Police legitimacy in the making: the underlying social forces for police legitimacy among religious communities

ABSTRACT

Literature focusing on race and policing has consistently reported a decline in recent years in police legitimacy among minority communities. Yet, the effect of religion on policing has not received similar attention. A focus on police-Haredi community relations provides an opportunity to explore how a religious community might present positive change in police legitimacy, indicated by trust and cooperation. Utilising a mixed method approach, this study aims to (a) clarify what role religion plays in police legitimacy, as distinguished from race or ethnicity; and (b) identify major social forces that shape police legitimacy as a collective and historic phenomenon. The findings highlight the complex interplay of religious constraints, cultural integration, and police legitimacy, showcasing a gradual, yet significant shift in the Haredi community's approach to law enforcement and societal engagement. The study suggests that religion may be a negotiable factor, and that legitimacy fluctuates along with movements of modernisation. The findings are further theorised and discussed along with directions for future investigation.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious communities
• policing
• police legitimacy
• Haredim
• Israel

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Haredim are exempt from army duty which is mandatory for Israeli-Jews (men and women). This exemption has historical roots backing to the early days of the Jewish states in which the first Israeli prime minister has reached an agreement with the Haredim to let them study Torah and exempt them from mandatory army duty. Back then, the Haredim comprised a tiny portion of the Jewish population but given their high fertility their share in the population increased from 3% in 1990 (Rebhun & Malach, 2008) to 12% in 2021 (Cahaner & Malach, 2021). Data on Haredi population was not collected before then.

2 Dr. Gilad Malach generously provided me the Israel Democratic Institute data for Haredim’s perceptions (on an aggregated form per year) [n = 65–95]. Dr. Arie Rattner (University of Haifa) generously provided me longitudinal survey data (in raw form, which I analyzed for the general population and the Haredi population) [n = 96–139]. ESS data is open to the public and was downloaded directly from the website. I analyzed it for the general population and for the Haredi population [n = 87–392] (European Social Survey, n.d.).

3 Given space and time constrains.

4 M1

5 There is a separate phone and Internet network for those who use Haredi Kosher phones or censored Internet.

6 R7, R8, R28, R30

7 R7

8 R4, R14, R15, R16, R20

9 R4

10 R15

11 R4

12 R8

13 R30, R22

14 R30

15 R1, R13, R18, R25

16 R1, R25

17 R1, R4, R9, R25, R26

18 R25

19 R4, R6, R9, R14

20 And also R30

21 R4, R15

22 R13, R14, R16, R21, R23, R30

23 R23

24 R2, R22, R23

25 R22

26 R1, R13; R23

27 Stadler, 2006

28 R6, R22

29 M4

30 R18, R19

31 M5, R27

32 R19

33 R19

34 R7, R8, R9, R10, R11, R17, R21, R22

35 R2, R3, R30

36 M2, M3

37 R17

38 R4, R7, R18, R25

39 R21, R26

40 R7, R10, R11, R13, R26

41 R26

42 R7, R21, R24, R30

43 R2, R8, R9

44 R2, R13

45 R19

46 R1, R2, R25, R26

47 M9

48 M6, M7, M8

49 R63

50 Modesty laws include gender segregation in almost all settings of life including strict rules on dressing and head covering for married women. ‘The woman is obligated to be exceedingly modest. All her glory shall be within, and she is to conceal herself from every man in the world in every manner possible. Her eyes shall always be cast down and her speech moderate. Not even the smallest part of her body shall be exposed, so that no man will come to sin through what he sees. […] Her voice shall not be heard, for a woman’s voice is licentiousness. Not a one of her hairs is to be seen.’ Ahituv (1999).

51 R1, R25, R26

52 R16, R18, R20, R27

53 R16

54 R2, R4, R23, R25, R26

55 R22

56 R15

57 R7

58 R26

59 R10, R11, R14, R58

60 R21, R25, R58

61 R11

62 R16, R26

63 R13

64 R10

65 R10, R11

66 R2, R30

67 R10, R13

68 R13

69 R2, R5, R10

70 And also R11, R17

71 R7, R21

72 R7, R17, R24; In recent years, there has been growing attention in the Haredi community to the issue of sex offenders. There is also a growing scholarly literature about treatments and methods coping with different aspects of the problem. See for example: Hamo, G., & Idisis, Y. (2017). Pedophiles in the ultra-Orthodox Haredi sector in Israel: Thought processes regarding their actions. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 26(4), 407-427; and Alfandari, R., Enosh, G., & Rechnitzer, H. (2021). To split or include? Child sexual abuse mandate reporting in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel. Children and Youth Services Review, 120, 105759

73 See for example an article on Ynet, a major news outlet: https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4809779,00.html

74 R7, R9, R12, R21, R23

75 R23

76 R7

77 R2, R7, R15

78 R15, R17, R22

79 R7, R25

80 R14, R21

81 R17

82 R12

83 R7, R2, R17

84 R23

85 R16

86 R2, R30

87 R2, R7, R17

88 R2

89 Oct 7^th massacre is an important event to monitor in relation to Haredi-state relationship

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dikla Yogev

Dr. Dikla Yogev is a sociologist currently holding a postdoctoral position at the University of Toronto. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Contemporary Jewry, Policing and Society and International Criminology, focusing on topics concerning religious communities, the police and the state. Dr. Yogev has been serving as the project manager for two federally funded research projects: “Bais Yaakov Project” led by Dr. Naomi Seidman (since 2019) and “Workplace Democracy Project” led by Dr. Rafael Gomez (since 2023). Her current research is centered on community organisation, social networks and democracy, employing various methods including digital and computational techniques.