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Abstract
A popular model of legal socialization contends that interactions with authority figures impact the internalization of pro-social values and beliefs, including authority legitimacy. Simultaneously, subcultural theories, including the code of the street, emphasize that negative contextual and experiential factors promote subcultural beliefs. The current study examines whether legal socialization processes are associated with the development of subcultural beliefs. Using longitudinal data from approximately 1,200 adolescent male offenders, we examined whether social experiences and contextual characteristics influence the development of individual beliefs in the code of the street through police legitimacy and legal cynicism. Consistent with theoretical expectations, the effects of deleterious neighborhood characteristics and negative interactions with authority figures were associated with beliefs in the code of the street through diminished police legitimacy and higher levels of cynicism toward the law. These findings provide evidence of the relevance of legal socialization processes for the development of subcultural norms.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the many individuals responsible for the data collection and preparation. This project is based on analysis of data collected as part of the Crossroads Study, a longitudinal study that was developed for multiple projects (e.g., Beardslee et al., Citation2019; Fine et al., Citation2017). None of the analyses in the current article appear in other publications. Results from this project have not been disseminated at any academic conferences.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Author contributions
The first three authors contributed equally to the manuscript and are presented in alphabetical order.
Notes
1 Stewart and Simons (Citation2006, Citation2010) developed a 7-item street code measure. While this longitudinal study did not include that exact measure, the items map on quite well. For instance, their items pertaining to “getting even” (“If someone uses violence against you, it is important that you use violence against him or her to get even.”) align very well with ours (“If someone tries to hurt me, I make sure I get even with them.”). Similarly, their item about “escalation in response to disrespect” (“When someone disrespects you, it is important that you use physical force or aggression to teach him or her not to disrespect you.”) aligns with ours (“When someone threatens me, I end up getting into a fight.” “I have gotten into fights, even over the small insults from others.”). Burgason and colleagues (2020) also created a similar measure using pre-existing items from the MAYSI-2.
2 The low alpha is consistent with studies of other youthful offender samples (Ameri et al, Citation2019; Fine & Cauffman, Citation2015; Gifford & Reisig, Citation2019). We revisit this consideration in the discussion section.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Adam Fine
Adam D. Fine is an assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. He received his doctorate, specializing in developmental psychology and quantitative methods, from the University of California, Irvine.
Richard K. Moule
Richard K. Moule Jr., PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. He earned his PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. His research interests include criminological theory, health and human development, and the role of technology in social life. His recent research has appeared in outlets such as Journal of Criminal Justice, Law and Society Review, and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.
Rick Trinkner
Rick Trinkner is an assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Broadly speaking, his research seeks to understand why people follow rules and defer to authority and how regulatory agencies can best foster support from those they serve. Much of this work focuses on how people, particularly young adults, are socialized into rule-based institutions and how this process shapes their views on the legitimacy of authority, their acquisition of legal values and attitudes, and their engagement in behavior governed by formal codes of conduct.
Paul J. Frick
Paul J. Frick is the Roy Crumpler Memorial Chair of the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, and a Professor at the Learning Sciences Institute of Australia at the Australian Catholic University. His research investigates the many interacting causal factors that can lead children and adolescents to have serious emotional and behavioral problems.
Laurence Steinberg
Laurence Steinberg is the Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, and a Distinguished Scientist at King Abdulaziz University. An internationally recognized expert on psychological development during adolescence, Dr. Steinberg’s research has focused on a range of topics in the study of contemporary adolescence, including adolescent brain development, risk-taking and decision-making, parent–adolescent relationships, school-year employment, high school reform, and juvenile justice.
Elizabeth Cauffman
Elizabeth Cauffman is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Science in the School of Social Ecology and holds courtesy appointments in the School of Education and the School of Law. At the broadest level, Dr. Cauffman’s research addresses the intersect between adolescent development and juvenile justice. She has published over 100 articles, chapters, and books on a range of topics in the study of contemporary adolescence, including adolescent brain development, risk-taking and decision-making, parent-adolescent relationships, and juvenile justice.