Explaining majority and minority group members’ confidence in the police

Abstract

This paper tests the contribution that social capital theory, performance theory and the procedural justice-based model can make towards explaining the trust of majority and minority group members in the police. To assess the impact of suggested determinants, we carry out regression analyses on data collected from majority and minority group members living in Flemish Belgium. Although the three theories offer explanatory elements for members of both majority and minority groups, the explanation of their trust in the police is not identical. Bonding social capital has a positive impact among majority group members, while among minority group members it has a negative effect. Personal experiences of discrimination have a more profound impact on the trust of minority group members. Among majority group members the police lose the trust not only of those who allege that they are more strict for the majority group, but also of those who think that they are more strict for minority groups.