Race and ethnicity

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Comment by Fabio on July 13, 2011 at 15:52

Hi all, 

 

I am doing some work on desistance from crime, so not completely related to ethnicity and race directly. 

 

I have a sort of provocative question: 

 

should we still talk about race and ethnicity differences in our research? 

 

That is: when conducting research one of the main variables we're looking at, is gender, age, ethnic group etc. whereas we find a difference related to ethnicity (say for example a disadvantaged situation) it would be expected to take action towards that disadvantage. But in that situation wouldn't we reinforce the negativity of the label/stereotype related to that particular group: e.g. we are undertaking this policy because the individual ABC is part of the ethnic group XYZ.

Would it make more or less sense to consider the situation in itself as disadvantageous in a transversal way, meaning that affects people in specific situations that are due to specific set of variables rather than the socio-demographic characteristics?

 

I agree with the fact there are evident cases of disadvantage for specific socio-demographic populations but is this distinction needed all the times? Is it actually going to be beneficial? what are the effects of our way of "categorising" and labelling in our research? Aren't we confirming the same old labels and characteristics in areas that are do not need to be problematised in that way but rather in agreement with other factors/variables?

 

Best, 

Fabio

 

 

Comment by Dr Tina G. Patel on July 11, 2011 at 11:22

Hello everyone!

I'm new to CrimSpace and this group, so I thought I'd e-introduce myself. I look forward to taking part in discussions and activities, adn hearing about news and events in our field.

Tina (University of Salford)

Comment by Rashid Aziz on May 19, 2011 at 14:12

If you are doing a PhD then join the PhD students group too!

Comment by Breea C. Willingham on April 28, 2011 at 17:28

Hello!!

My name is Breea Willingham and I'm working on a dissertation about black women's prison narratives. I'm also interested in the relationship between incarcerated black parents and their children (but that's a separate project!)

Comment by Rashid Aziz on March 24, 2011 at 17:05

Good luck guys!

Comment by Wolfgang Keller on March 24, 2011 at 13:24

Hi Rashid, hi Lorraine,

I am a sociologist and a criminologist and I am working on a PhD on the relationship between ethnic stereotypes and fear of crime or crime-related insecurities, respectively. In that context I am looking for theoretical approaches explaining crime-related stereotypes/prejudice of/against ethnic groups.

Comment by Lorraine Phillips on March 24, 2011 at 0:03

Hello-

 

My name is Lorraine and I am working on how psychological theories of group conflict/discrimination inform personal decisions about immigration policies in the United States.

 

Comment by Rashid Aziz on March 9, 2011 at 10:38

Hi everyone!

 

So what is everyone working on? I'm a PhD student looking at Asian youth culture amongst a group of youths in London.