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“We are Seen as a Threat” : Police Stops of Young Ethnic Minorities in the Nordic Countries

Solhjell, Randi ; Saarikkomäki, Elsa ; Haller, Mie Birk ; Wästerfors, David LU and Kolind, Torsten (2019) In Critical Criminology 27(2). p.347-361
Abstract

This article focuses on the perspectives of young ethnic minorities in the Nordic countries who have experienced various forms of “police stops”, i.e. situations where the police stop them without any reference to a specific event of which the youth are aware. Analytically, the debate is positioned through an intersectionality approach of (un)belonging to majority societies. Across the Nordic countries, we found that the young people described five social markers as reasons for being stopped, namely clothing, hanging out in groups, ethnicity, neighbourhoods and gender. We argue that the police stops explicate how the young men in particular are often forced to think about themselves in terms of “a threat” to the majority and the... (More)

This article focuses on the perspectives of young ethnic minorities in the Nordic countries who have experienced various forms of “police stops”, i.e. situations where the police stop them without any reference to a specific event of which the youth are aware. Analytically, the debate is positioned through an intersectionality approach of (un)belonging to majority societies. Across the Nordic countries, we found that the young people described five social markers as reasons for being stopped, namely clothing, hanging out in groups, ethnicity, neighbourhoods and gender. We argue that the police stops explicate how the young men in particular are often forced to think about themselves in terms of “a threat” to the majority and the attributes they have that make them seem like criminals.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Critical Criminology
volume
27
issue
2
pages
347 - 361
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85050559278
ISSN
1205-8629
DOI
10.1007/s10612-018-9408-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ec7367b0-9790-455d-ac74-62b2b9aae7bb
date added to LUP
2018-10-01 11:46:06
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:01:20
@article{ec7367b0-9790-455d-ac74-62b2b9aae7bb,
  abstract     = {{<p>This article focuses on the perspectives of young ethnic minorities in the Nordic countries who have experienced various forms of “police stops”, i.e. situations where the police stop them without any reference to a specific event of which the youth are aware. Analytically, the debate is positioned through an intersectionality approach of (un)belonging to majority societies. Across the Nordic countries, we found that the young people described five social markers as reasons for being stopped, namely clothing, hanging out in groups, ethnicity, neighbourhoods and gender. We argue that the police stops explicate how the young men in particular are often forced to think about themselves in terms of “a threat” to the majority and the attributes they have that make them seem like criminals.</p>}},
  author       = {{Solhjell, Randi and Saarikkomäki, Elsa and Haller, Mie Birk and Wästerfors, David and Kolind, Torsten}},
  issn         = {{1205-8629}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{347--361}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Critical Criminology}},
  title        = {{“We are Seen as a Threat” : Police Stops of Young Ethnic Minorities in the Nordic Countries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10612-018-9408-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10612-018-9408-9}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}