socially excluded citizens. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of social exclusion, and especially perceived discrimination, on perceived police fairness and its association with broader perceptions of the police, such as police legitimacy.