Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/238192

Title

Perceptions of police and youth justice conferencing: cultural issues to consider

Author(s)

Sivasubramaniam, Diane;  Goodman-Delahunty, Jane

Abstract

Research involving Hofstede’s (1980) power-distance variable suggests that low power-distance participants emphasise procedural justice considerations in fairness evaluations, whereas high power-distance participants emphasise distributive justice concerns. Since power-distance tends to vary across cultures, this represents an important consideration in the way participants from different cultural backgrounds respond to mediation procedures. It has been found that perceived bias in an evaluative mediation procedure leads to a qualitative change in the way low power-distance participants assess that procedure. This project examined the way in which high power-distance participants determine fairness in an evaluative mediation procedure, in which they perceive bias against them. The study then investigated differences in the ways in which high and low power-distance participants determine fairness in a facilitative mediation procedure, such as Youth Justice Conferencing (YJC). Conferencing processes in Australia can be divided into two broad categories: police-convened and other models. Based on evidence that young people of ethnic minorities often view police as untrustworthy, the bias condition in this experiment was manipulated by the use of a police (bias) vs. civilian (no bias) convenor. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for procedural justice theory, for debate on YJC policy, and for culturally relevant police practices.

Publication type

Conference paper

Source

Paper presented at 'Controlling Crime: Risks and Responsibilities', 17th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, Sydney, Australia, 01-03 October 2003

Publication year

2003

Keyword(s)

Fairness judgments;  Perceptions of bias;  Procedural fairness;  Youth justice conferencing

Publisher

Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology

Publisher URL

http://www.anzsoc.org/cms-conferences/2003.phps

Copyright

Copyright © 2003.

Peer reviewed