Author: Sharon Hartles May(2016)
The conception of security is a central theme for contemporary social worlds. It is entwined in all individuals' private and public lives on a local, national, international and global level. An overview of ways in which security can be more commonly understood include emotional, personal, economic, financial, health, household, housing, resource, environmental and national security. In its most general sense security refers to a state of being safe and untroubled by danger. In the realm of social science security means much more than that. It is a complex, multifaceted and ambiguous conception which changes over time and place. In order to narrow down such a broad conception this research will focus upon the conception of ontological security (Giddens, 1991 and Laing 1960). The discourse of crimmigration, or the criminalisation of immigration law (Stumpf, 2006), is one example from a vast array which can be exemplified to reveal the relationship between security and mediation. The pursuit of security implies that there are pursuers and those who are pursued. Within the framing device of crimmigration the pursuers will be demonstrated to be individuals who participate in the facilitation and enactment of immigration policy discourse. Conversely, the pursued will be illustrated as all individuals whose actions and behaviours are effected as a result of this criminalising discourse. Mediation or media and translation has been chosen from a myriad of sociological concerns which are available, for the purpose of illuminating the significant role that the media has in informing and influencing mass audiences. Simultaneously, it will shed light on how this impacts on the translation of the perceptions of immigrants. In doing so it will highlight the source behind the vehicle which is driving forward the demand for an ever increasing punitive shift towards crimmigration measures.
The history of humankind goes hand in hand with the history of migration. It claims that migration routes can be traced back to Africa and that this took place between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago. Therefore this leads to the assumption that without mass human migration all other continents would not be populated today. It can be proposed that migration is a normalised phenomenon which occurs naturally through time and place. There are numerous reasons for migration, which can fall under the areas inclusive of economic, cultural, environmental and social-political (bbc.co.uk, 2014). Migration can be attributed to push and pull factors. An overview of push factors include, conflict, famine, drought, religious activity, persecution and economic decline. More generally, push factors can be understood as factors which influence individuals to migrate either voluntarily, or by force. Alternatively, pull factors are what attract individuals to their destination country. An overview of pull factors include, economic prosperity, family, weather, welfare provision, stability, democracy and more obviously a less likely chance of the push factors re-occurring. In the process of disassembling the driving forces behind migration it becomes apparent that there is a theme underpinning these areas and factors. Although known by a variety of different discourses, such as economic, environmental, push, pull, drought, and persecution; individuals are all merely pursuing security. To sum this up, individuals migrate in the hope of a better life, a desire to feel safe and untroubled by danger, by offsetting risk to have ontological security. The conception of ontological security can be used to help to understand how social worlds are made up. Giddens (1991) defines this as a sense of order which stems from the social worlds an individual inhabits. It can be understood further as one's sense of self together with a sense of significance which leads to an individual knowing their place in the world. Laing (1960) however, also raised the issue of others within ontological security. He suggests that it is only through having the sense that an individual is significant to at least one other individual in the world that ontological security becomes possible. In more simple terms; ontological security is achieved through routines, repetitions and practices; as well as through interactions, feeling loved and being recognised.
This research focuses on individuals by incorporating the conceptions of the pursuer and the pursued. However, there are a multitude of conceptions which could have been chosen to represent these categories. Although known by other names such as; included, excluded, problem populations, othering, superior, inferior or scope of membership; they all demonstrate the same social inequality or social injustice. Kaufman, (2013) suggests that they all stem from a dualistic orientation which focuses on individual differences instead of their similarities. Basically, they all reveal an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mindset. To explore this further, it is important to clarify that a social world can vary dramatically in scope and population because it is dependent on the definition; examples include local, national, international and global understandings. For the purpose of this research social worlds will be defined as national entities. Within the framework of crimmigration a generic assumption of the pursuers would indicate these individuals to be those who have legal membership within a given social world (Stumpf, 2006). On the other hand, the pursued are individuals within that social world who do not have membership. The relevant labelling for these two categories of individuals would be that of citizens and immigrants. With this in mind the relationship between the pursuer/pursued and the intertwining of ontological insecurities can now be elaborated. Citizens (us) and immigrants (them) simultaneously experience feelings of ontological insecurity. Ontological insecurities of citizens are perceived to be triggered by immigrants. Equally, ontological insecurities of immigrants are perceived to be triggered by citizens of a given social world. Evidently though, the ontological security of citizens are fundamentally prioritised over that of immigrants because they have a social contract (Stumpf, 2006). In other words citizens are included and immigrants are excluded. It can be claimed that security will always be pursued; it may never fully be achieved because it is paradoxically being fuelled by insecurity.
