Determinants of Non-Natives' Confidence in the Police

Abstract

In this paper I test what contribution (aspects of) social capital theory, performance theory and the procedural justice-based model can make towards explaining ethnic minorities’ confidence in the police. The central question is what determining factors account for their level of confidence in the police. To answer this question, I conduct regression analysis of quantitative data collected from minority group members living in Belgium (456 face-to-face interviews). The results suggest that feelings of insecurity and perceptions of discrimination have a large share in accounting for ethnic minorities’ confidence in the police.