Research Email Briefing 45

Current Reseach

Summary of the Community Relations Council (CRC) funded research projects

Viewfinder 5 - examined the voluntary and community sector on a range of issues such as the smoking ban, childcare in the sector and a review of attitudes to the Year of the Volunteer, to name a few.

Recent Research

Policing, Accountability and the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community in Northern Ireland Katy

Policing, Accountability and the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Northern Ireland

Publish your own research online

Like to make research more accessible? Got a research publication to plug or some research news to share? Now is the time to publish your research online. Publish it on Community NI free of charge.

Current Research

Below are a few examples of the Community Relations Council (CRC) funded research projects:

The Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland

Contact Name: David Porter

Address:
The Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland
Howard House
1 Brunswick Street
Belfast
BT2 7GE

028 9032 5258
david.porter@contemporarychristianity.org

Project Title: CCCI Research Project: Politics, Rights and Community Relations in Transitional Societies

Project Website: www.contemporarychristianity.org

Summary of Project:

This project is an exploration of the relations between political, human rights and community relations processes in European transitional societies and the potential for enhancing the degree of integration between these processes, with particular reference to the role of religious communities.

Aims:

To address the question of the interaction between churches in Northern Ireland and the public debate concerning peacemaking in Northern Ireland.

Objectives:

• To explore the interaction between the church and the field of community relations.
• To explore the interaction between the church and the field of human rights.
• To explore the interaction between the church and the political process.

The final report for this project is available. Please contact Libby Smit at LSmit@nicrc.org.uk or 028 9022 7500 for details.

Viewfinder 5

Viewfinder 5 examined the voluntary and community sector on a range of issues: the smoking ban to be introduced in Northern Ireland in 2007; childcare in the sector; a review of attitudes to the Year of the Volunteer, attitudes to local councils, attitudes to disability; and an overview of the key issues likely to affect the sector in the next five years.

The Viewfinder 5 survey was circulated to 895 NICVA members in late 2005. There was a 33.5% response rate.

A summary of results

• There is overwhelming support for the introduction of the smoking ban in Northern Ireland (93%).
• Only 14.4% of respondents feel the sector is very good at providing affordable and accessible childcare.
• 71.6% of respondents believe volunteers are crucial to the running of their organisation.
• 45.3% of respondents believe the outcome of the Review of Public Administration will give the sector a stronger voice in local policy-making.
• Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (2004) have had a direct impact on 83.9% of organisations.
• Funding, the RPA and whether we have an Assembly are viewed to be the most important issues likely to affect the sector in the next five years.

Download the full report

or for further information on Viewfinder 5 please contact:

Leeann Brady
Research Officer
NICVA
61 Duncairn Gardens
Belfast BT15 2GB

028 9087 7777
leeann.brady@nicva.org

Democratic Dialogue

Contact Name: Robin Wilson

Address:
Democratic Dialogue
23 University Street
Belfast
BT7 1FY

028 9022 0050

obin@democraticdialogue.org

Project Title: Community Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: Realising opportunities, meeting challenges and ensuring new innovation into the future

Project Website: www.democraticdialogue.org/reports.htm

Summary of Project:

This research seeks to examine the role that community organisations and voluntary groups play in facilitating reconciliation processes at a community level, and their relationships with local councils.

Objectives:

• To audit community relations processes within specific council areas and examine how local councils have supported and developed reconciliation initiatives in three case study areas.
• To examine how local councils have constrained or supported community initiatives to promote reconciliation.
• To examine how community projects have impacted on local council attitudes towards - and initiatives on - reconciliation, and vice versa.
• To produce detailed examinations of specific reconciliation initiatives in case study areas with analysis of how reconciliation is conceptualised, how it is put into practice and how effective the projects are in achieving their objectives.
• To produce comparative reports on how the case study projects and councils in the different areas conceptualise and operationalise reconciliation, and how this can be understood in terms of local differences, histories and cultural practices, noting how effective these initiatives are in promoting reconciliation.
• To develop a comparative understanding of the meaning of reconciliation between the case study areas.
• To extract practical lessons for community based reconciliation interventions through greater conceptual understanding and transference of knowledge between the different areas.
• To develop recommendations to guide local council attempts to enhance reconciliation.

Project reports are available and can be found on the website listed above.

