NCJ Number
235582
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 35 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2011 Pages: 19-37
Date Published
February 2011
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper focuses on the history of policing in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small Arab, Muslim country.
Abstract
This paper focuses on the history of policing in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small Arab, Muslim country. The historical discourse about Bahraini policing, though scant, has not adequately confronted the role the police have had in protecting Sunni hegemony in a majority Shia majority nation, a residual feature of colonialism. Through colonial records, press accounts, and Bahraini historical sources, the importance of sectarian politics in the development of Bahraini policing emerges. By drawing on conflict criminology and paying attention to the relevant cultural processes, a new approach to understanding policing in Bahrain, and the Gulf region, emerges. The analysis suggests that although the Bahraini police force has liberalized in recent years by developing a community policing unit, disapproval and unrest by Bahraini Shia remains a significant social and political problem. (Published Abstract)