The Relationship Between Experiences of Victimization and Law Enforcement Confidence: Insights from a Canadian Young Adult Cohort


Quan Nguyen, University of Calgary

This study examines the connection between victimization experiences and confidence in law enforcement among a demographically diverse group of Canadian young adults aged 15-34. It underscores the crucial role of public confidence within the justice system and considers the impact of personal encounters with crime on trust in policing authorities. Drawing on data from the General Social Survey (GSS) Cycle 34: Victimization, the study encompasses 3,396 individuals, analyzing their reported confidence in law enforcement and personal victimization experiences. Employing binary logistic regression, the study investigates critical covariates, including perceived discrimination, sense of community belonging, and general health status, along with a comprehensive array of sociodemographic factors such as gender, minority status, place of birth, religion, disability, education level, official language proficiency, and household income. The analysis reveals a significant negative association between experiences of victimization and confidence in law enforcement. Factors such as perceived discrimination and suboptimal general health status notably exacerbate this relationship. In contrast, a strong sense of belonging within ones community positively correlates with confidence in the police. Educational attainment, gender, bilingual abilities, religious affiliation, and household income are also associated with confidence levels in law enforcement entities. The findings suggest that while victimization experiences generally undermine trust in law enforcement among Canadian youth, this trend can be mitigated through measures that foster community cohesion and individual health and well-being. The study calls attention to the importance of adopting community-based and health-focused policing strategies, mainly aimed at supporting young adults who have endured victimization.

Non-presenting authors: Hieu Ngo, University of Calgary; Yeonjung Lee, University of Calgary

This paper will be presented at the following session: