Who is seen as troublemaker?

“Drinkers,” “old people,” and “youth” above all, are ranked far higher than any ethnic group when it comes to the question of social harmony in neighborhoods. WZB researcher Merlin Schaeffer has come to this conclusion in his analysis of approximately 4,600 telephone interviews with Germans without migrant backgrounds. Without any preselected answers to choose from, the question asked was: “Which groups are mostly responsible for problems in your neighbourhood?”

Only around 13 percent of problem groups mentioned accounts for ethnic categories like “Turkish,” “foreigners,” or “emigrants.” Those people polled did not refer to religion, skin colour, or language – completely different than the public political discussion about Muslims in Germany. Instead, the dividing line is drawn at nationality. Ethnic minorities were hardly mentioned at all: With 23 percent, “youths” were ranked clearly as the most problematic. “Obviously, people’s daily struggles are with other conflicts than those discussed in the media,” concludes sociologist Merlin Schaeffer.

Whether or not neighbourhood problems are attributed to ethnic minorities is not only dependent on individual predisposition, but rather on social context: If unemployment is rising in a place, ethnic minorities are increasingly made responsible for problems. The tendency to draw lines of conflict along ethnic borders is further influenced by the structure of the population. The more foreigners live in an area, the more frequently are they considered the cause of problems. This, however, is true up to a particular degree: The turning point is at around 20 percent – from here negative perception of foreigners does not increase; a type of habituation takes effect.

Schaeffer’s analysis is based on data from the “Ethnic Diversity and Collective Action Survey” compiled within the framework of the WZB research project “Ethnic Diversity, Social Trust, and Civic Engagement” under Ruud Koopman’s direction. In 2009/10 a total of 10,200 telephone interviews were conducted, 4,600 of which with Germans without migrant background. The project was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The article “Which groups are mostly responsible for problems in your neighbourhood? The use of ethnic categories in Germany” is published online in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies.

press contact:
Gabriele Kammerer
information and communication department
fon: 030 25491 517
gabriele.kammerer [at] wzb.eu

Merlin Schaeffer
Research Unit Migration, Integration, Transnationalisation
fon: 030 25491 459
schaeffer [at] wzb.eu