How do Mexicanas in the United States Perceive the police in Mexico?

Hyeyoung  Lim; Nadejda Bontcheva Loyaga

doi:10.29333/ejecs/1667

Authors

Hyeyoung Lim University of Alabama at Birmingham https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2444-5058
Nadejda Bontcheva Loyaga Calvin University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1667

Keywords:

Mexico, immigrant, policing, perception, gender, corruption

Abstract

As an exploratory study, we examined policing in Mexico through the views of Mexicanas in the United States to understand better the relationships between the police and racial/ethnic minority communities in the United States. By understanding and knowing the perception and direct interaction with the police in their home countries, the U.S. police can better understand the attitudes of racial/ethnic minorities, particularly those foreign-born or of immigrant descent residents, toward the police. Besides, mutual understanding between the U.S. police and racial/ethnic minorities may assist in building better police-community relationships. For that reason, we conducted a semi-structured interviews with seventeen Mexicanas who resided in a Deep South state in the United States and explored their experiences and concerns with policing in Mexico. We found that government corruption and police politicization were the number one concern, and the widely accepted culture of bribing and taking a bribe was perceived as a common custom rule in Mexico. With consideration that such experiences are important to understand the relationships between the U.S. police and Mexicanas, policy implications and study limitations were further discussed in the current study.

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Author Biographies

Hyeyoung Lim, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Hyeyoung Lim is a full professor of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University. Her primary research interests involve the police, including police decision-making, police use of force, police training, police integrity and accountability, cyber policing, and information security. Her recent work has been published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Public Policy, Race and Justice, and Policing: An International Journal.

Nadejda Bontcheva Loyaga, Calvin University

Nadejda Bontcheva-Loyaga is an adjunct professor at the Department of Politics and Economics at Calvin University. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, Japan. Her primary research interests involve international security, civil-military relations, and immigration policy.

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