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The contribution of intimate relationships to legal socialization: Legitimacy, legal cynicism, and relationship characteristics
Author(s) -
Forrest Walter
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12438
Subject(s) - cynicism , legitimacy , socialization , legal psychology , legal process , legal profession , social psychology , legal culture , political science , psychology , law , politics
Abstract Legal attitudes, such as legal cynicism and perceived legitimacy, develop through an ongoing process of legal socialization involving both legal authorities and non‐legal agents of socialization. Most research on the non‐legal sources of legal socialization has focused on authorities most relevant to the early stages of the life‐course. Few studies have examined the influence of non‐legal sources of socialization relevant to adulthood, even though early pioneers of the field anticipated that legal socialization involves a life‐long process. In this article, I investigate the influence of changes in intimate relationships and their characteristics on legal cynicism and legitimacy. Using data from a longitudinal study of serious, young offenders, I investigate the extent to which changes in relationship characteristics contribute to within‐individual changes in legitimacy and legal cynicism during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. The results indicate that changes in the characteristics of intimate relationships are associated with changes in legal attitudes, and that these involve both direct and indirect effects. These findings highlight the importance of non‐legal sources of legal socialization over the life‐course and show that they are not confined to the authority figures traditionally acknowledged in the legal socialization literature.