Perceptions of group value : how Australian transgender people view policing

In Australia, no one really knows how widespread the Transgender community actually is since transgender people are relatively diffuse and hidden and comprise a ‘hard to get at population’. One recognised form of researching hard-to-reach populations is through online surveys. Online surveys with members of minority groups have significant advantages over other data collection methods, particularly when asking respondents about their perceptions of authoritarian in-groups such as the police. Under the theoretical framework of Social Identity Theory, and the GroupValue Model, an online survey was used to capture transgender peoples’ perceptions of the police. This article determines that the gender identities of transgender participants who have had previous contact with police in their professional capacity significantly shapes negative perceptions of treatment quality from police officers