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Contacts of minority and majority juveniles with the police : an exploratory research on the number of contacts that minority and majority juveniles have had with the police and the number of negative police actions experienced during those contacts

Rempe, Sheller-Blink (2012) Contacts of minority and majority juveniles with the police : an exploratory research on the number of contacts that minority and majority juveniles have had with the police and the number of negative police actions experienced during those contacts.

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Abstract:The interaction between juveniles and the police is one that is very important in our society. One might only think of the police as arm of the state that deals with criminal cases. However, getting an insight into the relationships between juveniles and the police shows that the police also work together with different institutions (e.g. schools). By having cooperation’s with other institutions the police try to take preventive actions so that delinquent juveniles can be integrated into the society and will not break the law. This study, which was undertaken in June 2011, surveyed 35 ethnic minority and native German juveniles living in the city of Gronau. The respondents were asked about the contacts they have had with the police. All respondents at least one time had personal contact with the police and were asked to give an insight into the nature of that contact. In addition to examining how often each juvenile had contact with the police and how many times they experienced negative actions of the police, the study also evaluated in which sense ethnicity, individual delinquency and availability on the streets impacted the different encounters of juveniles with the police. One major finding of this study is that ethnic minority juveniles do not have significantly more contact with the police than their native counterparts. Hence, initial assumptions that prejudice of police officers exists in the legal institutions were not confirmed. The only explanations the thesis found for having a high number of contacts with the police are the involvement of juveniles in delinquency and the availability of juveniles on the streets as this makes him or herself approachable for the police. Examining whether the type of negative actions both groups have received during the contacts differ showed that in general juveniles are punished in relation to the crime they have committed. There was no evidence that police officers treat one group different from the other.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Public Administration MSc (60020)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/61544
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