ethnicity and crime

Question 1

different factors in explaining ethnic differences in crime rates

Answer 1

• economic/structural factors
• police/institutional racism
• cultural differences amongst ethnic minority groups
• demographic factors (age/location)

Question 2

economic/structural
- neo-marxist Hall et al

Answer 2

• media focused on mugging and portrayed it as a new crime rising rapidly - black youth became folk devils/scapegoats
• inner cities were flooded with extra ‘heavy-handed’ police who used stop and search due to moral entrepreneurs reaction
• deviance amplification spiral, wc divided on racial grounds, authoritarian policing

eval: contradictory - hall says ac crime was low and that it was rising as a result of of unemployment

Question 3

economic/structural
- left realist: cashmore

Answer 3

argues african-caribbean young men are encouraged to gain material success but opportunities are blocked by racism - experience anomie and turn to street crime (innovation)

Question 4

economic/structural
neo-marxist: gilroy

Answer 4

• sees black crime as resistance against the state
• symbols of black cultures also as a way of differentiating black community from white e.g music, clothing
• myth of black criminality=a result of police having negative stereotypes of acs and asians.

eval: a lot of crime intra-ethnic, illogical to say black on black crime is a political act against the white state

Question 5

police/institutional racism
- graham and bowling

Answer 5

their study of 14-25 year olds found that the self-reported offending rates were more or less the same of white, black and asian respondents. it so challenges the view that the rate of offending of black ethnic groups is higher than white ethnic groups

Question 6

police/institutional racism
- jones and singer

Answer 6

found that black people Two and a half more times likely than white people to be stopped and asked to account for their actions and behaviour and presence in an area

Question 7

police/institutional racism
- reiner

Answer 7

developed the theory of canteen culture. he argues that in order to fit with the police force, new recruits had to hold politically conservative, sexist and racist views

Question 8

police/institutional racism
- phillips and bowling

Answer 8

argue that UK CJS is racist:
- higher numbers of stop and searches of black men (5-8x more likely)
- higher number of arrests
- over-policing of inner city areas
- use of racially abusive language
- higher imprisonment rates for black men compared to whites

Question 9

cultural differences amongst ethnic minority groups
- Sewell, triple quandry theory

Answer 9

three risk factors which mean that african-carribbean boys commit higher levels of crime
1: single parent families, lack positive male role models
2: mainstream culture is racist. they perceive teachers, police, employers etc to be racist
3: media influence and emphasis on ‘conspicuous consumption’-
they then join gangs/subcultures where they can achieve status through hyper-masculine violence and material goods bought through crime. gang life becomes a comfort zone

eval: implies african-carribbean family life is inadequate and consequently responsible for crime and delinquency

Question 10

cultural differences amongst ethnic minority groups
- Hirschi, bonds of attachment

Answer 10

young people commit crime because they lack the social controls of attachment, commitment, involvement and belief in their lives. people are less inclined to commit crime as they get older, because they have more to lose.
- could be argued asian crime rate is low because they acquire these controls at an earlier stage

eval; asian crime rate is raising. since 9/11, young muslims being stopped and arrested is rising

Question 11

demographic factors (age/location)
- fitzgerald

Answer 11

compared the rate of ethnic minority street crime to a range of socio-economic general data. he concluded EMs sufferred 4 major variables:
1. lived in areas which lacked community cohesion
2. young males made up of disproportionate number of west indian
3. over representative/statistical link between crime and single parent families
4. subcultures that promote crime linked closely with educational failure, similar subcultures of white WC

Question 12

demographic factors (age/location)
- waddington

Answer 12

argues police stop a higher number of black people compared to whites.
however, he argues there are more EM 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 likely to be stopped and searched - because of where they are rather than their ethnicity

Question 13

policing

Answer 13

phillips and bowling note since the 1970s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities

Question 14

stop and search

Answer 14

compared with white people, black people are 7x more likely to be stopped and searched, and asian people 2x more likely
- statistics show asian people are most likely to be stopped and searched under the terrorism act

Question 15

explaining stop and search patterns

Answer 15

• police racism: macpherson report concluded there was institutional racism in met police post stephen lawrence,,,
• ethnic differences in offending: explanation that it reflects offending rates. difference between low and high discretion
• ethnic minorities are over-represented in population groups who are likely to be stopped, such as the young, the unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers

Question 16

arrests and cautions

Answer 16

in 2014/15 the arrest rate for black was 3x more the rate for white
black and asians were less likely than whites to receive a caution

• one reason may be em groups are more likely to deny the offence and to exercise their right to legal advice(possibly out of mistrust of the police)

Question 17

prosecution and trial

Answer 17

• cps is more likely to drop cases against ems. phillips and bowling; evidence presented to the cps by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ems as criminals
  -when cases do go ahead, members of em groups are more likely to elect for trial before a jury in the crown court (due to mistrust of magistrates impartiality) however crown courts can impose more severe sentences

Question 18

conviction and sentencing

Answer 18

• black and asian defendants less likely to be found guilty; discrimination in police and cps might be bringer weaker or less serious cases against ems which are thrown out by courts
• hood; even when such factors were taken into account, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were gieven sentences on average three months (and asian men 9 months) longer than white men

Question 19

prison

Answer 19

in 2014, just over a quarter of the prison pop were from em groups.
- 5.5 per 1000 for black
- 1.6 per 1000 for asian
- 1.4 per 1000 for white

black 4x more likely to be in prison than white. black and asian more likely than white to be serving longer sentences

Question 20

victim surveys

Answer 20

muggings; black people significatnly overrepresented among those identified by victims as offenders
- much of crime is intra ethnic
- phillips and bowling; evidence suggests that white victims may ‘over-identify’ black (even when they weren’t)
- only cover personal crimes (1/5 of all crimes)
- exclude under 10s, em groups contain a higher proportion of young people
- exclude crimes against businesses- so nothing about ethnicity of white collar/ corporate crime

Question 21

self-report surveys, graham and bowling

Answer 21

black (43%) and white (44%) has very similar rates of offending.
indians (30%), pakistani (28%) and bangladeshis (13%) had lower rates

Question 22

self-report surveys, sharp and budd

Answer 22

white and ‘mixed’ ethnic origin most likely to admit to committing an offence
- white (40%)
- black (28%)
- asian (21%)