The article discusses the legitimacy focusing on the correctional setting. The legitimacy of the courts and the police is needed to assert to the people their role of making decisions. This article assumes that fairness in delivering procedural justice is an important factor in shaping the evaluation of the people regarding the legitimacy of the courts and the police. This factor also strengthens the legitimacy of the authorities and encourages people to willingly comply with the law and accept the decisions made by the authorities. The author analyzes this assumption by considering the arena of corrections and evaluating if the said assumption is valid in this setting. This article made used of other studies to support the claim. It specifically used the article of Franke et al. (2010) that suggests that if the authorities practice fairness, they can help the prisoners to have a positive or neutral experience in prison. The study of Sparks et al. supports this suggestion asserting that it can also shape the prisoner’s view about the law and his behavior. In conducting this study, it was found out that not only fairness have an effect on legitimacy but also the unfair experiences that can result to a different direction. Also, it was found out that the assumption is valid in correctional setting. Delivering fair procedures can increase the legitimacy of the police and reducing the negative implications of imprisonment while increasing the positive outcomes at the same time.
This research tells us the importance of fairness in strengthening legitimacy in corrections. The authors provided a persuasive argument because it was able to build up the argument by using different references to support the claim. They also present the counter arguments to their claim which enable readers to see both sides of the argument and helps to assert the validity of the claim. In this article, it can be derived that enforcing clear policies through fair procedures and fair decision-making can help prisoners to address the negative effects of imprisonment.
References
Tyler, Tom R. (2010). Legitimacy in corrections. Criminology & Public Policy, 9(1), 127-134.
