Griffiths, C (2014) Civilised Communities: Reconsidering the 'Gloomy Tale' of Immigration and Social Order in a Changing Town. The British Journal of Criminology, 54 (6). pp. 1109-1128. ISSN 1464-3526

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Abstract

Immigration and its effects on crime, social disorder and community tensions remains a pervasive feature of public, government and academic discourse. This discourse often considers immigration, and immigrants themselves, as a threat to the community’s existing moral and social order. This paper presents the findings of a case study that used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the experiences of social order following a recent wave of Polish migration in a small working class town in the North West of England. The key findings show that the assumed association of migration with a disruption to social order receives little support. Rather, the social order in the studied locale is predominantly managed and maintained through ‘civilised relationships’ between migrants and established residents, thus failing to culminate into conflict between the two groups. This situation of ‘civility’ provides an alternative to the preponderance of previous research telling a ‘gloomy tale’ of immigration and its impact on local communities.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The British Journal of Criminology following peer review. The version of record Griffiths, C.E., 2013. Living with ‘aliens’ Clare E Griffiths explores public attitudes towards immigration. Criminal Justice Matters, 93(1), pp.26-27. is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu064.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Polish immigration, strangers, civilised communities, conflict, social (dis)order
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Law
Depositing User: Symplectic
Date Deposited: 06 Apr 2016 15:22
Last Modified: 12 Jul 2017 14:10
URI: https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/1611

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