Background
The relationship between young people, particularly those with migration background, and the police is disproportionally often characterised by conflicts. Young people, especially those with migration background, sometimes feel unjustly targeted by the police and stigmatised as a group. The police, in turn, is regularly confronted with verbal and physical attacks in interactions with young people. Such experiences may cause individuals both within the police as well as among youngsters to hold negative attitudes. Moreover, the tense interactions that are a result of these attitudes may in turn reinforce them.
More harmonious youth-police relationships are of great societal importance. The relationship between citizens and the law enforcement is crucial for effective policing since citizens are more likely to cooperate with the police if they trust them and perceive them as legitimate authority. A positive relationship between young people and the police therefore allows for more efficient police work, potentially decreasing youth criminality.
The current project aims to develop an intervention, the Positive Contact Intervention for Policing (PCIP), that potentially breaks the negative dynamics between young people, particularly those with migration background, and the law enforcement. Specifically, it aims to enhance youth-police relationships by creating positive experiences and enabling meaningful exchanges between police officers and youths, including VR technology.
The assignment
The general idea is to better understand and improve the relationship between young people and the law enforcement. Essentially, the assignment focuses on gathering insights regarding factors such as youths’ perception of the police, police officers’ perceptions of young people, the use of social media, the confidence of police officers in interactions with youths. These insights could be achieved by conducting interviews with youths, police officers and/or relevant institutions in the discussed context.
The project is part of an ongoing research project, building on the master project of Tobias Siepenkort.
Key Words
Youth Criminality; Law Enforcement; Community Policing; VR-Technology
Availability
The project is open to 2 students.
Good command of the Dutch language is essential.
Interested?
Please contact Steven Watson (s.j.watson@utwente.nl)