To provide a more comprehensive, coherent and detailed account to what is a very complex and intricate domain, the conception of mediation will now be progressively introduced. This will elucidate the paradoxical, spiralling, mutual correlation between security, mediation and the punitive shift towards crimmigration law. First and foremost, this will start at the point of briefly summarising what is meant by the term mediation. In sociology mediation has a few meanings. The two main ones are that it refers to the media’s role in informing and influencing a mass audience, thus demonstrating the significant control it has in shaping social worlds. Modes of communication can include; the press, television, film, magazines, publishing and the internet (Hall, 1997). Secondly, it refers to translation, the processes by which individuals and things pass from one social world into another. This process reveals how an event is effectively converted, which is often for the benefit of certain key groups. In more general terms it sheds light on the ways in which individuals are translated into different social roles for example citizens or immigrants. Mediation illustrates the way the experience of an event or thing can be shaped by an external agent or mediating devices. For the purpose of this research examples which will be housed within the conception of mediation devices include; language, cultural discourses, narrative and rituals. In addition to these further examples it covers include agencies, material artefacts, entities and intermediaries of all kinds. Interestingly, these mediation devices can support translation by allowing individuals to fulfil their social roles or they can come to stand in for and take on the role of individuals.
A historical overview of the introduction of migration laws together with the deconstruction of the political landscape will make way for the synthesis of the role of mediation within the social world. Migration laws are relatively a new form of discourse which have reflected changes of ontological insecurities within contemporary social worlds. Immigration laws have restricted the movement of particular categories of individuals since the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries. Examples of such laws include, the Immigration Act, 1869 (Canada), Immigration Act, 1882 (USA), Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (Australia) and The Aliens Act 1905 (UK) (Garner and Watson, 2015). The aforementioned laws are the enacted outcome of the political process. Furthermore, they are one example of a mediation device which is utilised to restrict migration. It is merely just one strand from a multiplex agenda, this being the institution of the political arena which contains a plenitude of intricate stems of mediation devices. In democratic social worlds the political process is accepted by the majority of citizens. It is a recognised, established system of fairness and it is this which maintains social stability. Citizens over a certain age; reflective of practices/discourses throughout time and place (nationalarchives.gov.uk, 2016), legally have the right to have their voices heard and this can be achieved through participation in the electoral voting system. It is this process that determines the rules on how parties and candidates within political procedures are elected (parliament.uk, 2016). This demonstrates a variety of strands of mediation devices. Other mediation devices include the governmental proposed bills, the House of Commons, the House of Lords and manifesto discourse, but to list a few. What should now become clearer is how these mediation devices within the political arena support the facilitation of the translation of individuals' actions and behaviours. The resulting enactment of laws translates migration into two categories, these being legal and illegal. Additionally, it makes visible how these events favour the ontological security of citizens, advertently and diametrically precipitating ontological insecurities of immigrants.
Thus far, due to the breadth of this research a narrow, generic or universal approach has been adopted to the conceptions of citizens and immigrants. However, in order to add depth and balance attention can now be given to expanding these understandings. This deciphering will start from the point of consensual common knowledge. It is known that not all citizens participate in the electoral voting system; reasons for this may include autonomy or heteronomy. Of those citizens, who do partake in the political process, not all necessarily vote for a political party based on its punitive measures towards immigration as outlined in its manifesto discourse. It is also commonly accepted that particular kinds of migration can be excused if it is deemed to be of benefit to a given social world, even if it triggers ontological insecurities. This can be evidenced by immigration including skilled labour and unskilled labour, such as doctors, nurses and field pickers who are invited to fill in the supply and demand shortages. What this reveals is that it is particular patterns or surges of immigration from problem places and problem populations which are driving forward the punitive shift towards crimmigration. To sum this up, mediation has been exemplified for the purpose of demonstrating an acceptable, justifiable and plausible interdependence between translation, mediation devices and that of the pursuit of ontological security. Moreover, it has provided an initial linkage in the ongoing development of the suggested relationship between the pursuit of security and the punitive shift towards crimmigration law.
