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"The research ETHNOS conducted on Black and Asian people's reasons for perceiving key public services to be either fair or discriminatory is an excellent example of the value of robust qualitative research for policy purposes. It has been used by directors across public services to help them attain their PSA 2 target. We have also used it internally as an example of best practice in qualitative research
for training purposes across the department."

Stella Yarrow
Head of Race and Faith Research Team
Cohesion Research
Communities and Local Government

Modern, fair and effective public services are not possible if significant sections of the population perceive them as discriminatory. To better understand why some people perceive certain public services to be discriminatory, CLG commissioned ETHNOS to conduct a detailed qualitative study of key drivers of perceptions of racial discrimination in eight public services: council housing departments and housing associations, local schools, local doctors’ surgeries, the police service, the prison service, the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the probation service.

The research combined two qualitative methods: semi-structured face-to-face individual interviews and vignettes representing scenarios specifically designed to be ambiguous about whether or not they depicted situations in which racial discrimination was displayed. One hundred and twenty (120) people from Asian and black backgrounds in England and Wales were interviewed.

The study identified that perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to various psychosocial factors - people’s self-concept, view of the world, understanding of racial discrimination, sensitivity to racial discrimination, and the sources and types of knowledge on which they base their perceptions – as well as to a wide range of factors specific to individual public services.

The report led to a range of recommendations that pertain to: greater involvement and consultation of minority ethnic communities; greater diversity of the workforce; greater professionalism amongst service providers and access to diversity and equality training; improvements in customer service; greater transparency of decision-making; better communications and explanations about procedure and decisions; systematic monitoring and evaluation of public services and evidence of progress; and greater accountability, access to complaints procedures, possibility of redress and tougher sanctions against racial discrimination.

METROPOLITAN POLICE

Attitudes towards reporting suspicious behaviour to the police

Efforts to combat domestic terrorism largely depend on intelligence from local communities. There is a need, therefore, for local communities to recognise what the police define as "suspicious" behaviour and to feel confident about reporting such behaviours. The Metropolitan Police commissioned ETHNOS to examine issues linked to the identification and reporting of "suspicious" behaviour to the police, as well as issues of trust in the police, among diverse communities in London. The study led to a London-wide communications campaign, designed in
partnership with MediaCom, on the reporting of suspicious behaviours.

LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST

Young people and disengagement: Young people in the Sikh community

As part of its local Community Cohesion Strategy (2008-2011), the London Borough of Waltham Forest is seeking to promote community cohesion and to tackle extremism within all its local communities. They commissioned ETHNOS to:

• identify whether young Sikhs perceive their borough to be cohesive and what are the drivers for their perceptions
• determine whether low perceived cohesion could lead to support for extremist ideologies
• identify key organisations to leverage to access the local Sikh community
• recommend strategies to addresses any grievances identified

ETHNOS carried out:

• a rapid review on Sikhism and the Sikh community in Britain
• eight interviews with key statutory, community and faith stakeholders in Waltham Forest
• six focus groups with young Sikh and other residents in Waltham Forest
• observations at community events and in local Sikh organisations

The report provides a demographic, economic and social-psychological profile of the Sikh community in Waltham Forest. It reports on how Sikh identity is lived by young people and on the resources which are mobilised to establish and defend a Sikh identity. The report shows that there is very little support at all for extremist ideologies among Sikhs in Waltham Forest. However, it also identifies three factors that undermine community cohesion:

• perceived injustice against Sikhs in the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7 and concern that resources are “unfairly” diverted towards the Muslim
community
• experiences of direct discrimination
• the local penetration of the international neo-Khalistani movement

ETHNOS makes a number of recommendations to build the council’s capacity to engage with young Sikhs, via both religious and secular (community and statutory) organisations.

HAMPSHIRE POLICE CONSTABULARY

Black and minority ethnic communities’ satisfaction with the police 

Hampshire Police wished to understand why ethnic minority victims of crime are more likely to be dissatisfied with the service they receive from the police than the general population. Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with victims of crime, ETHNOS established the reasons for the dissatisfaction, identified ways of improving satisfaction levels and developed strategies for sensitive communication with ethnic minority victims of crime.