Thesis
Community safety of ethnic minorities : the lived experience of the Pakistani Scottish community in Glasgow
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2013
- Thesis identifier
- T13551
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 200890535
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Over the past two decades, community safety in Britain has emerged as an area of urban policy which seeks to improve the quality of life (QoL) of communities. To date, however, little research has been undertaken on the implications of community safety policies and initiatives for ethnic minority communities in Scotland. The present research uncovers the lived experience of community safety of the Pakistani Scottish community in East Pollokshields: an inner-city neighbourhood of Glasgow. The research revealed that community safety was a fundamental element in the life quality of the study group. Respondents were concerned with many community safety issues in the neighbourhood: anti-social behaviour (ASB), road safety, drugs, public drinking and disorderly behaviour, housebreaking, racial abuse and harassment, domestic violence, fire in domestic buildings and indiscriminate use of fireworks. Many became victims of housebreaking, vandalism, racial abuse and harassment in the past two years. Still others witnessed such incidents or became apprehensive about these after hearing from others. Day-to-day experiences of crime, ASB and the fear of crime and other dangers impacted lives of the local residents in myriad ways and limited their movement within the neighbourhood. Moreover, the local community felt deprived in terms of community safety initiatives from the concerned agencies. It appeared that the police, the Council and other agencies have neglected the community safety concerns of Pakistani Scottish youths and women by prioritising the interest of a section of elderly Asian males and some vocal white people of the neighbourhood. Persistent projection of the Muslim youths as a community safety problem by a section of the local community, concerned agencies and the media also placed an undue emphasis on the need to control ASB and criminality among these young people. In so doing, wider social justice issues such as reducing poverty amongst children, and providing training, employment and leisure opportunities to young people in this neighbourhood have been pushed down the priority list. The present research also revealed that far from being supportive, a section of the community appeared to be the cause of many problems that the Pakistani Scottish youths face today. This research recognises that many levers of the issues affecting community safety of ethnic minorities lie in social inequalities. It also concludes that an appropriate combination of locality-based initiatives and structural measures can make a major contribution to enhanced community safety in the study area. An improved physical fabric of this deprived neighbourhood and more community engagement by the police and GCSS are needed to enhance the perception of safety and wellbeing of local residents. In addition, the Scottish Government and the Glasgow City Council must take initiatives to arrest educational failure among Pakistani Scottish children and provide them with training and employment opportunities. Finally, elder members of the Pakistani Scottish community must take responsibility of addressing some neglected community safety issues such as domestic violence and drugs in the community.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Pacione, Michael
- Resource Type
- DOI
- Embargo Note
关系
项目
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File | 2023-03-10 | 非公开 |