This analysis will continue by considering the significant role which the media plays in informing and influencing mass audiences. Before this can take place it is imperative to point out that the media, simultaneously mediates and is the mediator of translations. Alternatively, it conducts, and is the conductor of mediation. Barnes' (2009) research; Displacing Danger: Managing Crime Through Deportation; will be applied to demonstrate how this model works. In their initial social role immigrants were perceived as poverty-stricken. Translation took place via the media/mediation devices, this being in the form of the coverage of crimes against citizens by immigrants. In their newly converted social role immigrants are now perceived as dangerous threats and potential criminals. This media/mediation led to a moral panic. A direct response to this public outrage was the introduction of Bill C-44, the Danger to Public clause which was added to the Immigration Act of Canada (1995). This has made visible the impacts the media has on translating the perceptions that citizens have of immigrants. It will now be suggested that the media plays a significant role in provoking ontological insecurities of citizens and baiting the perceptions of immigrants through the process of translation. It is common knowledge that media coverage has mediated immigration of particular kinds of individuals from particular places in an unsympathetic manner. Instability and conflict-torn countries experiencing warfare such as the Syrian war (2011 to present) has primarily been represented in a quantitative way. One way in which the media has mediated this event is through the movement of thousands of immigrants who have crossed into Europe in 2015 (BBC, 2016). Events such as the 2001 attacks in the USA (war on terror - 9/11), 2005 London bombings (7/7) and the 2015 Paris terror attacks have all overtime, provided opportunities for the media to translate the perception of the immigrant from hardworking, scofflaw, criminal to terrorist (Stumpf, 2006). Per contra, to balance this narrative out it will be conveyed that not all media coverage is disproportionately represented. 'We are born of immigrants. That is who we are. Immigration is our origin story' (Obama, 2015, quoted in theguardian.com, 2015). To round this off it is clear to see how the media controls and influences negative and positive perceptions of immigration through translation.
This is achieved through the conception of journalistic gate-keeping. Ultimately, what this means is that a handful of powerful individuals control the translating perceptions which its mass audience (citizens) have of immigrants. These powerful individuals do this by deciding what information is shared/withheld about immigrants and how it is portrayed. According to the media, contemporary ontological insecurities are being underpinned by the rapid influx of immigrants. However, it can be argued that these perceptions are the outcome of translations which are originated by the media. The exploration of mediation has allowed for the suggested findings that the media creates scare mongering in the form of the perceived acceleration of social change which is rooted and fashioned upon an immigration crisis. To elaborate, such perceptions of rapid social changes can trigger ‘an ongoing and disparate feeling of precariousness in one’s daily life and in one’s sense of self, a lack of confidence in one’s own identity’ (Young, 2007). Fundamentally, the media mediates resentment and ontological uncertainties into the national psyche. What this has highlighted is the power that the media has to mobilise public opinion by influencing the perceptions which citizens have of immigrants. Moreover, confirming the plausibility that the media plays a significant role in driving forward the punitive shift towards crimmigration laws.
