Essay Sample on The Relationship between Crime and Immigration

Introduction

The research question for this paper is the examination of the relationship between crime and immigration. The contemporary globe is grappling with a wave of new immigration patterns where people traverse the world in search of better opportunities. Political stakeholders, conservative citizens, and other policymakers have taken advantage of this new wave of immigration patterns to cast a skeptical look at the immigrants and voice their opinion against foreigners in their country (Ousey & Kubrin, 2018). One of the accusing fingers pointed towards the immigrants is that they contribute to the increase in crime and other illegal activities in the host nation. Immigrants in a foreign country will most likely settle in the crime-ridden parts of the city or other poor suburbs due to the lack of finances to afford high-end suburbs (Butcher & Piehl, 2015). The other case scenario is that they are likely to settle in areas where there is a large community from their home countries. This means that they are likely to start living in places already infested with crime or they are also likely to turn into criminals with time as a result of interacting with criminals. This brief explaining provides a probable causal relationship between immigration and crime that can be studied empirically. As already mentioned, the intertwined relationship between immigration and crime is a weighty issue that attracts the opinionated views of politicians. Political science is at the integral of this research paper because the demographic changes and policy formulation pertinent to immigrants are matters that call for political solutions. In addition, there are vested interests and divergent schools of thought when it comes to those in favor of open borders and immigration versus the ones advocated for restricted immigration.

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The findings, results, detailed analysis, and recommendations of the research paper on the relationship between immigration and crime are targeted towards an audience that comprises of politicians, international and domestic security agencies, as well as relevant policymakers concerned with immigration issues and criminal matters. This is the group of people who stand to benefit the most from the conclusive results arrived at after conducting the research process in a comprehensive manner. Political figures, security agencies, and legislative policy makers will benefit from the insightful contents the research paper. The relationship between immigration and crime is relevant to this group of people due to the intertwined aspects of the topic that draw on their areas of expertise. Security experts need to understand the factors that are likely to push immigrants into violent crime and the factors that make them unlikely to engage in crime. Politicians, who may also double up as immigration policymakers through the legislative process, also need to comprehend the dynamics entailed in an immigrant's life. This will help in formulating accommodating and job-creating policies for the immigrants to make them feel welcome in the host nation while averting crime simultaneously. The security agencies could practically apply the research findings in devising new approaches of handling crime in neighborhoods inhabited by immigrants. Research findings point to lower levels of general crime with an increase in immigration in different countries around the world (Bernat, 2017). It is up to the security organs to find ways of ensuring that the prevalent crime is contained while keeping the immigrants away from crime through deterrent strategies. Policymakers will takes this opportunity to understand the dynamics at play revolving around the issue of immigration. This will aid in formulating workable and effective immigration policies that will be favorable to both the citizens and foreign immigrants in the country.

There are various ethical principles that a researcher ought to adhere to uphold the standards of ethics in the research process. One of these is privacy where the researcher is tasked with maintaining the anonymity of the research participants. Confidentiality is also key in which both the researcher should keep the process outcomes and findings of the research under wraps to avoid compromise from external parties. Lastly, the researcher is also required to obtain an informed consent from the research participants or source materials that they will consult for data. I will see to it that the meta-analysis of various research projects over the years on immigration and crime has the full consent and permission of its original researchers before incorporating it in this research paper. Confidentiality and the privacy of the research participants is derived from the fact that the different research studies had already adhered to these standards before being carried out. Some of the ethical implications of applying the results of this research to the real world of politics include libel cases and instances of religious or racial prejudice (Adelman et al., 2018). This can be in the form of lawsuits coming from the political players who may deem the application of these results as being in contravention with their political stands. Another possible ethical implication could be the use of race or ethnicity in making the case for immigration in relation to the crime rate. The application of the research findings will require political goodwill from both sides of the political divide before being implemented. Appropriate use of terminology will be exercised to avoid raising any racial or ethnic tensions with the larger social context.

References

Adelman, R. et al. (2017). Urban crime rates and the changing face of immigration: Evidence across four decades. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 15:1, 52-77, DOI: 10.1080/15377938.2016.1261057

Adelman, R. et al. (2018). New directions in research on immigration, crime, law, and justice. Migration Letters, 15(2), 139-146. Retrieved from https://journal.tplondon.com/index.php/ml/article/view/1173

Bernat, F. (2017, April 26). Immigration and crime. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology. Ed. Retrieved 10 Jan. 2019, from http://oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-93.

Butcher, K., & Piehl, A. (2015). Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 17(3), 457-493. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3325557Ousey, G. C. & Kubrin, C. E. (2018). Immigration and crime: Assessing a contentious issue. Annual Review of Criminology, 1:1, 63-84.