Criminality, Interpersonal Proximity and the Stop-Snitching Code: An Examination of Offender and Non-Offender Perceptions

Abstract

A number of studies have examined the relationship between the ‘code of the street’ and the concept of snitching (that is, informing the police). With some notable exceptions, these studies have generally focused on the pervasiveness of a ‘stop-snitching code’ or ‘code of silence’ among street offenders. In this study we seek to broaden understanding of the stop-snitching code by exploring perceptions of active, former, and non-offenders living in areas considered by residents to embody the street code. We find that informal cultural norms do in fact dissuade both offender and non-offenders from cooperating with police, but also that personal experience with police, proximity to offences and offenders, and types of crimes in question play major roles in the contextual framing of whether or not people choose to cooperate with the police.