Racist offending, policing and community conflict.

Smith, David B. and Ray, Larry (2004) Racist offending, policing and community conflict. Sociology, 38 (4). pp. 681-699. ISSN 1469-8684

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Abstract

Since the Stephen Lawrence inquiry several initiatives have transformed the policing of racism, and have entailed significant changes in the criminal justice system. This article reviews these in the light of our research on racist offenders in Greater Manchester between 1998 and 2001. We argue that racist offending is not necessarily consistent with the assumptions underlying some of these initiatives. The conclusions from this work are then discussed in the context of the disturbances in Oldham and elsewhere in the UK during the summer of 2001. We suggest that constructions of racist offending have given excessive weight to individual motives and intentions, while much offending behaviour is grounded in wider cultural and social contexts. We present the background to these conflicts in terms of a vicious spiral of styles of policing, use of reported statistics and the involvement of racist organizations. We conclude that to explain racist violence we need to think in terms of not a single issue but of multiple issues of bias, and of cultures of violence, exclusions and marginalization.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Sociology
Additional Information:
50% contribution RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Social Work and Social Policy & Administration
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/libraryofcongress/hn
Subjects:
?? MEDIA • OLDHAM • POLICING • RACIST VIOLENCE • SOCIAL COHESIONSOCIOLOGY AND POLITICAL SCIENCEHN SOCIAL HISTORY AND CONDITIONS. SOCIAL PROBLEMS. SOCIAL REFORM ??
ID Code:
3271
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
25 Mar 2008 09:52
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
21 Sep 2023 00:52