According to Young (2007) ontological insecurities have resulted in pressure being placed upon policy makers which has lead to the tightening of immigration policy through crimminalisation. This tightening or shift towards punitivity means that systems of punishment are becoming harsher and that these measures have a large following of popular support. What this makes apparent is the shift towards crimmigration. Stumpf (2006) defines crimmigration as the response to immigration patterns. The two main concerns it specifies are the gradual incorporation of criminal law into immigration law and how routine practices in the immigration system have become more punitive. Both of these concerns make way for the labelling of individuals into insiders and outsiders… 'innocent versus guilty, admitted versus excluded or, as some say, legal versus illegal' (Stumpf, 2006, p. 380). The changing political landscape and manifesto discourses reflect this shift. Political party manifestos clearly outline a difference in policy discourse not only over time and place, but also between parties with some taking much harsher lines than others towards the criminalisation of immigration discourse (Wilkinson, 2016). The Conservative party (1997) declared Britain to be a tolerant social world which has an excellent record in race relations. This was underpinned by firm, but fair, immigration controls (conservativemanifesto.com, 1997). In contrast, current depictions continue to suggest that the media is mediating damage to the relations between citizens (us) and immigrants (them) (Robinson, 2015). This is clearly supported by Punjabi (2015) who claims that academic researchers interim findings suggest that the main outcome of the Home Office, Go Home Van, campaign in July 2013 was to ramp up public anxieties about immigration in local areas.
Over a relatively short period of time there has been a dramatic shift towards crimmigration. An overview reveals that in the UK over a period of eighty-two years, seventy types of immigration offences were enacted in the UK (1905 to 1996). In comparison over a period of fourteen years, eighty-four further immigration offences were enacted (1997 to 2010) (Aliverti, 2013). According to Aliverti (2013) of the million plus individuals in prisons more than 460,000 are immigrants within the social worlds in which they are being held. Furthermore, in England and Wales around 600 immigrants are held as detainees. An additional 3,000 immigrants; many of whom do not have a criminal record are held in immigration removal centres. Dearden, (2015) encapsulates how immigrants are welcomed by mediation devices which are more commonly associated with convicted criminals. Welcoming devices include fingerprinting, numbering, detention and the police. What this has helped to reveal is the pendulum relationship between the so called immigration crisis and that of the crimmigration crisis. A fitting way to round off this research is with a quote from Kubal, who is a British Academy Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Socio-Legal Studies (Law.ox.ac.uk, 2016). 'I may not be legal, but I am not a criminal' (Kubal, 2013, quoted in youtube.com, 2016).
In conclusion, focus was geared towards the explanation of five key conceptions which framed and underpinned the research question. These were security, pursuit, punitivity, crimmigration and mediation. These conceptions were introduced throughout this research in a particular order to allow for a layering effect to become visible. Moreover, this layering technique was chosen for the purpose of unravelling and revealing the interdependent and intertwining relationships between all of these conceptions. In doing so, it has illustrated the punitive shift towards the criminalisation of immigration law, or crimmigration and the pursuit of ontological security. Equally, it has highlighted the changing construction of the conceptions of the pursuer (us) and pursued (them), coupled with the overwhelming role which the media possesses in influencing and mobilising public opinions. In addition it has demonstrated how this takes place through mediation devices and the translation of perceptions. Evidently, this has made visible how mediation is ubiquitous within all practices that underpin a given social world. Interestingly, it has exposed a labyrinth of spiralling paradoxes such as the pursuit of ontological security driven by insecurity and vice versa ontological insecurity fuelling the desire for security. To summarise, the theme of security and the sociological concern of mediation have illuminated the contemporary social issue of crimmigration. This uncloaking has in turn led to an unveiling of the relationship between the individual and the social. Furthermore, this has shed light on the developing understandings of how the social worlds are continually constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed. Based upon contemporary trends and the shift towards punitivity, it is feasible to imply that the scope of crimmigration will indefinitely expand over time and place. For this reason it is plausible to suggest that research into this field will continue to intrigue and be of interest to academics such as sociologists, psychologists, criminologists and non-academics alike.
References
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http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/PSJ%20January%202013%20No.%20205.pdf (Accessed 12th April 2016)
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Please cite this article as:
Hartles, S (2016) How can the pursuit of security help to explain the punitive shift towards crimmigration law? [Online] Available at https://sharonhartles.weebly.com/how-can-the-pursuit-of-security-help-to-explain-the-punitive-shift-towards-crimmigration-law.html (Accessed)
ATTRIBUTION
All works are Open Access articles distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original works are properly cited.
