Informal Social Control and Crime Management in Belfast

Author(s): John Brewer, Bill Lockhart, Paula Rodgers
Document Type: Article
Year: 1998
Title of Publication: British Journal of Sociology
Vol: 49, Number 4
Pgs: 570-585
Subject Area(s): Crime

Abbreviations: RUC - Royal Ulster Constabulary

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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