Reluctance to report criminal incidents: social exclusion and limited access to justice


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AKARÇAY A., POLAT S.

The 42nd MEEA/ASSA Annual Meeting, Boston, United States Of America, 4 - 07 January 2022, vol.24, pp.57-75

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume: 24
  • City: Boston
  • Country: United States Of America
  • Page Numbers: pp.57-75
  • Galatasaray University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Objective measures of access to justice are mainly supply-side indicators from judicial statistics, whereas survey questions related to judicial services that provide demand-side information measure perceptions and are subjective. We construct a demand-side objective indicator using Turkey’s Life Satisfaction Survey. We consider reluctance to report an experienced criminal incident, which is a factual statement, as an objective indicator affecting demand for and access to justice. We identify correlates of reluctance to report and find that low education levels have a negative impact on the probability of reporting a criminal incident, and that the impact is greater for women. Social pressures related to gender and level of income adversely affect their probability of reporting; whereas men are not affected by any kind of social pressure in their decision to report criminal incidents. We then relate our findings with perceptions of judicial services and find that reluctance to report is correlated with reluctance to reveal (dis)satisfaction.