Race, Ethnicity, Justice, and Self-Regulating Beliefs among a Sample of Justice-Involved Men and Women

Abstract

Drawing on elements from the process-based model of policing, intersectionality, critical race perspectives, and comparative conflict theory, the study explores the pathways by which racial and ethnic identity influence self-regulating beliefs among justice-involved individuals. Given that people of color within this group are acutely aware of criminal justice system oppression and inequalities and have likely internalized negative expectations as part of their identity, we consider whether procedural justice perceptions of the police and courts mediate the relationship between racial and ethnic identity and obedience to the law. Relying upon data from a sample of men and women incarcerated in Florida, the findings reveal a negative, indirect relationship between race and self-regulating beliefs, such that Black individuals perceive the police as less procedurally just, which spills over onto perceptions of court procedural justice, and ultimately decreases the willingness to obey. A similar relationship is not found for Hispanic individuals.