Growing Up in Post-Conflict Kosovo: Youth’s Insecurities and Their Attitudes Towards Police

Abstract

This study aims to identify insecurities among youth in Kosovo, constituting the largest age group. Some of the identified insecurities and respective resolutions are related to the role of and attitudes toward police in Kosovo, who are the main formal security provider in Kosovo. This is addressed in the first part of the article. The second part addresses these attitudes toward police, analysing youth perspectives on performance, procedural justice and distributive justice. Primary data from semi-structured focus group discussions with Kosovar youth are used for the analyses. Five key types of insecurities were identified: (1) job-related (unemployment), (2) drug-related, (3) school-related, (4) physical and (5) inequality-related. Results also show that attitudes toward police are predominantly poor and seem to stem mainly from a performance perspective, followed by a procedural justice perspective.