Examining the Impact of Instructors’ Views of the Police on Students’ Views of the Police

Public attitudes toward the police are shaped by factors such as race, gender, media, political ideology, and prior experiences with law enforcement. Studies of college students’ views have primarily focused on these background and experiential factors, leaving the influence of professors’ views largely unexamined. In order to investigate the relationship between instructors’ views of the police and students’ views of the police, survey data were collected from students located at two universities in the United States. The research findings suggest that a significant positive relationship exists between instructors’ views of the police and students’ views of the police, even after controlling for procedural justice and other theoretically relevant legal socialization variables. These findings are contextualized in the broader body of research on police perceptions and legal socialization, with recommendations for future research.