Social Control in the Face of Security and Minority Threats: The Effects of Terrorism, Minority Threat and Economic Crisis on the Law Enforcement System in Israel

• NCJ Number: 229238
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 772-787
• Author(s): Revital Sela-Shayovitz
• Date Published: November 2009
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study examined the Second Intifada in Israel and the impact of security, minority, and economic threats on social control imposed on the Arab-Israeli minorities.

Abstract

Findings suggest a strong and statistically significant interaction effect between the Intifada and ethnic origin for all the felonies that were examined; during periods of a heightened security threat, coercive control imposed on the Arab-Israeli minority was significantly intensified. The effect of the Second Intifada was significantly different for the two ethnic groups. Arab-Israeli pre-trial detentions increased and were significantly higher than those of Jews. A significant interaction term was found between the number of terrorist attacks and ethnic origin for public order offenses. In the months with multiple terrorist attacks, Israeli-Arab detentions for public order offenses significantly increased in the subsequent month. The sharp increase in Israeli-Arab pre-trial detention rates during the Intifada essentially reflects the tendency of the law enforcement system to enhance control during a period of heightened security threat caused by intensive terrorist attacks. Tables, figures, and references