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This paper evaluates American-Muslims' perceptions of the police. With regard to studies of the police and Muslim communities, much of the focus has centered on evaluating police officers' perceptions of the Muslim community. Attitudes toward the police reflect an important measure of police legitimacy for minority communities. The current study analyzes responses from a convenience sample (N = 142) collected from around the United States. Our t test analysis of first-and-second generation American Muslims found no significant differences between attitudes toward the police. However, our OLS Regression models suggest that education, fear of negative treatment due to race, ethnicity, or religion, fear of victimization, negative media portrayal, and neighborhood factors significantly affected perceptions of the police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil war in Somalia forced many Somalis to migrate to other countries where they had to adapt to new cultures and learn new languages. At the same time, they retained the identity and culture that were important to them throughout the process of migration. These first-generation Somali immigrants may feel strong allegiance to their country of origin along with a “sense of belonging” to their clan/kinship. They may also hope that one day they will be able to return “home”. But do second-generation Somalis feel the same way? This paper is based on 23 interviews with Somali immigrants in Australia, the UK and the USA. Out of the 23 participants, two were first-generation and the rest were second-generation. I seek to understand the participants' identity and their sense of belonging to their ethnicity and host country in the wake of pertinent moments of local, national and international anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]