The Community Capacity Survey – Face-to-face ethnic minority interviews: Methodology and Preliminary Findings

Abstract

In ethnically diverse societies throughout the world there has been a lively debate about the impact that such diversity has for society. Proponents of multiculturalism suggest that diversity will contribute in a positive way to society by introducing new and fresh ideas and perspectives. In contrast, critics express concern that alignment with subgroups in lieu of assimilating into the dominant culture will lead to conflict, will reduce social cohesion, and will result in disagreements over conflicting social values (Glazer, 1997; Schlesinger, 1992). It has also been noted that ethnic diversity can pose challenges for governance and the law (Rose, 1993; Tyler, Boekman, Smith & Huo, 1997). In this report we focus on examining ethnic minority groups’ perceptions of policing, crime, and community processes in Australia. Exploring the nature of ethnic minority groups’ perceptions of police is important, as positive attitudes to police facilitate the ability of police to prevent and control crime. If police are to be successful in their duties, police must be equipped to obtain citizen cooperation and compliance. In order to be effective, police need to be able to elicit compliance from citizens during interactions with police, as well as with the law more generally (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Huo, 2002; Tyler & Fagan, 2008). Furthermore, police rely on the public to cooperate with them, to provide information about crime and community problems, and to report crime incidents when they occur (Kubrin & Weitzer, 2003; Tyler & Fagan, 2008).