Adrian Cherney

Bio: Adrian Cherney is an academic researcher from University of Queensland. The author has contributed to research in topics: Crime prevention & Procedural justice. The author has an hindex of 26, co-authored 135 publications receiving 2365 citations. Previous affiliations of Adrian Cherney include Australian Research Council & Griffith University.

Understanding Cooperation With Police in a Diverse Society

Abstract: Past research has shown that procedural justice enhances an authority's legitimacy and encourages people to cooperate with them. However, this past research has examined legitimacy by focusing solely on the perceived legitimacy of authorities and has ignored how people may perceive the legitimacy of the laws and rules authorities enforce. This distinction has relevance to the policing of ethnic minority groups who may come from different cultures or countries where distrust in the law and legal institutions is prevalent. Using survey data collected from a random sample of 1,203 Australians, this paper explores how procedural justice and both institutional and legal legitimacy impact on people's willingness to cooperate with police. The findings will be explained using Braithwaite's (2003; 2010) social distancing framework.

Fostering cooperation with the police: How do ethnic minorities in Australia respond to procedural justice-based policing?

Abstract: Public cooperation with police is essential for the control of crime and disorder. Hence, understanding factors that shape public cooperation with the police is important. However, Australian and international studies show that police find it difficult to elicit cooperation from ethnic communities, this made difficult by the fact that ethnic groups display low levels of trust and confidence in the police. This study examines the role that procedural justice plays in fostering minority group perceptions of police legitimacy and their willingness to cooperate with police. Using survey data collected from 1204 Australian citizens, this study tests whether procedurally fair policing can enhance perceptions of police legitimacy and nurture cooperation among ethnic minorities in Australia. Findings reveal that procedural justice predicts views of police legitimacy more so than instrumental factors for both minority and majority group members. The results also suggest that ethnicity moderates the effect of procedural justice on cooperation; specifically, procedural justice is shown to be less effective for nurturing cooperation among ethnic minorities than majority group members. A group identity perspective is used to explain these findings. The findings also have implications for how the police can foster better relationships with ethnically diverse communities.

Ethnicity, trust and cooperation with police: testing the dominance of the process-based model

Abstract: Some scholars question whether procedural justice is the key driver in promoting support for the police across all cultural contexts. In this study we examine the relationship between procedural justice, police performance, trust in the police and the willingness to cooperate with the police, and we compare Vietnamese and Indian ancestral groups with the general population in Australia. We find that procedural justice is less effective in encouraging cooperation with the police among Vietnamese and Indian ancestral groups when compared with a general population group. Procedural justice is also found to be less effective in promoting trust among Vietnamese participants, compared with the general population group. Instead, police performance is found to be more effective in promoting trust in the police among Vietnamese participants. We set out to explain these observed differences and describe why some ethnic minority groups may judge process-based factors to be less important when it comes to trusting the police or being willing to cooperate with the police.

Do Policy Makers Use Academic Research? Reexamining the "Two Communities" Theory of Research Utilization

Abstract: Academics and policy makers in many Western countries are perceived as occupying separate communities, with distinct languages, values, and reward systems. However, data from a survey of more than 2,000 policy officials and 126 in-depth interviews with public servants in Australia suggest that the "two communities" conceptualization may be misleading and flawed. More realistically, there is a range of interaction between policy and academia, with some individuals valuing and using academic research more than others. Furthermore, this relationship is complicated by the internal division between the political and administrative components of the public policy process.

Crime Prevention: Principles, Perspectives and Practices

Abstract: Crime Prevention: Principles, Perspectives and Practices provides a comprehensive, example-based overview of prevention theory and practice. Unlike other books, it argues that contemporary governments can and should embrace crime prevention as a policy alternative to 'law and order' and, unlike most criminologists, the book's authors contend that crime prevention strategies should include both social prevention (programs addressing social causes of delinquency) and environmental prevention (reducing crime by minimising opportunities). After arguing the case for prevention, Crime Prevention: Principles, Perspectives and Practices discusses key approaches and analytical frameworks, and explains theories and techniques of both social and environmental prevention. Other issues discussed include program evaluation; crime prevention in Australia, the United Kingdom, other western European countries and the United States; crime prevention in public places; and crime prevention and public disorder. This book is essential reading for professionals and students in the areas of crime prevention, criminology and sociology.

