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CIVIL DISORDER: PERSPECTIVES AND EXPLANATIONS

01 January 1991

CIVIL DISORDER: PERSPECTIVES AND EXPLANATIONS
refdoc July=1991

JOURNAL ARTICLE , User Ref = 009359
J Benyon
Youth in Soc, Jul 1986 (116) pp15-17

Identifies three types of response to civil disorder: the
conservative which sees disorder as aberrant and largely
criminally motivated; the liberal which emphasises the social
causes of disorder; and the radical which interprets collective
violence as politically purposeful. All three responses were
evident following the disorders of 1980, 1981 and 1985 with the
conservative explanation having the greatest effect on policy.
Argues that if the other types of explanation have any validity,
the use of a tough law and order approach may exacerbate rather
than cure the problem by fuelling perceptions of injustice,
especially among ethnic minority groups and young people.

United Kingdom, public order, inner city, police

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