An examination of young people’s attitudes toward police legitimacy in the UK

Are you aged 16 to 18 years?

Would you like to contribute to research about police legitimacy in the UK?

The doctoral thesis aims to understand the factors that influence young people’s attitudes toward police legitimacy in the United Kingdom. Estévez, Inglés, and Martínez-Monteagudo (2013, p.17) proposed that as children approach adolescence, they start questioning formal authorities, such as the police. Young people are citing an explicit mistrust in the police in the wake of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard (MOPAC, 2023) by a serving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer (Lowerson, 2022). An investigation into young people’s attitudes toward police legitimacy in the UK will help address and inform the change process required following the recent calls for reform in policing – requiring political, practical and policy changes (Casey, 2022). The doctoral thesis will give 16 to 18-year-olds a ‘voice’ about police legitimacy, develop a deeper understanding of young people’s attitudes toward police legitimacy in the UK and help fill the void in academic literature in this area to inform policy and practice across policing.

Who can take part

To take part in the study, you must be:

  • aged between 16 and 18 years
  • in full time education or completing an apprenticeship in a local authority area in Merseyside

What is required of you in order to take part

If you agree to take part, you will complete an online questionnaire. You can then volunteer to take part in a focus group.

Further information

To find out more about this study, please take a look at the research information video about the researcher and the research.

Please also read the Questionnaire Participant Information Sheet (Word, 22.6KB).

How to take part

If you are interested in participating, you will complete an online Questionnaire Participant Consent Form (Word, 18.7KB) at the start of the questionnaire. Once you have completed the Questionnaire Participant Consent Form you can then start the online questionnaire.

If you have decided you want to complete the questionnaire, please access the page for the local authority area in which you attend school, college or complete your apprenticeship:

At the end of the questionnaire you will be asked if you wish to volunteer to be part of a focus group with six to eight other 16- to 18-year-olds that will last approximately 30 minutes. In the focus groups we will discuss the concepts around police legitimacy examined in the questionnaire.

Your participation in completing the questionnaire and/or participating in the focus group would be much appreciated. It is your opportunity to have your say about police legitimacy and help fill the void in academic literature in this area to inform policy and practice across policing.

If you take part in a focus group

If you are interested in participating in a focus group, you will be asked to read the focus group participation information sheet (Word, 32KB). Before the focus group start the gatekeeper for your school/college along with the researcher will complete an online consent form relating to the local authority area in which you attend school, college or complete your apprenticeship:

Contact details

If you have questions or wish to volunteer to take part in the focus group, please inform the gatekeeper at your school or college who gave you a copy of the research poster.

Thank you
Neil Kavanagh – Lead Researcher, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)