Background
to the
Research
- There has been little research on crime
in Ireland. Criminologists in Great Britain have ignored Ireland except
for issues of policing. This paper is part of broader research on crime
trends in Ireland between 1945 and 1995.
- The main aim of this study is to discuss
the issue of crime management, because in Northern Ireland crime management
is contested. Official crime management is the responsibility of the
RUC, but where this role is contested local forms of crime management
occur, this is accomplished by several mechanisms: policing role of
paramilitaries (perceived as the main mechanism of informal social control),
extended family kinship patterns, and community representatives.
- In Northern Ireland, and in particular
Belfast, the police are viewed negatively by many Catholics and Protestants
and as a result crime is not on the whole being reported. Instead, crime
management is the responsibility of individuals or groups outside the
law. For instance, paramilitary groups act as the "unofficial police
force", who discipline perpetrators mainly by the use of force but also
"shaming" individual(s) concerned through public humiliation, for example,
tying people to lampposts in public places with placards stating their
crime. Another mechanism used for local crime management is through
informal contacts who pass on knowledge about offenders, and the whereabouts
of stolen property. This is commonly known as information "through the
grapevine." These forms of social control are perceived by many as acceptable,
because it is believed these groups are more effective than the law
in preventing lawlessness.
Research
Approach
- This was a qualitative research project
using an ethnographical approach. This method was chosen because of
its usefulness in obtaining data on sensitive issues.
- The data were collected exclusively by
using in-depth interviews using tape recordings and notes (conducted
solely by one of the authors).
- Interviews were carried out with 115 individuals
and with ten focus groups, covering 49 communities in East Belfast and
37 in West Belfast.
- Access to interviewing was gained by community-based
agencies and organisations (Gatekeeper). Contact with organisations
was facilitated by a network of contacts possessed by the authors and
by using the snowball technique.
- A cross-section of key social groups
and minorities, such as women, youths and the elderly was used.
- Specialised interviews were also carried
out with some young offenders involved in crime prevention initiatives,
two local historians, and local priests and clergy.
- Interviews covered three broad areas:
people's experiences of social change in their area; perceptions of
crime levels in the neighbourhood; management of crime.
- The area selected for study contained
large council estates, areas of inner city deprivation and suburban
housing to provide a mix of housing types and social classes. The study
encompassed "hard-line" Loyalist areas of East Belfast and Republican
areas of West Belfast (six months was spent doing fieldwork in each
study area from June 1994-May 1995.)
Main
Findings
- The study highlighted the fact that informal
methods of social control are widely used by people from both sections
of the community in Belfast due to their distrust of the RUC, and there
is a suggestion by the authors that people are content with this situation.
People believe that informal methods of social control are more effective
than regular policing by the RUC. The authors quote one youth worker
who stated that there is less crime in their local area than in other
areas of Belfast that rely on formal policing.
- Although new houses are built, and renovations
are made to replace old buildings, local people believe that the social
networks of families and friends remain intact. It is suggested this
is the case because many are frightened to move away for fear of intimidation.
Thus, this strong sense of community is a direct result of 'the troubles',
or as one respondent suggested "the small village we live in is
an enclave, encircled by 'another' community".
- Civil unrest has facilitated informal
crime management, however it is stressed that social disorganisation
can inhibit the forces of social change, and, in effect, produce a "voluntary
ghettoization" by restricting social mobility.
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