The Social Reality of ID Checks in Spain
Identity checks (ID checks) are by far the most formal power used by the police in Spain, so studying ID checks will lead to a better understanding of policing in this country, where both ID check and policing are under-researched topics. The aim of my research is to analyse the social reality of this power. For me, knowing better this power and his social reality means be able to find answers for the next questions: 1) What are the social distribution of ID checks? 2) What are the negative or unintended effects of this police practice? 3) Are ID checks meeting their stated goals? Based in previous and comparative research, the hypotheses of this work are: H1) The targets of police ID checks are disproportionally members of ethnic minorities and people with disadvantaged backgrounds; H2) Police ID checks produce relevant negative effects (stigmatization, social exclusion and loss of legitimacy); H3) Police ID checks do not meet their stated objectives. These hypotheses have been tested reviewing previous research and using secondary sources of data (e. g., ESS 2010). In this talk I hope to offer a brief description of the practice of ID checks in Spain in order to show that, despite the differences between with United Kingdom, policing has fundamental shared characteristics.
About the speaker: Jose M. Lopez-Riba holds a degree in Criminology from Universitat de Barcelona (2010-2014) and a master degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice System from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat de Girona and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (2014-2015). Currently, Jose is a DPhil Criminology student at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain) interested in the legal powers and practices of the police to conduct identity checks in Spain.