The culture of control: crime and social order in contemporary, society

Abstract: Nos últimos trinta trinta anos, houve profundas mudanças na forma como compreendemos o crime e a justiça criminal. O crime tornou-se um evento simbólico, um verdadeiro teste para a ordem social e para as políticas governamentais, um desafio para a sociedade civil, para a democracia e para os direitos humanos. Segundo David Garland, professor da Faculdade de Direito da New York University, um dos principais autores no campo da Sociologia da Punição e com artigo publicado na Revista de Sociologia e Política , número 13, na modernidade tardia houve uma verdadeira obsessão securitária, direcionando as políticas criminais para um maior rigor em relação às penas e maior intolerância com o criminoso. Há trinta anos, nos EUA e na Inglaterra essa tendência era insuspeita. O livro mostra que os dois países compartilham intrigantes similaridades em suas práticas criminais, a despeito da divisão racial, das desigualdades econômicas e da letalidade violenta que marcam fortemente o cenário americano. Segundo David Garland, encontram-se nos dois países os “mesmos tipos de riscos e inseguranças, a mesma percepção a respeito dos problemas de um controle social não-efetivo, as mesmas críticas da justiça criminal tradicional, e as mesmas ansiedades recorrentes sobre mudança e ordem sociais”1 (GARLAND, 2001, p. 2). O argumento principal da obra é o seguinte: a modernidade tardia, esse distintivo padrão de relações sociais, econômicas e culturais, trouxe consigo um conjunto de riscos, inseguranças e problemas de controle social que deram uma configuração específica às nossas respostas ao crime, ao garantir os altos custos das políticas criminais, o grau máximo de duração das penas e a excessivas taxas de encarceramento.

National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism

Abstract: 1 July 7, 2010, marks the fifth anniversary of the 2005 terrorist attacks on London’s Metro system. In 2005, terrorists launched a coordinated attack against London’s transportation system, with 3 bombs detonating simultaneously at three different Metro stations and a fourth bomb exploding an hour later on a city bus. In all, there were 52 victims in these bombings with an additional 700 injuries resulting. The four terrorists who executed the attacks were killed in the explosions.

Viewing things differently: The dimensions of public perceptions of police legitimacy.

Abstract: Legitimacy (or “the right to exercise power”) is now an established concept in criminological analysis, especially in relation to policing. Substantial empirical evidence shows the importance of legitimacy in securing law-abiding behavior and cooperation from citizens. Yet adequate theorization has lagged behind empirical evidence, and there has been a conflation of legitimacy with the cognate concepts of “trust” and of “obligation to obey the law.” By drawing on the work of Beetham (1991) and others (e.g., Bottoms and Tankebe, 2012), this study tests the hypothesis that the contents of the multiple dimensions of police legitimacy comprise procedural fairness, distributive fairness, lawfulness, and effectiveness. The study also investigates the relative influence of legitimacy and feelings of obligation on citizens’ willingness to cooperate with the police. Using data from London, the results substantiate the hypothesized dimensions of police legitimacy. In addition, legitimacy was found to exhibit both a direct influence on cooperation that is independent of obligation and an indirect influence that flows through people's felt obligations to obey the police. Implications for future research are discussed.

Why Do People Comply with the Law? Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions

Abstract: This paper extends Tyler’s procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new conceptualisation of legitimacy based not just on the recognition of power but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police’s right to dictate appropriate behaviour, not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they believe that the institution acts according to a shared moral purpose with citizens. Highlighting a number of different routes by which institutions can influence citizen behaviour, our broader normative model provides a better framework for explaining why people are willing to comply with the law.

Why do People Comply with the Law? Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions

Abstract: This paper extends Tyler's procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new con- ceptualization of legitimacy based on not just the recognition of power, but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police's right to dictate appropriate behaviour not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they believe that the institution acts according to a shared moral purpose with citizens. Highlighting a number of different routes by which institu- tions can influence citizen behaviour, our broader normative model provides a better framework for explaining why people are willing to comply with the law.