ethnicity and crime

Question 1

marginalisation (lea and young)

Answer 1

• they challenge those who dismiss any link between race and crime as evidence of racism in the criminal justice system.
• racial discrimination leads to an acute awareness of ‘unnecessary injustices’ e.g. unemployment and deprivation. - they discuss the ways in which a minority of the oppressed groups in any industrialised society are ‘brutalised’ into criminality.

Question 2

relative deprivation (palmer)

Answer 2

• due to the multiple disadvantages faced by young black males, it cannot be assumed that they commit crime for the same reasons as white males.
• in her research of black residents in inner-city London, she found that the media and wider culture impacted the aspirations of the black youth, making references to feelings of ‘relative deprivation’ and ‘unnecessary injustice’.

Question 3

paradox of inclusion (nightingale)

Answer 3

• in addition to factors of unemployment and poverty, the culture of conspicuous consumption and glorification of violence are key factors for high levels of criminality and violence amongst young black males in Philadelphia.
• black youths in America consume the same mainstream culture and buy into the values of consumerism.
• however, poverty and racism inevitably mean that violence and criminal behaviour are the only available routes for success.

Question 4

rational career (bourgois)

Answer 4

• studied Latino and African American drug dealers in the El Barrio area.
• dealing drugs is a ‘rational career choice’ for ambitious and highly motivated youths in comparison to existing on welfare or a minimum wage job.

Question 5

gang related culture (pitts)

Answer 5

• minority ethnic young people have found themselves ‘immobilised’ at the bottom of the economic ladder and cut adrift from the values of mainstream society.
• this created a response of frustration and rage, therefore gang membership and violence have been normalised.

Question 6

subculture (gunter)

Answer 6

• highlights the significance of ‘road culture’ and ‘badness’ on young black males’ identities, experiences and lifestyle.

Question 7

the myth of black criminality (gilroy)

Answer 7

• he challenges those seeking to blame black culture, generational conflict or even deprivation for higher rates of black criminality.
• it serves as a political agenda, fuelled by racist police practices. the media contributes to this myth by stereotyping black males, leading to public labelling and justified control.

Question 8

resistance to racism (scraton)

Answer 8

• he saw the police as an occupying force imposed on the working class and ethnic minorities. they impose law which reflects the interests of the ruling class.
• ‘black criminality’ is a part of a ‘culture of resistance’, formed as a response to racism.

Question 9

stop and search (waddington et al)

Answer 9

• high levels of stops and searches of young Asian and Black males are not evidence of racism.
• they consider other factors such as the ‘availability’ of people from certain ethnicities in public places.
• his research suggests that Black and Asian males were not disproportionately treated by the police.

Question 10

response to rejection (glynn)

Answer 10

• the criminal justice processes are inherently racist, and the promotion of racist stereotypes created a defiant reaction amongst some black males.
• crime becomes a way of ‘getting back’ at a society which has rejected them.

Question 11

triple quandary theory (sewell)

Answer 11

• identified the three risk factors responsible for high levels of crime amongst African-Caribbean boys.
• absent fathers, feelings of rejection and negativity from teachers, police and employers and a media culture focused on conspicuous consumption.

Question 12

the scarman report

Answer 12

• the official response to racial violence and rioting in some British cities in the early 1980s.
• it officially recognised that social and economic disadvantages faced by ethnic minorities could create a disposition towards violent protest.
• it also highlighted the issues relating to the policing of such communities, endorsing more Racial Awareness Training programmes.

Question 13

the mcpherson report (hall)

Answer 13

• considered the issue of policing and race relations.
• the report concluded the official inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the investigation.
• he found the flawed police investigation scandalous, but not surprising.

Question 14

over-policing (phillips and bowling)

Answer 14

• despite the McPherson Report, ethnic minority neighbourhoods were still over-policed with military style methods.

Question 15

stop and search (anderson)

Answer 15

• in his study of policing in Philadelphia, he argued that the police tended to assume white people were middle class and trustworthy, whereas black people were lower class and criminal.
• police officers would stop, harass and abuse young black males on the streets, though most did nothing to deserve it.

Question 16

policy studies institute (smith and grey)

Answer 16

• their report highlighted the explicit and accepted racist language of the officers they were observing.

Question 17

racialisation of policing (holdaway)

Answer 17

• he began his research into police culture as a serving officer in the 1970s.
• he argues that routine and mundane police work and relationships can take on a ‘racial framing’.
• consequently, police officers may inadvertently act in racist manners without realising it.

Question 18

police discretion (chan)

Answer 18

• the inappropriate use of such discretion has led to the over- and under-policing of particular types of both offenders and victims.

Question 19

differential deployment (bhilox)

Answer 19

• most policing is directed at the excluded in society, who are often young, poor and black.
• the police pursue policies of ‘differential deployment’ (concentrating policing on areas where the targeted reside) and ‘methodological suspicion’ (routinely suspecting only a limited proportion of the population).
• this may lead ethnic minorities to feel a sense of injustice, which can lead to further conflict.

Question 20

secret policeman (mark daly)

Answer 20

• journalist went undercover in a police training centre.
• secretly filmed footage showed examples of extreme racism amongst the new recruits, both towards other trainees, victims and suspects.

Question 21

sentencing (hood)

Answer 21

• black men were 5% more likely to be imprisoned than white men.
• more recent evidence suggests that things have not changed significantly.
• black people received the highest average custodial sentence length at 20.8 months, whereas white people received the lowest average at 14.9 months.
• the most common sentence outcome for white and mixed ethnic group offenders was a community sentence, whereas for black, Asian and Chinese, the most common sentence was immediate custody.
• between 1993 and 2003, the white prison population increased by 48%, the black prison population increased by 138% and the Asian prison population increased by 73%.