Officer Accommodation in Police-Civilian Encounters: Reported Compliance with Police in Mongolia and the United States

Valerie Barker; Charles Choi; Howard Giles; Christopher Hajek

doi:10.5564/mjia.v0i15-16.35

The Mongolian Journal of International Affairs (Mar 2011)

Officer Accommodation in Police-Civilian Encounters: Reported Compliance with Police in Mongolia and the United States

Valerie Barker,
Charles Choi,
Howard Giles,
Christopher Hajek

Affiliations

Valerie Barker: Teaches in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Her most recent research focuses on social media and social identity.
Charles Choi: doctoral candidate in the Communication Department at UC Santa Barbara. His research currently focuses on intercultural communication and other intergroup contexts where communication plays a significant role.
Howard Giles: Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Police Practices and Community at the University of California , Santa Barbara . His research interests have encompassed many different arenas of intergroup communication, including police-civilian encounters and cross-cultural studies of communication and aging.
Christopher Hajek: Christopher Hajek completed his B.A. in Communication at Loyola University of Chicago, his M.A. in Communication at the University of Hawaii, and his Ph.D. in Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research is grounded in intergroup communication, with foci in health, law enforcement, aging, and social stigma.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5564/mjia.v0i15-16.35
Journal volume & issue: no. 15-16
pp. 176 – 200

Abstract

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Recent research has demonstrated that, for young adults, officers' communicative practices are potent predictors of civilians’ attributed trust in police, and their perceived likelihood of compliance with police requests. This line of work has important applied implications for ameliorating police-civilian relations on the one hand and promoting a joint law enforcement/community response to crime prevention on the other. The present study continued this line of work in Mongolia and the USA. Mongolia is not only intriguing as little communication research has been conducted in this setting, but is significant as its government (and the law enforcement arm of it) is currently experiencing significant social upheavals. Besides differences between nations, results revealed that, for American participants, officer accommodativeness indirectly predicted civilian compliance through trust. This also emerged for the Mongolian counterparts, although a direct relationship was evident between officer accommodation and compliance as well. The latter finding is unique in that it is the first cultural context where both direct and indirect paths have been identified. The practical significance of these findings is discussed. Keywords: Mongolia; United States; America; Police; Law Enforcement; Civilian; Intercultural; Cross-Cultural; Intergroup; Accommodation; Trust; Compliance. DOI: 10.5564/mjia.v0i15-16.35 Mongolian Journal of International Affairs No.15-16 2008-2009 pp.176-200

Published in The Mongolian Journal of International Affairs

ISSN: 1023-3741 (Print); 2709-572X (Online)
Publisher: Institute of International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Country of publisher: Mongolia
LCC subjects: Political science: International relations
Website: https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/MJIA/

About the journal