Public Violence in Urban Quarters. A Comparative Investigation of Ethnically Different Social Milieus

Public violence in urban quarters: a comparative investigation of ethnically different social milieus.

The goal of the research was to identify the specific structure of ethnic difference through a comparison of (a) mono-ethnic, (b) bi-ethnic and (c) multi-ethnic residential environments, investigating whether and to what extent these particular socio-cultural and ethnic constellations can influence, encourage, or prevent the manifestation of individual and group violence. A combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments was applied to elicit data concerning the sphere of small-scale everyday violence.
The quantitative part is divided in three parts:
1. To identify the objective reality of each district and the subjective experience of that by the inhabitants the first part is about the inhabitants demography, social environment and perception of their district. Furthermore they were asked to describe their social milieu and especially their fears of and experiences with social desintegration. This also covered their neighbourly relations.
2. The second part contains aspects of the awareness of group-focused enmity and conflicts within the own district. Also asked were questions about the personal values, the feeling of security and affinity towards violence. The evaluation of the society´s condition is measured with questions about generalized trust.
3. The third part operationalizes the chances of one´s influence, the influence of the political system and different aspects of violence and control.

The data covers the relation between:
- the ethnic formation and the perception of the problems of the propensity of violence withing a district
- the awareness of problems and the experience of violence, crime and victimization, the legitimation of violence and the demand for more and stronger controls
- value orientations and the individual willingness to use violence
- social milieus and voluntary work
- perception of own situation and intention of moving.