London School of Economics and Political Science
Mannheim Centre for the Study of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Abstract: Motivating Cooperation: A Comparative Cross-National Analysis of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy

This program of research uses observational and experimental methods to focus on the clarification and elaboration of key concepts at the intersection of criminology and psychology – such as the psychological mechanisms of the motivation to cooperate with institutions – often in the context of comparative research. Topics addressed in this program include procedural justice and legitimacy. Specifically, do people trust their justice systems? Do they believe that the police and criminal courts have the right to hold power and influence? This program of research also addresses risk perception and fear of crime. For instance, how do people make sense of the threat of criminal victimization? What are the psychological processes generating and sustaining emotional responses and appraisals? Finally, the program focuses on methodological issues in the study of trust. Many constructs in the social sciences are not directly observable. In this research, trust concepts are treated as collective properties defined by their empirical indicants; the measures used provide common and shared understandings of the concepts. The current paper addresses, among other things, whether a comparative, cross-national analysis of perceived procedural justice and perceived institutional legitimacy can further our understanding of how institutional trust relates to cooperation and compliance.

Biographical Sketch:

Jonathan Jackson is Associate Professor of Research Methodology and Head of the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics & Political Science. His research has three complementary strands. The first centres on procedural justice and legitimacy in the context of criminal justice. The second centres on risk perception and fear of crime. The third strand is methodological. His work focuses on the clarification and elaboration of key concepts at the intersection of criminology and psychology, often in the context of comparative research. For instance, he is currently working with European Social Survey data to utilise new definitions of trust in justice and the legitimacy of legal authorities.




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