Ethnicity And Crime Flashcards
Official statistics
Lammy Reports- black people made up 3% of the population, but 12% of the prison population. Disproportionate number of prison population are black.
Problems of using OS to help identify patterns of criminal behaviour:
Shows more black people commit crime than any other ethnicity, but won’t say why they’re arrested.
OS don’t give explanations of why people commit crime.
Victim surveys
This asks the respondent if they have been a victim of crime within the last 12 months. They can be asked to identify the ethnicity of the attacker, the common answer of a ‘mugger’ was black.
+ Many uncover unreported crime, therefore shows the dark figure of crime.
X Many people over exaggerate the crime or some could even forget what’s happened.
Self- Report studies
Asked people to tell about there dishonest behaviour.
Graham and bowling- found that black and white people had similar rates of offending at 44% each, while Asians had much lower rates.
+ Gaining first hand data about the people that actually committed the crime.
X The data could lack validity as it anonymous, you cannot confirm who filled it out or the details about the crime they committed.
Police and Institutional Racism
Chadwick- argues than an ideological construction of black criminality has influenced differential policing snd discriminatory punishment in specific neighbourhoods.
Argue- criminality goes hand in hand with marginalisation, the police targeting particular communities have marginalised black people.
The MacPherson Reports- following an enquiry into the Steven Lawrence murder, concluded that the police force was institutionally racist as they failed to investigate the case.
Stop and Search
Members of some ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched by police more than others. Police can use their powers if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ of any wrongdoing doing.
Compared to white people, black people are 7 times more likely and Asians 2 times.
Since 2000 Terrorism Act, Asian people were 3 times more likely to be stopped and searched than others.
Possible reasons for disproportionate number of S and S of ethnic groups:
Institutional racism.
Ethnic differences in offending.
Demographic factors.
Explains the difference in offending- Left realists.
Lea and Young- argue that ethnic differences in statistics actually reflects the true difference in crime rates between ethnicities.
They see crime as a product of relative deprivation, marginalisation and subcultures. They claim that racism has led to marginalisation and economic problems which such leads some people to turn to crime to overcome these problems. Media emphasis consumerism, which leads people to feeling deprived.
One response is young black males turn to subcultures to commit utility crimes to deal with relative deprivation
Explains the difference in offending- Left realists EVALUATION.
+ Supported by statistics were ethnic minorities are more likely to live in deprived areas were there are higher levels of crime.
X To deterministic as not everyone in deprived areas commits crime and not everyone acts on the feeling of relative deprivation.
