3.2 ethnicity and crime Flashcards
Of the 81,900 men in prison how many of them are white, black, asian, mixed or chinese?
- white = 74%
- black = 15%
- asian = 7%
- mixed = 3%
- chinese = 1%
Of the 3,943 women in prison how many of them are white, black, asian, mixed or chinese?
- white = 70%
- black = 21%
- asian = 2%
- mixed = 5%
- chinese and other = 2%
What is the population by ethnicity in the UK?
- white = 86%
- black = 3%
- asian = 8%
- mixed or other = 2%
What does the official statistics of ethnicity and crime in comparison to population by ethnicity suggest?
- ethnic minorities are over-represented in the system
What did the Ministry of Justice report in 2008 that black people in comparison to white people were?
- more likely to be arrested for robbery
- three times more likely to be cautioned by the police
- if arrested, more likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to recieve a caution
What did the Ministry of Justice report in 2008 that black people in comparison to white people were?
- more likely to be arrested for robbery
- three times more likely to be cautioned by the police
- if arrested, more likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to recieve a caution
What don’t statistics tell uss about crime and ethnicity?
- whether members of one group are more likely than members of another to commit an offence in the first place, they just tell us anout involvement with the CJS
How can discrimination be seen in policing?
- many allegations of oppressive policing from minority ethnic communities are made e.g. mass stop and search operations, excess surveillance, armed raids, deaths in custody
How can discrimination be seen in arrests and cautions?
- the arrest rate for black people is 3.6 times the rate for whites
- once arrested less likely to recieve a caution, perhaps due to a mistrust of police and not admitting to the offence
How can discrimination be seen in sentencing and prison?q
- custodial sentences are more likely to be given to black offenders
- black people and asians are over represented in prisons and more likely to be given longer sentences
How can the increased number of stop and search rates be explained?
- police racism
- demographic factors
- ethnic differences in offending
How can police racism explain the high levels of police racism?
- institutional racism within the police force
- Phillips and Bowling (2007) = many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search
How can demographic factors explain the high levels of stop and search rates?
- ethnic minorities are overrepresented in population groups are most likely to be stopped e.g. young, employed and urban dwellers
How can ethnic differences in offending explain the high rates of stop and search?
- patterns may reflect the possibility that some ethnic groups are more likely to offend
What does Waddington argue about the higher number of black stop and searches in comparison to white people?
- there are more ethnic minority youths out at night in inner cities and the police simply target those in high risk areas
- if the area is disproportionately represented by young black males they are more likley to be stopped and searched - because of where they are rather than their ethnicity
What happened in the Stephen Lawrence case?
- April 1993 = Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death at a bus stop in London by a gang of white youths who were heard using racist language
- the case became a national scandal, especially when the identities of the killers became known and they weren’t punished
- the MacPherson Report found the police had mishandled the case and described the Met Police as institutionally racist
What is meant by institutional racism?
- any kind of system of inequality based on race
- it can occur in institutions such as public govt bodies, private business corporations and universities (public and private)
How do left realists explain the ethnic differences in the distribution of crime?
- Lea and Young = official statistics are generally accurate, and young black men really are committing more offences than other groups
How do left realists use marginalisation to explain ethnic differences in the distribution of crime?
- racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing
How do left realists use relative deprivation to explain ethnic differences in the distribution of crime?
- the media’s focus on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many members of minority groups are unable to reach by legitimate meand
How do left realists use subcultures to explain ethnic differences in the distribution of crime?
- the formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed black males
- produce higher levels of utilitarian crime e.g. theft and robbery
What are some other reasons for higher rates of street crime amongst black people?
- educational failure = higher rate of exclusions
- family structure = 60% of young black people live with just one parent
- mass media
How do neo-marxists explain black crime?
- black crime is a social construct
What does Gilroy argue about black criminality?
- the idea of black criminality is a myth created by **racist stereotypes of African Caribbeans and Asians
- in reality these groups are no more criminal than any other group
- but the CJS acts on these racist strereotypes, minorities are criminalised and therefore appear in greater numbers in the official crime statistics
- ethnic minority crime is a form of political resistance
What is an evaluation of Gilroy?
- Lea and Young criticise Gilroy:
- first generation immigrants were law abiding; its unlikely they passed on a tradition of anti-colonial struggle
- most crime is intra-ethnic
- romanticises street crime