© Sharon Hartles 2022.
The conception of security is a central theme for contemporary social worlds. It is entwined in all individuals' private and public lives on a local, national, international and global level. An overview of ways in which security can be more commonly understood include emotional, personal, economic, financial, health, household, housing, resource, environmental and national security. In its most general sense security refers to a state of being safe and untroubled by danger. In the realm of social science security means much more than that. It is a complex, multifaceted and ambiguous conception which changes over time and place. In order to narrow down such a broad conception this research will focus upon the conception of ontological security (Giddens, 1991 and Laing 1960). The discourse of crimmigration, or the criminalisation of immigration law (Stumpf, 2006), is one example from a vast array which can be exemplified to reveal the relationship between security and mediation. The pursuit of security implies that there are pursuers and those who are pursued. Within the framing device of crimmigration the pursuers will be demonstrated to be individuals who participate in the facilitation and enactment of immigration policy discourse. Conversely, the pursued will be illustrated as all individuals whose actions and behaviours are effected as a result of this criminalising discourse. Mediation or media and translation has been chosen from a myriad of sociological concerns which are available, for the purpose of illuminating the significant role that the media has in informing and influencing mass audiences. Simultaneously, it will shed light on how this impacts on the translation of the perceptions of immigrants. In doing so it will highlight the source behind the vehicle which is driving forward the demand for an ever increasing punitive shift towards crimmigration measures.
The history of humankind goes hand in hand with the history of migration. It claims that migration routes can be traced back to Africa and that this took place between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago. Therefore this leads to the assumption that without mass human migration all other continents would not be populated today. It can be proposed that migration is a normalised phenomenon which occurs naturally through time and place. There are numerous reasons for migration, which can fall under the areas inclusive of economic, cultural, environmental and social-political (bbc.co.uk, 2014). Migration can be attributed to push and pull factors. An overview of push factors include, conflict, famine, drought, religious activity, persecution and economic decline. More generally, push factors can be understood as factors which influence individuals to migrate either voluntarily, or by force. Alternatively, pull factors are what attract individuals to their destination country. An overview of pull factors include, economic prosperity, family, weather, welfare provision, stability, democracy and more obviously a less likely chance of the push factors re-occurring. In the process of disassembling the driving forces behind migration it becomes apparent that there is a theme underpinning these areas and factors. Although known by a variety of different discourses, such as economic, environmental, push, pull, drought, and persecution; individuals are all merely pursuing security. To sum this up, individuals migrate in the hope of a better life, a desire to feel safe and untroubled by danger, by offsetting risk to have ontological security. The conception of ontological security can be used to help to understand how social worlds are made up. Giddens (1991) defines this as a sense of order which stems from the social worlds an individual inhabits. It can be understood further as one's sense of self together with a sense of significance which leads to an individual knowing their place in the world. Laing (1960) however, also raised the issue of others within ontological security. He suggests that it is only through having the sense that an individual is significant to at least one other individual in the world that ontological security becomes possible. In more simple terms; ontological security is achieved through routines, repetitions and practices; as well as through interactions, feeling loved and being recognised.
This research focuses on individuals by incorporating the conceptions of the pursuer and the pursued. However, there are a multitude of conceptions which could have been chosen to represent these categories. Although known by other names such as; included, excluded, problem populations, othering, superior, inferior or scope of membership; they all demonstrate the same social inequality or social injustice. Kaufman, (2013) suggests that they all stem from a dualistic orientation which focuses on individual differences instead of their similarities. Basically, they all reveal an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mindset. To explore this further, it is important to clarify that a social world can vary dramatically in scope and population because it is dependent on the definition; examples include local, national, international and global understandings. For the purpose of this research social worlds will be defined as national entities. Within the framework of crimmigration a generic assumption of the pursuers would indicate these individuals to be those who have legal membership within a given social world (Stumpf, 2006). On the other hand, the pursued are individuals within that social world who do not have membership. The relevant labelling for these two categories of individuals would be that of citizens and immigrants. With this in mind the relationship between the pursuer/pursued and the intertwining of ontological insecurities can now be elaborated. Citizens (us) and immigrants (them) simultaneously experience feelings of ontological insecurity. Ontological insecurities of citizens are perceived to be triggered by immigrants. Equally, ontological insecurities of immigrants are perceived to be triggered by citizens of a given social world. Evidently though, the ontological security of citizens are fundamentally prioritised over that of immigrants because they have a social contract (Stumpf, 2006). In other words citizens are included and immigrants are excluded. It can be claimed that security will always be pursued; it may never fully be achieved because it is paradoxically being fuelled by insecurity.
