Police Contact, Procedural Injustice, and Drug Use

Drawing on general strain theory, this article explores whether young people’s perceptions of procedural injustice in their interactions with police, as well as their economic dissatisfaction, are associated with drug use. We examine whether levels of police contact increase the likelihood of percep...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice 2020, Vol.62 (1), p.1-25
Main Authors: Baron, Stephen W, Macdonald, Scott
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cynicism
Discontent
Drug abuse
Drug use
Drugs
Homeless people
Injustice
Justice
Peers
Perceptions
Police
Police-Citizen interactions
Procedural justice
Social support
Strain theory
Youth
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Drawing on general strain theory, this article explores whether young people’s perceptions of procedural injustice in their interactions with police, as well as their economic dissatisfaction, are associated with drug use. We examine whether levels of police contact increase the likelihood of perceptions of procedural injustice, and if the relationships between procedural injustice and drug use as well as economic dissatisfaction and drug use are influenced by associations with drug-using peers, legal cynicism, and levels of social support. Using a sample of 449 individuals aged 16–30 years in three Canadian cities, the findings suggest that police contact has a direct relationship with drug use, but it also has an indirect relationship mediated by procedural injustice. Further, economic dissatisfaction, homelessness, legal cynicism, and drug-using peers are also associated with greater drug use. The relationships between procedural injustice and drug use and economic dissatisfaction and drug use are stronger at lower levels of social support. Findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.
ISSN:1707-7753
1911-0219
DOI:10.3138/cjccj.2019-0028