Ethnicity and crime Flashcards
What sociologists discuss discrimination in the criminal justice system?
- Anderson (colour coding)
- Hall (Scarman and McPherson rapport)
- Phillips & Bowling (over policed neighbour-hoods)
What does interactionist Anderson say about the police?
- Police assumed white people were middle class and trustworthy, and that black people were lower class and criminal.
- This ‘colour coding’ often worked to confuse race, age, class, and gender issues as well as ignoring individual behaviour.
- Police officers would stop/harass/abuse young black men when most didn’t deserve it. Some dressed differently to avoid suspicion, but most saw it as inevitable.
Who discussed ‘colour coding’ from the police?
Anderson
What were the two reports Hall discussed?
- The Scarman Report - response to racial violence and rioting.
- The McPherson Report - concluded the official inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the subsequent police investigation.
What did the Scarman Report recognise?
- Social and economic disadvantages faced by ethnic minorities could create a disposition towards violent protests.
- It highlighted the issue with policing such communities, endorsing more Racial Awareness Programmes.
What did Hall argue about the Scarman report’s outcome?
- The endorsed Racial Awareness Training programmes were only partially implemented and not fully supported by the Gov/police.
- Further riots followed and police tactics became ever more aggressive in dealing with them.
What was Hall’s response to the McPherson report?
- Hall welcomes the conclusion regarding Institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police force as a step forward in recognising and addressing some of the problems.
- However, he concluded that until individuals are held accountable for their actions, not much will change.
Who supports Hall’s conclusion of the McPherson report?
Phillips & Bowling
What does Phillips & Bowling argue about the McPherson report?
Despite its existence, ethnic minority neighbourhoods were still over-policed with military style methods.
What does institutional racism refer to?
Racism within the social processes and practices of an institution.
What is ‘police culture’?
A shared set of norms/values/attitudes/practices which develop among the police. This effects the way they carry out their duties.
Who discusses ‘canteen culture’?
Waddington
What is ‘canteen culture’?
Attitudes and values exhibited by the police in their off-duty socialising.
What sociologists highlight that police and canteen culture may include a normalisation of racist attitudes?
- Holdaway (racialisation)
- Bhilox (differential deployment/ methodological suspicion)
- Scraton (‘culture of resistance’)
What did Holdaway discuss when researching police culture?
- The ‘racialisation’ of policing, arguing routine and mundane police work and relationships can take on a racial ‘framing’ where people and events are seen in a way that prioritises race when it is not relevant, or ignores it when it is.
- Consequently, police officers may inadvertently act in racist ways without completely realising it.
What does Bhilox say about most policing?
- It is directed at the excluded in society, who are often young, poor, and black.
- The police deploy ‘differential deployment’ (concentrating policing on areas where the targeted reside) and ‘methodological suspicion’ (routinely suspecting only a limited proportion of the population).
- This may have a negative impact on ethnic minority communities, who may feel a sense of injustice which can lead to further conflict.
What two things do the police deploy according to Bhilox?
- ‘Differential deployment’- concentrating policing on areas where the targeted reside
- ‘Methodological suspicion’- routinely suspecting only a limited proportion of the population
What is differential deployment?
concentrating policing on areas where the targeted reside
What is methodological suspicion?
Routinely suspecting only a limited proportion of the population.
Who talks about how the police target the excluded?
Bhilox
How does Scraton see the police force?
- An occupying force imposed on working class and ethnic minority communities.
- They impose laws which reflect the ruling class interests, and black criminality is part of a ‘culture of resistance’ formed as a response to racism.
Who talks about how the police force imposes ruling class interests, and black criminality is part of a ‘culture of resistance’?
Scraton
What sociologists evaluate institutional racism?
- Waddington
- Glynn
What does Waddington argue when evaluating institutional racism?
- The higher levels of stop and searches of young black & asian males is not necessarily evidence of racism.
- They consider other factors like ‘availability’ of people from certain ethnic backgrounds in public places and age profile.