To provide a more comprehensive, coherent and detailed account to what is a very complex and intricate domain, the conception of mediation will now be progressively introduced. This will elucidate the paradoxical, spiralling, mutual correlation between security, mediation and the punitive shift towards crimmigration law. First and foremost, this will start at the point of briefly summarising what is meant by the term mediation. In sociology mediation has a few meanings. The two main ones are that it refers to the media’s role in informing and influencing a mass audience, thus demonstrating the significant control it has in shaping social worlds. Modes of communication can include; the press, television, film, magazines, publishing and the internet (Hall, 1997). Secondly, it refers to translation, the processes by which individuals and things pass from one social world into another. This process reveals how an event is effectively converted, which is often for the benefit of certain key groups. In more general terms it sheds light on the ways in which individuals are translated into different social roles for example citizens or immigrants. Mediation illustrates the way the experience of an event or thing can be shaped by an external agent or mediating devices. For the purpose of this research examples which will be housed within the conception of mediation devices include; language, cultural discourses, narrative and rituals. In addition to these further examples it covers include agencies, material artefacts, entities and intermediaries of all kinds. Interestingly, these mediation devices can support translation by allowing individuals to fulfil their social roles or they can come to stand in for and take on the role of individuals.
A historical overview of the introduction of migration laws together with the deconstruction of the political landscape will make way for the synthesis of the role of mediation within the social world. Migration laws are relatively a new form of discourse which have reflected changes of ontological insecurities within contemporary social worlds. Immigration laws have restricted the movement of particular categories of individuals since the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries. Examples of such laws include, the Immigration Act, 1869 (Canada), Immigration Act, 1882 (USA), Immigration Restriction Act 1901 (Australia) and The Aliens Act 1905 (UK) (Garner and Watson, 2015). The aforementioned laws are the enacted outcome of the political process. Furthermore, they are one example of a mediation device which is utilised to restrict migration. It is merely just one strand from a multiplex agenda, this being the institution of the political arena which contains a plenitude of intricate stems of mediation devices. In democratic social worlds the political process is accepted by the majority of citizens. It is a recognised, established system of fairness and it is this which maintains social stability. Citizens over a certain age; reflective of practices/discourses throughout time and place (nationalarchives.gov.uk, 2016), legally have the right to have their voices heard and this can be achieved through participation in the electoral voting system. It is this process that determines the rules on how parties and candidates within political procedures are elected (parliament.uk, 2016). This demonstrates a variety of strands of mediation devices. Other mediation devices include the governmental proposed bills, the House of Commons, the House of Lords and manifesto discourse, but to list a few. What should now become clearer is how these mediation devices within the political arena support the facilitation of the translation of individuals' actions and behaviours. The resulting enactment of laws translates migration into two categories, these being legal and illegal. Additionally, it makes visible how these events favour the ontological security of citizens, advertently and diametrically precipitating ontological insecurities of immigrants.
