Ethnicity Flashcards
What percentage of the population is black?
3%
What percentage of the prison population are black?
13%
What ways other than official statistics can we use to measure ethnicity and criminality?
Victim surveys
Self report studies
How can we use victim surveys to measure ethnicity and crimiality?
Ask people to identify the ethnicity of the person who committed the crime
What was found when victim surveys were used to measure ethnicity and criminality?
Black people were significantly over represented in mugging
What are the flaws of using victim surveys?
They rely on memory which may be inaccurate
Only cover personal crimes with is 20% of all crime
Exclude children under 10 when most crime involves young people
How can we use self-report surveys to measure ethnicity and crimiality?
Ask people to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour
What was found when self-report surveys were used to measure ethnicity and criminality?
Sharp and Budd: White and mixed race people were likely to say they had committed an offence
Home office found similar findings after conducting 9 studies into drug use
What did Sharp and Budd find about using self-report surveys?
White and mixed race people were likely to say they had committed an offence
What are general stop and search patterns?
Black people are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched. Asian people are more likely to be stopped under the terrorism act
What are the tree possible reasons for stop and search patterns?
Police racism
Differences in offending
Demographic factors
How can police racism affect stop and search patterns?
The Macpherson Report found institutional racism
Phillips and Bowling say many officers hold negative views about ethnic minorities which leads to deliberate targeting
What do Phillips and Bowling say about police racism?
many officers hold negative views about ethnic minorities which leads to deliberate targeting
How can ethnic differences in offending explain stop and search patterns?
More ethnic minorities are committing crime so are searched more often
How can demographic factors explain stop and search patterns?
Ethnic minorities are over-represented in groups most likely to be searched such as the young, manual workers and the unemployed
What ethnic patters were found with arrests and cautions?
Arrest rate for black people was 3 times higher
They are more likely to deny their offence so can’t be let off with a warning
What ethnic patters were found with proscution and trial?
Phillips and Bowling: Courts are more likely to drop cases against minorities possibly due to weak evidence as police racism.
More likely to select trial by jury as they mistrust people but the crown court will give harsher sentances
What ethnic patters were found with conviction and sentencing?
Pre-sentance reports written by probation officers may result in harsher sentencing
Hudson and Bramhall: Reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and less likely to suggest they show remorse
What did Hudson and Bramhall find about pre-sentence reports?
Reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and less likely to suggest they show remorse
How do left realists explain the differences in offending?
Minorities have higher levels of unemployment and are more likely to be poor due to marginalisation so commit utilitarian crime
Frustrations caused by marginalisation cause non-utilitarian crime like riots
Therefore black people commit more crime due to relative deprivation
Which left realists commented?
Lea and Young
What two points about explaining the ethnic differences do neo-marxists offer?
Myth of black criminality (gilroy) Moral panic (hall)
How does Gilroy explain ethinc differences in crime?
Black criminality is a myth created from racist stereotypes
Ethnic minority crime is a form of policial resistance as many come from former British colonies
How do Lea and Young critisize Gilroy?
First-generation migrants were very law-abiding
Most crime is intra-ethnic so against people of the same background
Asian crime is similar to white crime
How does Hall explain ethnic differences in crime?
Capitalist class created a moral panic over black mugging in the 70s so people would see them as a scapegoat and be distracted from the rising unemployment and inflation. Aimed to divide the working class.
How is Hall critisized?
It’s inconsistant to claim black crime is not rising but also that it is due to unemployment
No evidence
The concerns about muggling were realistic
