NCJ Number
220955
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 417-441
Date Published
November 2007
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article explores the challenges that non-normative sexualities, in particular lesbian and gay generate for community and neighborhood models and practices of policing.
Abstract
All the case studies explored offer different instances of the enduring challenge of policing in an age of diversity and provide an opportunity to reflect on police and community responses both past, present, and future. While non-normative sexual communities (gay and lesbian) are often represented as sometimes in opposition to and always relatively remote from the institutions of policing and security, the reflections on common assumptions and misconceptions of the nature of violence point to shared assumptions and expectations. The suggestion here is that these work to sustain an idea of community and neighborhood or more specifically an idea of community where the division between good and evil, truth and falsity is simplified and sentimentalized. Through a series of reflections arising out of a number of encounters with lesbians and gay men, the police, policymakers, and activists, this article explores challenges that non-normative sexualities, in particular lesbian and gay generate for community and neighborhood models and practices of policing in England and Wales. These encounters occurred over a 5-year period in several different geographical and institutional locations. Notes, references