This study examined a unique police studies intervention program by comparing two groups of youth-at-risk in two types of residential youth schools. The experimental group included 129 youths who had attended a police studies program, while the control group included 167 youths who had attended a different intervention program, without police studies. We hypothesized that the experimental group would have more positive perceptions of police legitimacy and distributive justice and higher levels of personal morality than the control group would. Moreover, we hypothesized that the relationship between the type of the intervention program and perceptions of police legitimacy would be explained by youths’ personal morality and perceptions of police distributive justice. The study showed that the experimental group had more positive perceptions of police legitimacy and higher personal morality than did the control group, but there were no differences in perceived police distributive justice between the two groups. In addition, while personal morality partly mediated the link between the type of intervention program and perceptions of police legitimacy, perceived police distributive justice did not. Empirical and theoretical implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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危险青年警察研究计划：警察分配正义和个人道德在解释警察合法性中的作用

本研究通过比较两种类型的寄宿青年学校中的两组高危青年，研究了一项独特的警察研究干预计划。实验组包括 129 名参加过警察研究计划的青年，而对照组包括 167 名参加过不同干预计划但没有进行警察研究的青年。我们假设实验组对警察合法性和分配正义的看法比对照组更积极，个人道德水平更高。此外，我们假设干预计划的类型与警察合法性认知之间的关系可以通过青少年的个人道德和对警察分配正义的认知来解释。研究表明，与对照组相比，实验组对警察合法性和个人道德的认知更积极，但两组对警察分配正义的感知没有差异。此外，虽然个人道德在干预计划类型与警察合法性感知之间的联系中起到了部分中介作用，但感知到的警察分配正义却没有。讨论了经验和理论意义。