Immigration officers as agents of social control: A study of decision-making practices with regard to suspected or convicted criminals at a Canadian port of entry.
Creators: name: Lippert, Randy.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1991
Subjects: subject: Sociology, Criminology and Penology.

description: Immigration officers are agents of social control. They are similar to police, parole board members and many other types of criminal justice personnel in that they attempt to ascertain the dangerousness of those involved in committing criminal offences and subsequently make decisions regarding their fate. When immigration officers encounter these individuals they must decide either to allow them into Canada or refuse them entry. The labelling perspective of deviance suggests that agents of social control, as one component of the societal reaction to deviance, may play a significant role in the process of an individual becoming deviant. Studying decision-making of immigration officers may add to our understanding of why certain types of individuals are disproportionately labelled as deviant. The literature on control agents' decision-making indicates that decisions of a wide range of types of agents of social control are based either on objective or subjective criteria, that interaction as well as variables such as an individual's deference shown to the control agent, and their age, sex, race, type, number and seriousness of offences/convictions affect decision-making. Each of the types of control agents discussed make up strands of the "net" (Cohen, 1985: 56) of social control into which deviants are drawn and all may be engaged to some extent in predicting the dangerousness of deviants. This study wall designed to find out what factors affect immigration officers' decision-making practices with regard to convicted criminals at a port of entry. After securing permission from the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission to conduct the study, I used three methods to answer this question. They were used at a port of entry in Western Canada where I worked during a four month period in 1990. Two were quantitative and the other was qualitative in nature. The first method involved observing officers as a participant in the process and mapping the interior of the port where decisions were made. The second involved examining a sample of 550 immigration files of those who have been convicted of criminal offences to determine significant predictors of the decision by officers to allow these individuals in or refuse them. The third involved constructing a sample of simulated situations (vignettes) that described an individual said to be convicted of a criminal offence attempting to enter Canada. 14 officers responded to 15 of these vignettes each and in each case was asked what their decision would be. These were analyzed to once again determine the factors significantly related to the entry decision. The results of the first method indicated that the physical setting of the port aids officers in separating deviants from those who are "okay." In addition, it indicated that the bureaucratic environment in which decision-making occurs as well as interactions between immigration officers and customs officers, other officers and clients affect decision-making. The results of the second method indicated that working class truck drivers are predominantly being detected at the port as having been convicted of criminal offences. They also indicated that for all those detected the seriousness and number of convictions, the purpose of entry, and previous contact with immigration personnel are important factors affecting decisions to refuse entry. For truck drivers alone, travelling with a co-driver was also found to be important. The results of the third method, which used vignettes that described only non-truck drivers, basically supported the findings of the first method. In addition, it found that the time since the person was convicted and the deference shown to the officer as important factors related to entry decisions, officers in answering an item included in the questionnaire made up of vignettes suggested that they perceive their decision-making as predicting the dangerousness of individuals. None of the three methods indicated that the race of the convicted criminal was an important factor in the decision by officers to refuse entry. The results indicate, first of all, that immigration officers are similar to other agents of social control. This is seen in, among other things, the fact that as a group both view the seriousness of the offence committed by deviants as an important factor in making decisions regarding their lives and both are engaged in predicting the dangerousness of deviants. This suggests that immigration officers represent one more strand in the "net" of social control and one that has heretofore been invisible.