The role of prejudicial stereotypes in the formation of suspicion: An examination of operational procedures in stop and search practices

One of the current and visible controversies in UK policing that challenges the heart and foundation of the principle of law is arguably the apparent disproportionate use of stop and search powers involving ethnic minority communities. Prior research found that differential exposure by the police to certain types of suspected offenders led to the development of cognitive scripts that operate as stereotypes and which may play a role in informing suspicions concerning police stops and searches. Focusing on whether police officers use negative stereotypes to inform suspicions when conducting stops and searches, this study examined more than 2,100 stop and search records held by a police force in England, in addition to conducting 20 semi-structured interviews with frontline serving police officers from the same force. It was found that the use of stop and search powers is consistent with: (a) the use of stereotypes with respect to age, appearance, and social class; and (b) the disproportionate recorded use of stop and search powers involving Black, Asian and Mixed communities. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Rediscovery of the terrestrial green alga Trentepohlia aurea (Linnaeus) C. Martius (Chlorophyta) in Croatia after 130 years

The first record of the terrestrial green alga Trentepohlia aurea for Croatia was made in 1890 in the area of the Krka River, and has remained until this day the only record of this globally widespread species in the country. During studies related to aquatic vegetation, the species was finally rediscovered from the area of Plitvice Lakes, in the Gorski kotar region and near Vukova Gorica village, after 130 years during which no records were made. All recorded populations formed round, woolly, orange-red patches on the surface of rocks and concrete walls, partly forming a community with bryophytes and lichens. In some cases in these mixed communities, Trentepohlia thalli overgrew bryophytes blocking their access to nutrients, water and light. This long period of lack of records of T. aurea in Croatia is mostly a consequence of the discontinuity in research on certain algal groups in Croatia.

Effect of Multispecies Microbial Consortia on Microbially Influenced Corrosion of Carbon Steel

Microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) is responsible for significant damage to major marine infrastructure worldwide. While the microbes responsible for MIC typically exist in the environment in a synergistic combination of different species, the vast majority of laboratory-based MIC experiments are performed with single microbial pure cultures. In this work, marine grade steel was exposed to a single sulfate reducing bacterium (SRB, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans) and various combinations of bacteria (both pure cultures and mixed communities), and the steel corrosion studied. Differences in the microbial biofilm composition and succession, steel weight loss and pitting attack were observed for the various test configurations studied. The sulfate reduction phenotype was successfully shown in half-strength marine broth for both single and mixed communities. The highest corrosion according to steel weight loss and pitting, was recorded in the tests with D. desulfuricans alone when incubated in a nominally aerobic environment. The multispecies microbial consortia yielded lower general corrosion rates compared to D. desulfuricans or for the uninoculated control.

Aftermaths

This chapter examines the provisional regeneration aftermaths at three estates – West Hendon (Barnet), Woodberry Down (Hackney) and Carpenters (Newham) – in relation to what kind of new places are being created. West Hendon and Woodberry Down form hybrid places consisting of the remaining old estate which is undergoing degeneration, displacement and demolition, and the redeveloped section which is receiving new residents. At the intermediate spatial scale, although some interviewees appreciated the enhanced security features in the new gated blocks, the latter were routinely described as soulless, hotel-like non-places (Auge). One major aim at both West Hendon and Woodberry Down was to create mixed-tenure communities. However, at neither estate had this been achieved as far as social tenants were concerned. Despite the attempts made to enhance community development, there was a common lament at both redeveloped estates – that their previous sense of community had been lost. There was also little evidence of class/tenure mixing, and these hybrid neighbourhoods constitute fragmented rather than mixed communities. The final section focuses on the Carpenters estate where no redevelopment has occurred despite its being nominally under regeneration for fifteen years. By 2019 it was a half-empty shell of a previously functioning multi-ethnic, working-class east London community.

Estate Regeneration and its Discontents

This book provides a theoretically informed, empirically rich account of the development, causes and consequences of public housing (council/local authority/social) estate regeneration within the context of London’s housing crisis and widening social inequality. It focuses on regeneration schemes involving comprehensive redevelopment – the demolition of council estates and their rebuilding as mixed-tenure neighbourhoods with large numbers of market properties which fuels socio-spatial inequalities via state-led gentrification. The book deploys an interdisciplinary perspective drawn from sociology, geography, urban policy and housing studies. By foregrounding estate residents’ lived experiences – mainly working-class tenants but also working- and middle-class homeowners – it highlights their multiple discontents with the seemingly never-ending regeneration process. As such, the book critiques the imbalances and silences within the official policy discourse in which there are only regeneration winners while the losers are airbrushed out of history. The book contains many illustrations and is based on over a decade of research undertaken at several London council-built estates. The book is divided into three parts. Part One (Chapters 2-4) examines housing policy and urban policy in relation to the expansion and contraction of public housing in London, and the development of estate regeneration. Part Two (Chapters 5-7) analyses residents’ experiences of living at London estates before regeneration begins. It argues that residents positively valued their homes and neighbourhoods, even though such valuation was neither unqualified nor universal. Part Three (Chapters 8-12) examines residents’ experiences of living through regeneration, and argues that comprehensive redevelopment results in degeneration, displacement, and fragmented rather than mixed communities.