Procedural justice in contacts with the police: the perspective of victims of crime
Abstract
This study examined perceptions of procedural justice (the fairness of methods used to achieve outcomes) in contacts with the police among victims of crime. In-depth interviews were conducted with 110 people who reported a crime (personal and property) to the police in the previous 12 months. The findings indicated that police willingness to do their best to solve the case and police relating to victims as persons independently of the case itself were at least as important to victims of crime as the police delivering a desired outcome. Implications for evaluation of police performance are discussed.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Lincoln, Y. S., Guba, E. G., & Pilotta, J. J. (1985) · International Journal of Intercultural Relations · doi:10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 · Cited by 45,787 · see citing works
Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques.
Ellis, C., Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1992) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2074814 · Cited by 29,279 · see citing works
The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2017) · Aldine (Routledge reprint) · doi:10.4324/9780203793206 · Cited by 25,789 · see citing works
Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
(2022) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(22)x0002-6 · Cited by 22,559 · see citing works
The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice
Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988) · Critical Issues in Social Justice · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2115-4 · Cited by 6,585 · see citing works
Tyler, T. R. (2006) · doi:10.1515/9781400828609 · Cited by 5,156 · see citing works
A Relational Model of Authority in Groups
Tyler, T. R., & Lind, E. A. (1992) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60283-x · Cited by 2,977 · see citing works
The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing
Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/1540-5893.3703002 · Cited by 2,973 · see citing works
Policing in Black and White: Ethnic Group Differences in Trust and Confidence in the Police
Tyler, T. R. (2005) · Police Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1098611104271105 · Cited by 671 · see citing works
Social Justice in a Diverse Society
Tyler, T. R., Boeckmann, R. J., Smith, H. J., & Huo, Y. J. (2019) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429306310 · Cited by 667 · see citing works
TYLER, T. R., & WAKSLAK, C. J. (2004) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00520.x · Cited by 655 · see citing works
Tyler, T. R. (2001) · Behavioral Sciences & the Law · doi:10.1002/bsl.438 · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Public Satisfaction With Police: Using Procedural Justice to Improve Police Legitimacy
Hinds, L., & Murphy, K. (2007) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1375/acri.40.1.27 · Cited by 594 · see citing works
Social justice in a diverse society
(1997) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-1237 · Cited by 573 · see citing works
The Construct Validity and Refinement of Process-Based Policing Measures
Reisig, M. D., Bratton, J., & Gertz, M. G. (2007) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0093854807301275 · Cited by 564 · see citing works
Campbell, R. (2006) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801205277539 · Cited by 381 · see citing works
VOICE, CONTROL, AND BELONGING: The Double-Edged Sword of Procedural Fairness
MacCoun, R. J. (2005) · Annual Review of Law and Social Science · doi:10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.1.041604.115958 · Cited by 343 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Since then an impressive body of research in social, legal, and organisational settings has demonstrated that people place a significant value on the fairness of the process by which outcomes are achieved (MacCoun, 2005).”
BackgroundThe mental health of crime victims: Impact of legal intervention
Herman, J. L. (2003) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1023/a:1022847223135 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Maier, S. L. (2008) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801208320245 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Secondary Victimization of Crime Victims by Criminal Proceedings
Orth, U. (2002) · Social Justice Research · doi:10.1023/a:1021210323461 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Battered Women in the Courtroom: The Power of Judicial Responses
Westervelt, S. D., & Ptacek, J. (2000) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2654125 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/1519845 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Community Policing: National and International Models and Approaches
Brogden, M., & Nijhar, P. (2005) · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Murphy, K. (2009) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1375/acri.42.2.159 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Do Social Reactions to Sexual Assault Victims Vary by Support Provider?
Ullman, S. E. (1996) · Violence and Victims · doi:10.1891/0886-6708.11.2.143 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Reassurance Policing, Community Policing and Measuring Police Performance
Fielding, N., & Innes, M. (2006) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439460600662122 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
The Experience of Sexual Assault
Monroe, L. M., Kinney, L., Weist, M. D., Dafeamekpor, D. S., Dantzler, J., & Reynolds, M. W. (2005) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260505277100 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Stephens, B. J., & Sinden, P. G. (2000) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/088626000015005006 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Wemmers, J.-A. M., & Cyr, K. (2005) · Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale · doi:10.3138/cjccj.47.3.527 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Reforming Police: Opportunities, Drivers and Challenges
Stenning, P. C., & Shearing, C. D. (2005) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1375/acri.38.2.167 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
The Influence of Police Actions on Victim Satisfaction in Burglary Investigations
Coupe, T., & Griffiths, M. M. J. (1999) · International journal of law, crime and justice · doi:10.1006/ijsl.1999.0097 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Assessing experiences and responses of crime victims
Carlson, E. B., & Dutton, M. A. (2003) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1023/a:1022843122227 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Tyler, T. R. (2008) · Blackwell Publishing Ltd eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470693650.ch23 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Legitimacy in Policing: A Systematic Review
Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E., & Manning, M. (2013) · Campbell Systematic Reviews: Better Evidence for a Better World · doi:10.4073/csr.2013.1 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Policing and procedural justice: a state-of-the-art review
Donner, C., Maskály, J., Fridell, L. A., & Jennings, W. G. (2015) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-12-2014-0129 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Victim Willingness to Report Crime to Police: Does Procedural Justice or Outcome Matter Most?