- His research suggests that black & asian males were not treated disproportionately since the amount of times they were stopped and searched was in line with the proportion of the ‘available population’.
Who discusses the ’available population’ when critiquing institutional racism theories?
Waddington
Who discusses how crime can be a way for Black males to ’get back’ at the system?
Glynn
What does Glynn argue?
- The belief that criminal justice processes are inherently racist, and the promotion of racial stereotypes creates a defiant reaction amongst some black males.
- Crime becomes a way of ‘getting back’ at a society which has rejected them.
- Thus, racism within the system may not just give the perception of higher crime rates amongst black males, it may also cause increased criminality.
Who talks about ’road culture’ when discussing young black males?
Gunter
What does Gunter say when talking about young black males?
- ‘Road culture’ was significant in their identities, and is played out ‘on the road.’ (streets, housing estates…)
- They participate in this to ‘gain respect’ through violence, drug dealing, and criminal activity etc
What do Lea & Young say about race and crime?
- They criticise moral panics which surround black crime, like the way the media focus on mugging and link it to ethnicity, indicating them as the culprits not the victims.
- However, they accept there are higher crime rates among ethnic minority groups, and race & class combined explain these patterns.
- There are injustices in Asian & Black communities, as many are affected by unemployment and deprivation, meaning in an industrial society, they are ‘brutalised’ into crime.
- Linking to class explains why Chinese and Indian origin have lower crime rates as they tend to not be living in deprivation like Black and Asian origins.
Who accepts higher rates of crime of ethnic minorities, and discusses the link between race and class?
Lea & Young
What does Palmer believe about race, criticising Lea & Young?
- They do not believe race is a secondary factor to class, and feels there’s too little emphasise on race in the CJS.
- Young black males face so many disadvantages compared to white young men that we cannot assume they commit crime for the same reasons.
What did Palmer find when studying black residents of an inner city London neighbourhood?
- The media influenced the aspirations of black youths as they felt they were treated unjustly.
- She refers to the lack of discipline within families and being let down by their community, education, and wider society.
- Palmer concluded that race may not be a direct cause of crime, but it is relevant factor in how young black males see themselves and how they are perceived.
Who talked about how the media and community influenced black youths?
Palmer
Why are crime rates among British Asians rather low?
- Strong family values.
- Socialisation.
- Not fitting in with the police stereotype of a ‘criminal’.
Who critiques how the Home Office classify Asians?
Fitzgerald & Sibbitt
What do Fitzgerald & Sibbitt discuss?
- The Home Office tends to classify Asians in one category, including those in Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi backgrounds, who may have different social class and cultural backgrounds.
- They believe this has masked different crime patterns within these communities.
Who discusses why crime among Asian males has been increasing significantly in recent years?
- Phillips, Bowling, & Parmar (stereotypes)
- Abbass (Islamophobia)
Why has Asian crime rates increased according to Phillips, Bowling, & Parmar?
- Socio-economic factors.
- They believe stereotypes of Asians, particularly Muslims, have altered.
- The old stereotypes that saw Asians as law abiding, with strong community, family, and religious values, has gone.
- This has been replaced with Asian youths being linked to criminal and deviant activity.
What group talk about the increase in Asians committing crime being due to stereotypes altering?
Phillips, Bowling, & Parmar
Who talks about the ‘passive asian’, ‘islamophobia’, and ‘radicalisation’?
Abbass
What does Abbass say in response to the increase in Asians committing crime?
- The stereotype of the ‘passive Asian’ has given way to a society of Islamophobia following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- Evidence shows that stopping and searching of Asians has increased.
- Current concerns about ‘racialisation’ has led to claims about the targeting of young Muslims by the police and harsher punishments being issued by courts.
What group of sociologists discuss Asians and Crime?
- Fitzgerald & Sibbitt (Home Office)
- Bowling, Parmar, & Phillips (stereotypes)
- Abbass (9/11, Islamophobia)
Who talks about ’racialisation’ and ’racial framing’ of the police?
Holdaway
