Why Repressive Policies Towards Urban Youths Do Not Make Streets Safe

Four Hypotheses

Bibliographic Data

ID3300932
AuthorsSaskia Binken (Delft University of Technology), Talja Blokland (0000-0002-9997-1207, Cal Poly Humboldt)
Year2012
Volume60
Issue2
Pages292-311
Publication date2012-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.2012.02074.x
OpenAlexW1486773034
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited18

There is an increasing concern in various European cities with 'youth' in public space. This concern is by no means new. Young men have been a cause for public concern for a long time. In some countries in the global North, such as Holland, the marginalization along lines of class and ethnicity rather than just class have brought a relatively new dimension to perceived 'problems' of youth. Holland is particularly interesting, as it moved from championing tolerance to rather harsh policies and an often overly racist discourse on urban youth. This shift to a more repressive policy model has responded to an increasing public fear. Two peculiar empirical patterns raise the question of effectiveness of such repressive policies. First, the neighbourhoods targeted by these policies continue to show strong feelings of fear. Second, the number of incidents between youth and police do not drop, but rise, affecting the crime and nuisance statistics. This paper explores four hypotheses to explain these trends, drawing on empirical data from studies in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Rotterdam and The Hague, the Netherlands

Criminology · Disadvantaged · Empirical research · Ethnic group · Feeling · Political science · Public policy · Sociology · Urban planning · Urban policy · Youth culture · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Social Psychology

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