Murphy, K., & Barkworth, J. M. (2014) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2013.872744 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Elliott, I., Thomas, S. D. M., & Ogloff, J. R. P. (2011) · Psychology Public Policy and Law · doi:10.1037/a0024212 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Self-citationWillingness to report crime to the police
Graham, A., Kulig, T. C., & Cullen, F. T. (2019) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-07-2019-0115 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Lorenz, K., & Jacobsen, C. (2021) · Women & Criminal Justice · doi:10.1080/08974454.2021.1985045 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Spilling tea at the water cooler: A meta-analysis of the literature on workplace gossip
Wax, A., Rodriguez, W. A., & Asencio, R. (2022) · Organizational Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/20413866221112383 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
James, L., James, S., & Vila, B. J. (2018) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-11-2016-0159 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Gangnam Style versus Eye of the Tiger: people, police and procedural justice in Indonesia
Davies, S. G., Meliala, A., & Buttle, J. (2014) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2014.949712 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Mulvihill, N., Gangoli, G., Gill, A. K., & Hester, M. (2018) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2018.1427745 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Harper, S. B., Maskály, J., Kirkner, A., & Lorenz, K. (2017) · Journal of School Violence · doi:10.1080/15388220.2017.1318578 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Heydon, G., & Powell, A. (2016) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2016.1187146 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Zahnow, R., MAZEROLLE, L. G., & Pang, A. (2019) · Policing A Journal of Policy and Practice · doi:10.1093/police/paz066 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Procedural Justice and Relational Theory
Meyerson, D., MacDermott, T., & Mackenzie, C. (2020) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429317248 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Koster, N.-S. N. (2016) · Psychology Crime and Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2016.1239098 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Koster, N.-S. N., van der Leun, J., & Kunst, M. J. J. (2018) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2018.1502290 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
System contact and procedural justice policing
Barkworth, J. M., & Murphy, K. (2016) · International Review of Victimology · doi:10.1177/0269758015627044 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Novich, M., Kringen, A. L., & Hunt, G. P. (2018) · Feminist Criminology · doi:10.1177/1557085117753669 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Satisfied? Exploring Victims’ Justice Judgments
Holder, R. (2015) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137383938_9 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Bond, C. E. W., Murphy, K., & Porter, L. E. (2015) · Crime Law and Social Change · doi:10.1007/s10611-015-9587-1 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
The relationship between victim attitudes, training, and behaviors of sexual assault investigators
Lorenz, K., & Maskály, J. (2016) · Journal of Crime and Justice · doi:10.1080/0735648x.2016.1218356 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Police, courts, and corrections: Experiences of procedural injustice among Black adults.
Martinez, A., Swaner, R., Ramdath, C., & Carey, K. K. (2022) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/ajcp.12631 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Image-based sexual abuse: Legislative and policing responses
Huber, A. R. (2023) · Criminology & Criminal Justice · doi:10.1177/17488958221146141 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Donner, C. M., & Olson, D. E. (2019) · Journal of Crime and Justice · doi:10.1080/0735648x.2019.1677262 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
MAZEROLLE, L. G., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E., & Manning, M. (2013) · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Lorenz, K. (2022) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/00111287221120186 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Osborn, M., & Rajah, V. (2020) · Trauma Violence & Abuse · doi:10.1177/1524838020967348 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Kochel, T. R., & Nouri, S. (2020) · Journal of Crime and Justice · doi:10.1080/0735648x.2020.1835693 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Ballucci, D., & Drakes, K. (2020) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2020.1766613 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Meyer, S., & Williamson, H. (2020) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1177/0004865820935941 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Trust in Police Motivations During Involuntary Encounters
Novich, M., & Hunt, G. P. (2017) · Race and Justice · doi:10.1177/2153368717718027 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
White, D., & McMillan, L. (2021) · Feminist Criminology · doi:10.1177/15570851211031991 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Tipton, R. (2019) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2019.1663733 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Holmberg, L., Johansen, L. V., Asmussen, I. H., Birkmose, S. M., & Adrian, L. (2020) · International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice · doi:10.1080/01924036.2020.1719525 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Donner, C. M. (2020) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2020.1821679 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Suicidal Ideation Among Male Victim-Survivors of Financial Sextortion
Liggett O’Malley, R., & Smith, K. (2025) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2024.2379818 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Stafford, A. B. (2017) · The Police Journal Theory Practice and Principles · doi:10.1177/0032258x17731685 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Bennett, S., Hine, L., & MAZEROLLE, L. G. (2018) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0241 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Ariel, B. (2023) · Competitive government · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-42406-9_9 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Aiello, M. (2019) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2019.1570849 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Jansen, R. P., Ruiter, S., & van Steden, R. (2024) · Crime Science · doi:10.1186/s40163-024-00231-9 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Improving Access to Justice: Procedural Justice Through Legal Counsel for Victims of Crime
