Comparing global and situational support for police use of force across immigrant generations and native-born Americans

Purpose: This study examines if global and situational support for police use of force varies across first-generation immigrants, second-generation immigrants and native-born Americans. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on data from the 2012 General Social Survey, multivariate logistic regression models are performed to predict each of the three binary outcome variables (e.g., support for police use of reasonable force or excessive force) depending on immigrant generation status. Findings: Results indicate that, compared with native-born individuals, first-generation immigrants express less global support for police use of force and less support for police use of reasonable force. In contrast, the first-generation group is more supportive of police use of excessive force compared to the second-generation group and native-born group. Originality/value: Much research on immigrants’ perceptions of the police has yielded conflicting findings. Part of the reason has been attributed to failure to distinguish first-generation immigrants from successive generations of immigrants. The present study fills a gap in this line of research by assessing the extent to which there is a disparity in support for police use of force between different generations of immigrants and native-born individuals.