Can diversity promote trust? Neighbourhood context and trust in the police in Northern Ireland

Ben Bradford, John Topping*, Richard Martin, Jonathan Jackson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
417 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The association between trust in the police and neighbourhood context is well known. Police seem to enjoy more trust when community settings are perceived as orderly, cohesive and well-functioning, and trust seems to be lower when order and cohesion seem attenuated or under threat. Yet, little attention has been paid to the association between neighbourhood diversity and trust in the police. Allport’s contact hypothesis suggests that because diversity increases intergroup contact and thus a sense of cohesion, it may promote trust in the police. We use data from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2014, combined with Census and other local- area data, to explore the association between ethno-religious diversity and trust in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. We find that trust is higher in more diverse areas, primarily because Catholics living in such areas report significantly higher levels of trust than their counterparts living in less diverse areas. We interpret these results in light of what policing means in contemporary Northern Ireland, almost two-decades after the country’s landmark reform of policing began.
Keywords: Police Service of Northern Ireland; diversity; confidence; police-community relations
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1022
Number of pages20
JournalPolicing and Society
Volume29
Issue number9
Early online date25 May 2018
DOIs
Publication statusEarly online date - 25 May 2018

Keywords

  • confidence
  • diversity
  • Police Service of Northern Ireland
  • police–community relations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Law

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