Legal cynicism and the enduring legacy of abusive policing

A free Institute of Criminology talk by Dr Thiago R. Oliveira on how abusive policing breeds legal cynicism and sustains violence, using Chicago data.

Dr Thiago R. Oliveira presents research on how abusive policing fosters cynicism toward legal norms and institutions, contributing to the persistence of violence over time. Drawing on civilian complaints against Chicago Police Department officers from 1991 to 2016, community and longitudinal survey data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, police-recorded crime and U.S. Census data, the talk tests both place-oriented cultural and person-oriented cognitive mechanisms. Findings show that neighbourhood concentrations of abuse complaints predict later violent crime, mediated by cynicism about police, and that adolescent exposure to abusive policing produces lasting cynicism into adulthood. The event is in person with a live stream, and booking is required.