For further information on any of the projects listed above please contact:

Libby Smit
Research Officer – EU Programme
Community Relations Council
6 Murray Street
Belfast BT1 6DN

028 9022 7500
LSmit@nicrc.org.uk

Recent Research

Policing, Accountability and the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community in Northern Ireland (Katy Radford, Jennifer Betts and Malcolm Ostermeyer)

The Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) and the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) commissioned the Institute for Conflict Research to undertake research on the attitudes towards and experiences of the new policing arrangements in Northern Ireland by individuals who describe themselves as being lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). The research involved a variety of methodologies including: questionnaires (completed by 233 LGB people across Northern Ireland); focus groups (involving 90 participants) and small group interviews with LGB individuals; individual in depth interviews with LGB people; representatives from key policing organisations and community organisations working with LGB people; participant observation of policing at pubs, clubs and gay-friendly venues; and observation at training sessions on LGB issues for serving police officers. The main issues addressed are the LGB population’s attitudes towards and knowledge of:

1. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and their experience of engaging with the PSNI.

2. The NIPB and District Policing Partnerships (DPPs).

3. The role of OPONI and their experience of making complaints to OPONI about the PSNI.

To date little has been written on the relationship between the PSNI and members of the LGB population. However, numerous studies in other locations document the antipathy of police personnel towards homosexuality, both in principle and in practice, with officers in many countries consistently shown to exhibit hostile, negative and stereotyped views about LGB people. Whilst the PSNI acknowledges an increase in ‘hate crime’ incidents generally, the significant increase in reports is believed to be a combination of a rise in ‘hate crime’ and also an increased willingness to report incidents to the PSNI. Policing organisations are also aware of the need to address the issue of homophobic crime and are taking action to do so.

Findings

Policing – main findings

Contact with the PSNI

• 31% (72) of respondents had been the victim of a crime within the last 12 months. (19% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey had been in contact with the PSNI within the last 12 months due to being a victim of crime.)
• 58% of these respondents thought the crime was motivated by homophobia.

Perceptions of the PSNI

• 51% of respondents thought the PSNI were professional.
• 38% of respondents thought the police were homophobic.

Joining the PSNI

• Only a quarter (24%) of respondents would consider joining the police.
• 46% of respondents would not consider joining as they felt they would not be treated well because of their sexual orientation.

NIPB – main findings

• 72% of respondents had heard of the NIPB (compared with 82% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey).
• Of these, 49% thought the NIPB was necessary and 36% identified that its role is to oversee policing by holding the Chief Constable to account (compared to 77% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey who thought that the NIPB’s primary role is “to oversee policing and hold the Chief Constable and the PSNI publicly to account”).

DPPs – main findings

• 48% of respondents had heard of DPPs, with Protestants and those aged over 26 more likely to have heard of DPPs. (58% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey had heard of DPPs.)
• Of respondents who had heard of DPPs, 48% said they had improved local policing (compared with 31% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey), 45% said they were necessary, 37% said they can help change policing, and 36% said they can make policing more acceptable.

OPONI – main findings

• 83% of respondents had heard of the Police Ombudsman (compared with 86% of respondents in the OPONI module of the March 2005 Omnibus Survey). Respondents in focus groups said they had heard of the Police Ombudsman through the media as a result of high profile investigations.

Comparison of the policing organisations

• Respondents were more likely to view the PSNI as being homophobic than the NIPB, DPPs or OPONI.
• Respondents were more likely to view PSNI as being aware of LGB issues than the NIPB, DPPs or OPONI.

For further information or a hard copy of this report please contact the ICR office.

Institute for Conflict Research
North City Business Centre
2 Duncairn Gardens
Belfast BT15 2GG
Northern Ireland

028 9074 2682
028 9035 6654
director@conflictresearch.org.uk

Policing, Accountability and the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Northern Ireland (Katy Radford, Jennifer Betts and Malcolm Ostermeyer)

The Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) and the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) commissioned the Institute for Conflict Research to undertake research on the attitudes towards, and experiences of, the new policing arrangements in Northern Ireland by individuals from the black and minority ethnic (BME) population. The research involved a variety of methodologies. These included a self completion questionnaire, which was completed by 542 people from BME groups across Northern Ireland, 25 focus groups involving 207 participants and individual in depth interviews with minority ethnic individuals. In depth interviews were also conducted with representatives from key policing organisations and community organisations working with minority ethnic groups. The main issues addressed are the BME population’s attitudes towards

and knowledge of the:

1. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and their experience of engaging with the PSNI.