Thus far, due to the breadth of this research a narrow, generic or universal approach has been adopted to the conceptions of citizens and immigrants. However, in order to add depth and balance attention can now be given to expanding these understandings. This deciphering will start from the point of consensual common knowledge. It is known that not all citizens participate in the electoral voting system; reasons for this may include autonomy or heteronomy. Of those citizens, who do partake in the political process, not all necessarily vote for a political party based on its punitive measures towards immigration as outlined in its manifesto discourse. It is also commonly accepted that particular kinds of migration can be excused if it is deemed to be of benefit to a given social world, even if it triggers ontological insecurities. This can be evidenced by immigration including skilled labour and unskilled labour, such as doctors, nurses and field pickers who are invited to fill in the supply and demand shortages. What this reveals is that it is particular patterns or surges of immigration from problem places and problem populations which are driving forward the punitive shift towards crimmigration. To sum this up, mediation has been exemplified for the purpose of demonstrating an acceptable, justifiable and plausible interdependence between translation, mediation devices and that of the pursuit of ontological security. Moreover, it has provided an initial linkage in the ongoing development of the suggested relationship between the pursuit of security and the punitive shift towards crimmigration law.
This analysis will continue by considering the significant role which the media plays in informing and influencing mass audiences. Before this can take place it is imperative to point out that the media, simultaneously mediates and is the mediator of translations. Alternatively, it conducts, and is the conductor of mediation. Barnes' (2009) research; Displacing Danger: Managing Crime Through Deportation; will be applied to demonstrate how this model works. In their initial social role immigrants were perceived as poverty-stricken. Translation took place via the media/mediation devices, this being in the form of the coverage of crimes against citizens by immigrants. In their newly converted social role immigrants are now perceived as dangerous threats and potential criminals. This media/mediation led to a moral panic. A direct response to this public outrage was the introduction of Bill C-44, the Danger to Public clause which was added to the Immigration Act of Canada (1995). This has made visible the impacts the media has on translating the perceptions that citizens have of immigrants. It will now be suggested that the media plays a significant role in provoking ontological insecurities of citizens and baiting the perceptions of immigrants through the process of translation. It is common knowledge that media coverage has mediated immigration of particular kinds of individuals from particular places in an unsympathetic manner. Instability and conflict-torn countries experiencing warfare such as the Syrian war (2011 to present) has primarily been represented in a quantitative way. One way in which the media has mediated this event is through the movement of thousands of immigrants who have crossed into Europe in 2015 (BBC, 2016). Events such as the 2001 attacks in the USA (war on terror - 9/11), 2005 London bombings (7/7) and the 2015 Paris terror attacks have all overtime, provided opportunities for the media to translate the perception of the immigrant from hardworking, scofflaw, criminal to terrorist (Stumpf, 2006). Per contra, to balance this narrative out it will be conveyed that not all media coverage is disproportionately represented. 'We are born of immigrants. That is who we are. Immigration is our origin story' (Obama, 2015, quoted in theguardian.com, 2015). To round this off it is clear to see how the media controls and influences negative and positive perceptions of immigration through translation.
This is achieved through the conception of journalistic gate-keeping. Ultimately, what this means is that a handful of powerful individuals control the translating perceptions which its mass audience (citizens) have of immigrants. These powerful individuals do this by deciding what information is shared/withheld about immigrants and how it is portrayed. According to the media, contemporary ontological insecurities are being underpinned by the rapid influx of immigrants. However, it can be argued that these perceptions are the outcome of translations which are originated by the media. The exploration of mediation has allowed for the suggested findings that the media creates scare mongering in the form of the perceived acceleration of social change which is rooted and fashioned upon an immigration crisis. To elaborate, such perceptions of rapid social changes can trigger ‘an ongoing and disparate feeling of precariousness in one’s daily life and in one’s sense of self, a lack of confidence in one’s own identity’ (Young, 2007). Fundamentally, the media mediates resentment and ontological uncertainties into the national psyche. What this has highlighted is the power that the media has to mobilise public opinion by influencing the perceptions which citizens have of immigrants. Moreover, confirming the plausibility that the media plays a significant role in driving forward the punitive shift towards crimmigration laws.
