Crime And Ethnicity

Question 1

Stats on stop and search

Answer 1

In 2014- the police stopped and searched black Britons 4.3 times more than white Britons

Question 2

Percentage of ethnic minority prisoners

Answer 2

25% despite the fact that only 12% of the population of England and Wales belong to BAME groups

Question 3

Arrest rates

Answer 3

In 2014- the black and mixed ethnicity groups’ arrest rates per 1000 people were almost three and two times higher compared with other ethnic groups

Question 4

Youth custody

Answer 4

40% of 15 to 18 yr old boys held in youth custody in England and Wales were from BAME backgrounds in 2015

Question 5

Racist incidents

Answer 5

In 2014/15, just under 54000 racist incidents were recorded by the police

Question 6

Muslim hate crimes

Answer 6

In 2015, hate crimes against Muslims in London rose by 70%

Question 7

Morris

Answer 7

Observes that BAME groups in the UK contain a disproportionate number of young people compared with the white population. Claims that the number of BAME people in crime stats is a statistical illusion caused by the fact that most crime is committed by young people

Question 8

Phillips and Bowling (2007)

Answer 8

Oppressive military style policing has resulted in the over policing and criminalisation of ethnic minorities

Question 9

Hood (1992)

Answer 9

Even when the seriousness of an offence and previous convictions were taken into account black men were 5x more likely to be jailed and given a sentence which is 3 months longer than whites

Question 10

Paul Gilroy - political protest

Answer 10

Neo Marxist
Argues that young black men feel hostile to white people and are alienated by their everyday experience of casual racism and what they perceive as a racist police force
As such, crime is a form of political protest against a racist capitalist society

Question 11

Paul Gilroy - myth of black criminality

Answer 11

The idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes
Police act on stereotypes, ethnic minorities come to be criminalised and therefore to appear in greater numbers in the stats

Question 12

Simon Holdaway (1973)

Answer 12

Police canteen culture is still characterised by racist language and jokes and this often underpins ‘stop and search’ of BAME youth

Question 13

The MacPherson report (1999)

Answer 13

In 1993, old man called Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a racist gang. Despite lots of evidence including video footage of the gang bragging and planning how they would kill a black man and the police inquiry ignored the racist motives of the killers. The macpherson report in 1999 famously described the metropolitan police as being institutionally racist

Question 14

Mertons strain theory

Answer 14

Can apply to members of some minority ethnic groups who statistically perform less well at school and therefore may be denied social mobility by legitimate means

Question 15

Bonds of attachment ( functionalist )

Answer 15

Generation migrants often live in transient communities in inner cities where there are few tight knit established communities than in other localities

Question 16

Differential association ( interactionist )

Answer 16

Edwin Sutherland suggested that people learn deviant values through their interactions and therefore people brought up in areas of high crime might themselves become criminal

Question 17

Right realists control theory

Answer 17

Hirschi argues that young people whether white or black commit crime because they lack the social controls of attachment, commitment, involvement and belief in their lives

Asian families however exercise stricter controls over young people to be economically involved in their community and are therefore less likely to be marginalised or frustrated by racism.

Question 18

Shaw and McKay ( right realist )

Answer 18

Inner city areas are transient communities that don’t develop social solidarity where new migrants don’t put down roots. It is therefore likely that such communities are less likely to regulate than suburban communities and are therefore more likely to have broken windows

Question 19

Left realist

Answer 19

The disproportionate relative deprivation and marginalisation of ethnic minority communities leads to the development of subcultures as a means of providing support and status

Question 20

Tony Sewell (2003)

Answer 20

• many black boys are brought up by single mothers. In seeking a father figure, they often look up to powerful male role models in their community such as gang leaders
• negative experience of white culture: black boys are disaffected because of their experience of school, policing and employer racism
• media: black boys are influenced by media role models such as rap and hip hop stars and believe that status can be achieved via the acquisition of status symbol designer clothing or by the construction of hyper masculine identity based on violence and sexual conquest