Latino and Indochinese interpretive frames in negotiating conflict with law enforcement: a focus group analysis

• Published in: International journal of intercultural relations 2002-09, Vol.26 (5), p.551-575
• Main Authors: Hammer, Mitchell R, Rogan, Randall Gage
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Cultural Relativism; Focus group; Hispanic people; Immigrants; Indochinese people; Indochinese/Southeast Asian conflict; Intercultural Communication; Intercultural conflict; Intercultural negotiation; Latin American Cultural Groups; Latino/Hispanic conflict; Law enforcement; Negotiation; Police Community Relations; Police officers; Southeast Asian Cultural Groups; United States of America; USA; Violence
• ISSN: 0147-1767; 1873-7552
• DOI: 10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00033-0

Incidents involving conflict and violence are routinely encountered by law enforcement. The intercultural dynamics of these types of threatening situations have not been systematically investigated. More specifically, little research has focused on the cultural dimensions of conflict negotiation in the United States between Indochinese and Latino's in interaction with law enforcement. This paper examines conflict negotiation strategies in terms of “interpretive frames” of Indochinese and Latino respondents within the United States in their interactions with police. The paper begins with a review of research that has investigated Indochinese and Latino conflict communication. Next, the focus group methodology used in the study for obtaining insights into interpretive frames of conflict negotiation of the Indochinese and Latino participants is discussed. A total of 18 Indochinese participants (organized into three focus groups) and 21 Latino respondents (comprising three focus groups) participated in the study. In addition, one Indochinese and one Latino “verification” group (consisting of some of the original focus group members) were formed to determine the degree to which the identified interpretive frames made sense as a robust explanation of conflict negotiation from the cultural perspectives of the respondents themselves. Results from the study reveal both a rich set of “emic” or culture specific frames of conflict negotiation within each of the cultural groups as well as useful “etic” or culture general interpretive frames for comparing Indochinese and Latino conflict negotiation strategies with law enforcement.