According to Young (2007) ontological insecurities have resulted in pressure being placed upon policy makers which has lead to the tightening of immigration policy through crimminalisation. This tightening or shift towards punitivity means that systems of punishment are becoming harsher and that these measures have a large following of popular support. What this makes apparent is the shift towards crimmigration. Stumpf (2006) defines crimmigration as the response to immigration patterns. The two main concerns it specifies are the gradual incorporation of criminal law into immigration law and how routine practices in the immigration system have become more punitive. Both of these concerns make way for the labelling of individuals into insiders and outsiders… 'innocent versus guilty, admitted versus excluded or, as some say, legal versus illegal' (Stumpf, 2006, p. 380). The changing political landscape and manifesto discourses reflect this shift. Political party manifestos clearly outline a difference in policy discourse not only over time and place, but also between parties with some taking much harsher lines than others towards the criminalisation of immigration discourse (Wilkinson, 2016). The Conservative party (1997) declared Britain to be a tolerant social world which has an excellent record in race relations. This was underpinned by firm, but fair, immigration controls (conservativemanifesto.com, 1997). In contrast, current depictions continue to suggest that the media is mediating damage to the relations between citizens (us) and immigrants (them) (Robinson, 2015). This is clearly supported by Punjabi (2015) who claims that academic researchers interim findings suggest that the main outcome of the Home Office, Go Home Van, campaign in July 2013 was to ramp up public anxieties about immigration in local areas.
Over a relatively short period of time there has been a dramatic shift towards crimmigration. An overview reveals that in the UK over a period of eighty-two years, seventy types of immigration offences were enacted in the UK (1905 to 1996). In comparison over a period of fourteen years, eighty-four further immigration offences were enacted (1997 to 2010) (Aliverti, 2013). According to Aliverti (2013) of the million plus individuals in prisons more than 460,000 are immigrants within the social worlds in which they are being held. Furthermore, in England and Wales around 600 immigrants are held as detainees. An additional 3,000 immigrants; many of whom do not have a criminal record are held in immigration removal centres. Dearden, (2015) encapsulates how immigrants are welcomed by mediation devices which are more commonly associated with convicted criminals. Welcoming devices include fingerprinting, numbering, detention and the police. What this has helped to reveal is the pendulum relationship between the so called immigration crisis and that of the crimmigration crisis. A fitting way to round off this research is with a quote from Kubal, who is a British Academy Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Socio-Legal Studies (Law.ox.ac.uk, 2016). 'I may not be legal, but I am not a criminal' (Kubal, 2013, quoted in youtube.com, 2016).
In conclusion, focus was geared towards the explanation of five key conceptions which framed and underpinned the research question. These were security, pursuit, punitivity, crimmigration and mediation. These conceptions were introduced throughout this research in a particular order to allow for a layering effect to become visible. Moreover, this layering technique was chosen for the purpose of unravelling and revealing the interdependent and intertwining relationships between all of these conceptions. In doing so, it has illustrated the punitive shift towards the criminalisation of immigration law, or crimmigration and the pursuit of ontological security. Equally, it has highlighted the changing construction of the conceptions of the pursuer (us) and pursued (them), coupled with the overwhelming role which the media possesses in influencing and mobilising public opinions. In addition it has demonstrated how this takes place through mediation devices and the translation of perceptions. Evidently, this has made visible how mediation is ubiquitous within all practices that underpin a given social world. Interestingly, it has exposed a labyrinth of spiralling paradoxes such as the pursuit of ontological security driven by insecurity and vice versa ontological insecurity fuelling the desire for security. To summarise, the theme of security and the sociological concern of mediation have illuminated the contemporary social issue of crimmigration. This uncloaking has in turn led to an unveiling of the relationship between the individual and the social. Furthermore, this has shed light on the developing understandings of how the social worlds are continually constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed. Based upon contemporary trends and the shift towards punitivity, it is feasible to imply that the scope of crimmigration will indefinitely expand over time and place. For this reason it is plausible to suggest that research into this field will continue to intrigue and be of interest to academics such as sociologists, psychologists, criminologists and non-academics alike.
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Please cite this article as:
Hartles, S (2016) How can the pursuit of security help to explain the punitive shift towards crimmigration law? [Online] Available at https://sharonhartles.weebly.com/how-can-the-pursuit-of-security-help-to-explain-the-punitive-shift-towards-crimmigration-law.html (Accessed)
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