University of Twente Student Theses
Racial profiling in policing: An empirical analysis of the relationship between ethnic appearance and youths' encounters with the German police
Hungerland, J. (2016) Racial profiling in policing: An empirical analysis of the relationship between ethnic appearance and youths' encounters with the German police.
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| Abstract: | Racial profiling in policing refers to the use of generalizations based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin – rather than individual behavior or objective evidence as the basis for suspicion. So far, little is known about racial profiling in Germany. Therefore, the core idea of this thesis is to analyze the relationship between ethnic appearance and police contact in Germany. Some scholars argue that differences in police treatment are not necessarily proof of unjustified distinctions made by the police. In order to contribute to the existent body of knowledge, the purpose of this analysis is to identify causes of the variation in the number of police contacts of youths. I conducted an empirical investigation among 252 individuals and established the extent of unequal treatment in policing while controlling for justifiable distinctions made by police officers. The research question was: To what extent do youths that belong to an ethnic minority have more frequent contact with the German police? Firstly, I hypothesized that youths viewed as non-German have more frequent police contact than youths viewed as native-German. Secondly, I expected that even when controlling for availability on the streets, individual delinquent behavior, and group delinquency, youths viewed as non-German have more frequent police contact. The main finding is that although racial profiling seems to be an issue in Germany, ethnic appearance cannot explain more frequent police contact. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 70 social sciences in general, 71 sociology, 88 social and public administration, 89 political science |
| Programme: | Management Society and Technology BSc (56654) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/70359 |
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