Encountering policing: A dialogic exploration of Scottish Pakistanis' experiences of 'policing'

This thesis explores the experiences of ‘policing’ of Scottish Pakistanis, a term that reflects a distinctive ethno-national identity within Scotland. Using dialogic face-to-face interviews with 26 self-identifying Scottish Pakistanis from rural and urban areas in Scotland, this research responds to gaps in qualitative literature on Scottish minorities’ perspectives of and encounters with Police Scotland. The thesis draws on a Foucauldian concept of ‘policing’ to theorise the extension of disciplinary power across: 1) institutional policing within police processes (i.e., stop and search; community policing; reporting to police), 2) social policing, within everyday encounters with members of the public, and 3) self-policing, through Scottish Pakistanis themselves participating in, responding to, and internalising these policing practices. This thesis investigates how these processes affect Scottish Pakistanis' everyday and long-term experiences and contributes to a growing area of research examining belonging within multiple frames of Scottish identity (i.e., ethnic, racial, religious, national). This research is novel through its analysis of these policing encounters within a radical social constructivist epistemology, underpinned by a Bakhtinian dialogic paradigm. This approach departs from essentialist views of minority identity and instead conceptualises Scottish Pakistani identity as polyphonic (multi-voiced) and heteroglossic (with multi-meaning), providing a unique understanding of resistance to policing. While participants report overall positive experiences with the police, vicarious experiences—through observing or hearing about others’ negative encounters—permeate perceptions of police legitimacy and influence engagement with processes such as reporting. More troubling than institutional policing for most participants is social policing, including overt racialised harassment and subtler experiences such as suspicion in shops or questioning when accessing public services. The response is often a contradictory feeling of being Scottish while seen as outsiders. Participants use their multiple identities as resistance to essentialist belonging, asserting their polyphonic, hybrid identities. The research has key policy implications for policing organisations to improve engagement and minority belonging.