Obedience and Trust in the Brazilian Police from a Youth’s Perspective: The Preliminary Results

Today, the majority of research has focused on legitimacy, while much less attention has been given to the sources of trust in the police. The current study constitutes one of the first empirical analyses that highlight the importance of examining the relationship between police authority and legitimacy in Brazil while aiming to understand the dynamics among those notions in relation to trust and obedience. The empirical part of the present study is conducted in the district of Jardim Ângela (São Paulo); once considered as the most violent urban region in the world. The final contribution lies in its focus on early adolescence as the particular age forms a crucial period in people’s legal socialization (Dirikx & Van den Bulck, 2014). Finally, the statistical analysis shows significant relationships between the frequency of obedience in laws and trust in the police.