IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v2y2014i1p1-11.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Colour Matters: Policing and Hate Crime

Author

Listed:
  • Berit Wigerfelt

    (Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden)

  • Anders S. Wigerfelt

    (Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden)

  • Jenny Kiiskinen

    (Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden)

Abstract

Contrary to the image of Sweden as a tolerant, colour-blind and non-racial country, which is based on the narrative of a country for instance associated with solidarity with the so-called Third World; in this article we argue that racial attributes, e.g. visible differences, account for people’s different life possibilities and circumstances in Swedish society. This article explores and discusses whether, and if so why, people who belong to the group that is categorised as “non-white”, with an emphasis on Afroswedes, and depicted as racially different, experience being targets of diverse variations of bias-based policing, harassment and hate crime. Theories relating to colonial stereotypes, racism, doing difference, the geography of hate, race/ethnicity profiling and intersectionality are used to analyse our material. Based on individual and focus group interviews with “non-whites”, this article discusses how visible differences are highlighted in different kinds of social contexts. The interview results show that people with dark skin are often targets of different kinds of private and public policing based on race- and ethnicity profiling that often occurs on or near borders/boundaries. When those who are targets of racial harassment and exclusion resist such treatment, e.g. by crossing borders/boundaries, they are at risk of becoming victims of hate crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Berit Wigerfelt & Anders S. Wigerfelt & Jenny Kiiskinen, 2014. "When Colour Matters: Policing and Hate Crime," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-11.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v2:y:2014:i:1:p:1-11
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v2i1.31
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/31
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v2i1.31?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petrocelli, Matthew & Piquero, Alex R. & Smith, Michael R., 2003. "Conflict theory and racial profiling: An empirical analysis of police traffic stop data," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-11.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Franklin, Travis W., 2010. "Community influence on prosecutorial dismissals: A multilevel analysis of case- and county-level factors," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 693-701, July.
    2. Reitzel, John D. & Rice, Stephen K. & Piquero, Alex R., 2004. "Lines and shadows: Perceptions of racial profiling and the Hispanic experience," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 607-616.
    3. Brian Williams & Michael Stahl, 2008. "An analysis of police traffic stops and searches in Kentucky: a mixed methods approach offering heuristic and practical implications," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(3), pages 221-243, September.
    4. Schafer, Joseph A. & Mastrofski, Stephen D., 2005. "Police leniency in traffic enforcement encounters: Exploratory findings from observations and interviews," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 225-238.
    5. Schafer, Joseph A. & Carter, David L. & Katz-Bannister, Andra, 2004. "Studying traffic stop encounters," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 159-170.
    6. Xiaochen Hu & Xudong Zhang & Nicholas Lovrich, 2021. "Public perceptions of police behavior during traffic stops: logistic regression and machine learning approaches compared," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 355-380, May.
    7. Lee, Joanna M. & Steinberg, Laurence & Piquero, Alex R., 2010. "Ethnic identity and attitudes toward the police among African American juvenile offenders," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 781-789, July.
    8. Tove Pettersson, 2014. "Complaints as Opportunity for Change in Encounters between Youths and Police Officers," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(3), pages 102-112.
    9. Berit Wigerfelt & Anders S. Wigerfelt & Jenny Kiiskinen, 2014. "When Colour Matters: Policing and Hate Crime," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-11.
    10. Borooah, Vani, 2010. "Racial Disparity in Police Stop and Searches in England and Wales," MPRA Paper 34471, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    11. Pietenpol, Annelise M. & Morgan, Mark Alden & Wright, John Paul & Almosaed, Nora F. & Moghrabi, Sameera S. & Bashatah, Fawzia S., 2018. "The enforcement of crime and virtue: Predictors of police and Mutaween encounters in a Saudi Arabian sample of youth," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 110-121.
    12. Megan Dias & Derek A. Epp & Marcel Roman & Hannah L. Walker, 2024. "Consent searches: Evaluating the usefulness of a common and highly discretionary police practice," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 35-91, March.
    13. Tove Pettersson, 2014. "Complaints as Opportunity for Change in Encounters between Youths and Police Officers," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(3), pages 102-112.
    14. Tillyer, Rob & Engel, Robin S., 2012. "Racial differences in speeding patterns: Exploring the differential offending hypothesis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 285-295.
    15. Shjarback, John A. & Pyrooz, David C. & Wolfe, Scott E. & Decker, Scott H., 2017. "De-policing and crime in the wake of Ferguson: Racialized changes in the quantity and quality of policing among Missouri police departments," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 42-52.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v2:y:2014:i:1:p:1-11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.