RESEARCH PROJECT

The project Police and social change: the challenges of gender and ethnicity in contemporary Italy has as the main objective to investigate the characteristics and adequacy of police responses to the challenges of an increasing diverse society: the relationship between police and ethnicity and gender, on the one hand, and the cultural and organizational practices underlying training and practices of police in these two areas, on the other hand, will be analyzed. About the first dimension (ethnicity), we focus on young people of migrant origin (regardless of their citizenship). About the second dimension (gender), victims of gender-based violence (women and people of the LGBTQ+ community) will be considered. A third line of research, concerning police institutional, organizational and training features in relation to the two dimensions mentioned above will provide the background for. The ultimate goal of the research is to highlight organizational, training and accountability changes that would make the police better able to interact with an increasingly diverse society in terms of ethnicity and gender. The research is based on a mix-methods analysis, including document analysis, interviews and focus group, and surveys.