Attitudes and Marginalization: Examining American Indian Perceptions of Law Enforcement Among Adolescents

Abstract

This article examines minority youth perceptions of and attitudes toward the police, with particular attention given to American Indian youth. Using data gathered from the national evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training program, we included a sample of 5,477 eighth-grade students across 11 U.S. cities in analyses. Results indicated a strong negative correlation between American Indian youth and perceptions of the police. Controlling for perceived neighborhood safety and socioeconomic status increased the magnitude of these negative perceptions. We conclude by discussing possible explanations as to why American Indian youth hold negative perceptions of police and directions for future research.

KEYTERMS:

• Police
• American Indians
• attitudes toward the police
• attitudes
• juveniles

Notes

¹Indian country is a statutory term that includes all lands within an Indian reservation, dependent Indian communities, and Indian trust allotments (18 U.S.C. §1151; Minton, 2011).

²Wakeling et al. (2001) used the term Native American; however, for consistency we use the term American Indian.

³Level of reported delinquency was measured using a four-item scale that tapped into the individual's involvement in delinquent acts, such as “ever not paid for things,” “ever destroyed property,” “ever stole <$50,” and “ever hit someone.” Responses included no, yes, or no answer. Higher scores represented a higher level of individual delinquency.

⁴Level of victimization was measured using a three-item scale that tapped into an individual's self-reported victimization, such as “ever been attacked,” “ever had something stolen from you,” and “ever been robbed.” Responses ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Higher scores indicated a higher level of experienced victimization.

⁵Prosocial peers was measured using a six-item scale consisting of questions related to friends of the respondent. Questions tapped into peers’ involvement in school and community activities, such as “number of friends involved in community activities,” “number of friends involved in school activities,” “number of friends involved in religious activities,” and so on. Responses included none of them, few of them, half of them, most of them, all of them. Higher numbers represented having more prosocial peers.

⁶Delinquent peers was measured using a four-item scale that tapped into an individuals’ friends’ level of delinquency, such as “friends lie to adults,” “friends destroy property,” and so on. Higher numbers represented more delinquent peers.

⁷Commitment to delinquent peers was measured using a three-item scale including “If your friends were in trouble at home/school/with police, how likely are you to hang out?” Responses ranged from not at all likely to very likely. Higher scores indicated a higher commitment to delinquent peers.

⁸Safety was measured using responses to (a) “I feel safe at my school” and (b) “I feel safe in the neighborhood around my school.” Response categories for these items ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Higher scores indicated a higher level of perceived safety.

⁹Self-esteem was measured using a six-item scale including “I’m a useful person,” “I’m a person of worth,” “Feel good about myself,” and so on. Responses ranged from almost never to almost always. Higher scores indicated a higher level of perceived self-esteem.

¹⁰Racial identity was measured using a four-item scale. Questions used reflected on an individual's satisfaction with his or her own race, and two were reverse coded. Responses to “I have a sense of belonging to an ethnic group,” “I feel good about my ethnic background,” “I don't have a sense of belonging to my ethnic group,” and “I want to be a different ethnicity” ranged from I strongly disagree to I strongly agree, with higher scores indicating a higher level of racial identity.

¹¹Blacks report the lowest mean perceived safety within the community.