Communication and cultural difficulties between Greek / Greek-Cypriot migrants and the police in England

This research explores, whether culture influences the communication between Greek / Greek-Cypriot migrants and the police in England; and also whether the potential cultural diversity between the Greek/Greek-Cypriot migrants and the police in England will influence the migrants trust towards the police. Sixteen migrants, twelve Greek and four Greek-Cypriot, located in the South East of England were interviewed.

The participants were mainly asked about their views on the police and their experiences during previous encounters with the police in the host country. The questions tried to explore potential communication difficulties that the migrants might have faced due to their lack of linguistic skills and their different culture. Also, participants were asked about their views on the police in the country of origin, in order to explore whether migrants’ views on the police in the host country are influenced by the experiences they had in the country of origin. Both migrants who had previous encounters with the police and migrants who had not any encounters with the police in the host country were included.

Semi-structured interviews were used for the data collection and the results obtained were analysed using content analysis. According to the results, the Greek and Greek-Cypriot migrants do not seem to face major difficulties when they interact with the police in England.

The majority of the participants did not face any language difficulties and none of the participants faced any cultural difficulties. According to the participants, the police in England seem to understand and respect diversity. The participants were also satisfied with the police performance in England and their views on the police in the country of origin is not transferred to the host country after their migration.