O’Connell, M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41622-5_15 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Scott, T. L., Strom, K. J., & Planty, M. (2021) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2021.2022480 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Satisfied? Exploring Victims' Justice JudgementsPreprint
Holder, R. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2423140 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Matthews, L. R., Lamb, C. F., Jessup, G. M., Ngo, M., & Quinlan, M. G. (2022) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2022.2053257 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
McCluskey, J. D., Moon, B., & Saw, G. K. (2024) · Journal of School Violence · doi:10.1080/15388220.2024.2344498 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Trustworthiness, Trust, and Immigrants’ Willingness to Call the Police
Bates, K., Sargeant, E., & Murphy, K. (2024) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2024.2437369 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Clark, B., Ariel, B., & Harinam, V. (2022) · Police Quarterly · doi:10.1177/10986111221128751 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Enarsson, T., & Naarttijärvi, M. (2016) · International Review of Victimology · doi:10.1177/0269758016628947 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Police Victimization and Insecurity in Mathare North Nairobi City County, Kenya
Kilatya, J. M., & Kavivya, C. (2021) · International Journal of Current Aspects · doi:10.35942/ijcab.v5i4.209 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Massez, L., Virat, M., & Przygodzki‐Lionet, N. (2024) · Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1007/s11896-024-09684-9 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Perceptions of Legal Authorities in a Longitudinal Study of Adjudicated Youth
Pusch, N., Holtfreter, K., McKenna, N. C., & Fine, A. (2021) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01504-1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Reshaping relations to fit justice aims
Sharpe, S. (2017) · Restorative Justice · doi:10.1080/20504721.2017.1392776 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Paterson, C., & Morgan, M. (2025) · Social Sciences · doi:10.3390/socsci14110638 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Perceptions of procedural justice among male and female minority gang members
Novich, M. (2016) · doi:10.7282/t3s184kw · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Kras, H. R. (2023) · Politics & Gender · doi:10.1017/s1743923x23000351 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Responding to nonemergency calls for service via video: A randomized controlled trial
Gates, S. E. E., Ariel, B., & Assaraf, N. (2024) · Criminology & Public Policy · doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12690 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lin, K., & Bradford, B. (2025) · Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1177/26338076251376923 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Vaughn, P. E. (2020) · IRL - University of Missouri, St. Louis (University of Missouri–St. Louis) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Correlates of criminal victimisation among police cell detainees in Victoria, Australia
Baksheev, G., Warren, L. J., Ogloff, J. R. P., & Thomas, S. D. M. (2012) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2012.670032
Self-citationExamining cooperation with the police in a national security environment
Williamson, H. (2016) · Journal of Policing Intelligence and Counter Terrorism · doi:10.1080/18335330.2016.1215508
Koster, N.-S. N., Bal, M., van der Leun, J., & Kunst, M. J. J. (2017) · Tijdschrift voor Criminologie · doi:10.5553/tvc/0165182x2017059102006
Pérez, A. R. (2018) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2018.1428898
From the Humanitarian Crisis to a State of Emergency
Ahmed, S. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40138-2_5
State Crime, Radicalization and the ‘War on Terror‘
Ahmed, S. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40138-2_7
Selection of varieties with higher cultural stability in Sesamum indicum.
KangBo, S., Kang, C.-W., Lee, S.-W., & DongHee, K. (2000) · The Korean Journal of Crop Science
Police selectivity “on demand”: the role of organisational justice in promoting procedural justice
Praet, S. V. (2022) · Journal of Organizational Ethnography · doi:10.1108/joe-01-2021-0004 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Islam, R., Miah, A. K., & Fahim, M. B. (2025) · European Review of Applied Sociology · doi:10.2478/eras-2025-0010
Bridging Stories and Support Services: How Narratives Shape Victims’ Support-Seeking Processes
Jensen, J. M. W. (2026) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2026.2616427
Rethinking victimhood: From ideal types to narrative legitimacy
Jensen, J. M. W., & Thunberg, S. (2026) · International journal of law, crime and justice · doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2026.100852
Moreira, G. C., & Ceccato, V. A. (2026) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-02-2026-0056
Slakoff, D. C., & Ayon, L. K. M. (2026) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-09-2025-0188
- Authors
- Elliott, I., Thomas, S. D. M., & Ogloff, J. R. P.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Elliott, Irina
- Venue
- Police Practice and Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 437-449
- ISSN
- 1477-271X (ISSN-L)
- 1561-4263
- OpenAlex
- W1985067967
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 15.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Police Practice and Research (publishedVersion)
- Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
- RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Keywords
- procedural justice, crime victims, police-victim interaction, victim perceptions, police performance evaluation, crime reporting
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review