Background to the Research

• This survey is the only one in Northern Ireland to deal explicitly with young people's experiences of crime and policing.

Research Approach

• The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one was quantitative in orientation and involved the distribution of a self-report questionnaire to 1000 young people in twelve schools and four youth groups within the Belfast urban area and three schools in an area outside Belfast.
  
• Phase two involved exploring in a qualitative fashion a number of issues raised in phase one and involved the participation of 120 young people in twenty focus group interview sessions.

Main Findings

• A total of 86.1% of Catholic respondents want to see some element of reform to the RUC - a mere 0.7% want it to remain unchanged - while 66.2% would like to see it 'disbanded and replaced by a new force'.
  
• The attitudes of young Protestant's elicit a higher level of intra-communal fissure than for their Catholic counterparts, a point that may reflect broader tensions within the Unionist community; 50% of Protestant young people believe that there should be no changes to the RUC at all, while 32% are in favour of some element of reform.
  
• Catholic attitudes towards the RUC are not governed by the extent of intra-communal cleavage (i.e. between nationalists and republicans) that has previously been assumed. An overwhelming cross-section of Catholic young people, from all walks of life and diverse social backgrounds, are unhappy with present policing arrangements.
  
• Regarding the proposals to changed the name of the RUC to the 'Northern Ireland Police Service, 72% of Catholic respondents agreed with the proposal, compared to 12% of Protestants.
• In representational terms, 88% of Catholic respondents believe that the police should not be associated with the symbols and emblems of any religious or political group in Northern Ireland, compared to 33% of Protestants.
• The data reveal tensions between the RUC and young, working-class Protestants. However this may relate to the specific police practices (re-routing Orange parades, routine stop and searches) rather than any fundamental desire to reform the RUC as an institution.
• The data from the survey and the focus group sessions illustrates that young people's engagement with the police is as much ideological and normative as anything to to with experimental contact. As such there are major limits on the ability of policy fixes, or managerialist strategies (i.e. enhanced professionalism) to improve the RUC's relationship with the Catholic/Nationalist community, in particular.