Date of Award
2-1-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Richard Lewis
Abstract
Recently, the concept of police self-legitimacy has spurred research interest. Several studies have demonstrated beneficial outcomes associated with officers who are confident in their own authority. The current dissertation builds on this emerging area of study by examining the influence of organizational justice on police self-legitimacy, as well as self-legitimacy’s impact on employee engagement and civic engagement in police officers. Survey data were gathered from a sample of 1,391 officers from variously sized agencies across seven regions of the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that organizational justice is a key component in how police view their own legitimacy as law enforcement officers. In turn, this sense of legitimacy impacts officers’ willingness to engage with their official duties, as well as the community at large. The specific findings, directions for future research, and implications are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Wuestewald, Mary Isis, "A Structural Examination of Organizational Justice, Self-Legitimacy, Employee Engagement, and Civic Engagement in Police" (2023). Theses and Dissertations. 1109.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/1109