2. NIPB and District Policing Partnerships (DPPs).

3. The role of OPONI and experience of making complaints to OPONI about the PSNI.

To date little has been written on the relationship between the PSNI and members of minority ethnic communities. There is, however, an extensive literature documenting the difficulties that exist in many other countries between the police and people from ethnic and racial minorities and the contributory role that racism and stereotyping by police officers can add to these problems. The data from the 2001 Census of Population indicate that the numbers of individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds currently living in Northern Ireland are very small – 14,279 adults and children (0.85% of the population of Northern Ireland). However, these figures are contested by many from within the black and minority ethnic communities and it is likely that the population of those from minority ethnic, minority faith communities and those whose nationality is from outside the UK and Ireland is likely to be closer to 45,000 people. Over recent years there has been a substantial increase in the number of racist incidents in Northern Ireland recorded on an annual basis. In 2004-2005, the PSNI recorded 813 racist incidents, an increase of 79.5% on the previous year. Despite this, racist crime is not seen as a policing priority for people in Northern Ireland, just 2% of survey respondents in the District Policing Partnership Public Consultation Survey May 2004 placed it within their top five policing priorities.

Findings

Policing – main findings

Contact with the police

• 30% (161) of respondents had been in contact with the PSNI in the last 12 months, with the main reason being to report a crime. (28% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey had been in contact with the PSNI in the last 12 months to report a crime.)
• Those who were proficient in English were more likely to have been in contact with the police.

Perceptions of the police

• Perceptions of the PSNI were mostly favourable, over half of respondents regarded the police as helpful, acceptable, professional and there for their protection.
• Large minorities thought that the police were honest and fair, but a majority of respondents were unable to say whether the police were racist, while a third thought that the police were not racist.

Joining the police

• One quarter of respondents would consider joining the police.
• Approximately one in seven respondents thought they would be treated poorly in the PSNI because of their ethnic origin, the same proportion thought they would not be recruited because of their ethnic origin.

NIPB – main findings

• 25% of respondents had heard of the NIPB (compared with 82% ofrespondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey).
• Those who had heard of the NIPB were most likely to be aged between 51 and 60 and/or permanent UK residents.

DPPs – main findings

• Only 15% of respondents had heard of DPPs (compared with 58% of respondents in the NIPB module of the April 2005 Omnibus Survey).
• Those whose English was poor and those aged under 25 were least likely to have heard of DPPs.

OPONI – main findings

• 25% of respondents had heard of the Police Ombudsman (compared with 86% of respondents in the OPONI module of the March 2005 Omnibus Survey).
• 76% of respondents who had heard of OPONI thought OPONI was necessary.

Comparison of the policing organisations

• Levels of awareness for NIPB and OPONI were the same at 25% respectively.
• The lowest level of awareness was recorded for DPPs at 15% of respondents.

For further information or a hard copy of this report please contact the ICR office.

Institute for Conflict Research
North City Business Centre
2 Duncairn Gardens
Belfast BT15 2GG
Northern Ireland

028 9074 2682
028 9035 6654
director@conflictresearch.org.uk

Publish your own research online

Like to make research more accessible? Got a research publication to plug or some research news to share? Now is the time to publish your research online. Publish it on Community NI, free of charge. Follow the simple online form found at:

http://www.communityni.org/

What is Community NI?

Community NI has been developed by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) to promote the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. The website was officially launched in April 2005.

Publish your information

The principle behind the site is that every voluntary and community organisation will be signposted and have the opportunity to publish information, whether that be a newsletter, press release, job advertisement or event. Community NI aims to be the first central online source of information about the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. It gives voluntary and community organisations the chance to promote themselves on the internet and to share their resources and expertise.

Thanks to everyone who sent information that has been included in NICVA Research Update 45. Please remember to send information about research that you have undertaken and requests for information that you would like included in the next update. Also remember to let others know about NICVA Research Updates. To register send an email entitled ‘NICVA Research Updates’ to andrea.burke@nicva.org

Andrea Burke
Research Assistant
NICVA
61 Duncairn Gardens
BELFAST BT15 2GB
T: 028 9087 7777
F: 028 9087 7799

andrea.burke@nicva.org

www.nicva.org and www.communityni.org