Crystal Medrano

                                                                                                            Crystal Medrano

                                                                                                                     590 words

Brutal borders? Examining the treatment of deportees during arrest and detention

The study examined and explored situational, ecological and organizational approaches that contribute to understanding the experiences of deportee's and measure the use of justified or excessive force, verbal harassment, procedural failings and treatment by trained and local personnel. Data was gathered through El Salvador's "Bienvenido a Casa," organization. It was organized and financed by the Center for Immigration Research at the University of Houston, and directed by Scott Phillips, at the University of Denver. Research took place at BAC's job placement meetings with deportees, where representatives interviewed a random sample of deportees. The interviewers, former Salvadoran deportees, were trained and conducted interviews from June 2002 to December 2002. Deportees were selected randomly and those that agreed were assured discretion, interviewed at their homes and responses would be documented to minimize fear. In all, they were able to gather 300 interviews from young men who were around 29 years old and had spent about 4 months to a year detained.  Demographic predictors of force were measured based on arrest and detention.

 The findings found that excessive force was commonly used when Salvadoran deportees were arrested and detained. It was found that 81out 92 cases used excessive force despite not resisting at time of the arrest. Also, Salvadoran deportees experienced more excessive force than U.S citizens.

            Moreover, arrest predictors that were significant to the use of excessive force, was age and authorities doing the arrest. Local police use more excessive force than do trained federal authorities. Significant detention predictors were age and length of detainment. Being detained 4 months or more, increased the chance of receiving mistreatment. It was reported that deportees did not have adequate resource while being detained and no measure of contact. Verbal harassment such as racial slurs and procedural failings occurred very often during both encounters. Hence, it was found that having legal counsel can lower experiencing excessive force.

 

"White Perceptions of Whether African Americans and Hispanics are Prone to Violence and Support for the Death Penalty"

The focus was to examine any changes in 1990 and 2000 among Whites supporting the death penalty and the influence of their own racial-ethnic preconceptions and stereotypical views towards African Americans and Hispanics being more violent/criminal prone than their own group.

Data was gathered from the General Social Survey, directed by the NORC. Respondents were only White adults, who had been chosen through a sample of U.S households. 1990 and 2000 were specifically analyzed, because the violent crime rate differed. A "white centric" measurement of racial and ethnic stereotypes was used, asking whites to rate their own likelihood to use violent behaviors, as well as the likelihood of African Americans and Hispanics. The goal was to understand the extent of whites viewing Africans and Hispanics as more violent than those of their own race group. Research was dependent on whites favoring or not favoring the death penalty for those convicted of murder, measuring for vindictive attitudes. Demographics were used as controlled predictor measures.

            Findings found that having racial and ethnic prejudice did influence whites support for the death penalty in 1990 and 2000. In 1990, it was seen that if whites did believe that African and Hispanics were more violent then, they would most likely support capital punishment, but by 2000 that relationship did change. The change was explained by how whites perceive minority violent behaviors and their own expectations of what is tolerable. It was found that the belief whites had about African Americans and Hispanics being more violent than their own group decreased from 1990 (15%) to 2000 (5%). Therefore, there is a connection between race and having vindictive attitudes, as well as supporting the death penalty.