Ethnicity and crime

Question 1

What do official statistics show us about ethnic differences in crime?

Answer 1

-Black people, and to a lesser extent, Asians are overrepresented in the system e.g.
-Black people make up just 3% of the population, but 13.1% of the prison population
-Asians, make up 6.5% of the population, but 7.7% of the prison population
-By contrast, white people are underrepresented in all aspects of the criminal justice system

-Of the 80,000 men in prison: 74% are white,15% of African Caribbean, 7% of Asian, 3% are mixed and 1% is Chinese
-Of the 7000 females in prison: 70%, white, 21%, African Caribbean, 5% are mixed 2% Asian and 2% of Chinese and other
-The situation in the USA is very similar as black Americans make up 13% of the total population, but 50% of the prison population and are over represented in the system

Question 2

What did the Ministry of Justice report in 2008?

Answer 2

compared to white people:
-African Caribbean were 3x more likely to be cautioned by the police and 3 1/2x likely to be arrested
-Asians were two times as likely to be stopped and searched (mainly for drugs)

Question 3

However.. what do statistics not tell us?

Answer 3

-they do not tell us where the members of one group are more likely than members of another to commit an offence in the first place, but just tell us about the involvement with the CJS
-Differences in stop and search and arrest rates may simply be due to policing strategies or discrimination by officers
-Differences in imprisonment rates could be due to court, handing down, harsher sentences to minorities

Question 4

What are some alternative sources of statistics to OS?

Answer 4

-victim surveys
-Self-report studies

Question 5

Victims surveys

Answer 5

e.g. Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of usually during the past 12 months
-We can gain information about ethnicity and offending from such surveys when they ask victims to identify the ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them
e.g. In mugging, black people are significantly overrepresented among those identified by victims as offenders.
-They also show that a great deal of crime is intra ethnic and takes place within rather than between ethnic groups

Question 6

limitations of victim surveys

Answer 6

-rely on the victims memory of events, PHILIPS AND BOWLING say evidence suggests that white victims may over identify blacks saying that offender was black, even when they are not sure
-They only cover personal crimes, which make up only a fifth of all
-They exclude the under 10s: minority ethnic groups contain a higher proportion of young people
-They exclude crimes by and against organisations like businesses, so tell us nothing to do about ethnicity of white collar and corporate crimes

SO victim surveys can only tell us about the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be representative

Question 7

self-report studies
Graham and Bowling
Sharp and Budd

Answer 7

-ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour
-Based on a sample of 2500 people, GRAHAM AND BOWLING found that blacks (43%) and whites (44%) had very similar rates of offending while Indians (30%), Pakistanis (28%) and Bangladeshis (13%) had much lower rates
-SHARP AND BUDD note that the 2003 offending crime and Justice survey of 12,000 people found that white and mixed ethnic origins were more led to say they had committed an offence (40%), followed by blacks (28%) and Asians (21%)
-Findings of self report, studies challenge, the stereotype of black people as more likely than white to defend though they support the widely held view that Asians are more likely to offend

Question 8

limitations of self-report studies

Answer 8

-rely on the honesty and memory of individuals (some ethnic minority may fit punishment, so may not admit to serious crimes)
-May underplay some crimes
-Generally too small to be representative
-Evidence is inconsistent as a victim service and official statistics (point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks), contradict self-report studies findings

Question 9

What are the different stages of the CJS where ethnic differences occur?

Answer 9

-policing
-Arrests and cautions
-Prosecution and convictions
-Sentencing and prison
-Stop and search

Question 10

policing

Answer 10

many allegations of oppressive policing from minority ethnic communities are made
-e.g. Mass stop and search operations, excessive surveillance, armed raids, deaths in custody, police violence, (Philips and Bowling)

Question 11

arrests and cautions

Answer 11

-arrest rate for black people is 3.6x the rate for whites
-Once arrested less likely to receive a caution, perhaps due to the mistrust of police and not admitting to the offence, which means they cannot be let off with a caution, and are more likely to be charged

Question 12

prosecutions and convictions

Answer 12

-Crown, prosecution service (CPS) are more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities
-Maybe, because vidence presented by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ethnic minorities as criminals
-Black, and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty- due to discrimination (may bring less serious crimes against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts)
-Black offenders, imprisonment rates, 3% points higher and Asian offenders, five points higher than white- maybe due to the differences in the seriousness of the offences or in the defendants previous convictions

Question 13

sentencing and prison
HOOD

Answer 13

-custodial sentences are more likely to be given to black offenders
-Black and Asian people are over, represented in prisons and are more likely to be given longer sentences
-Hood: study of Crown courts, found out, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences on average three months (and Asian men, nine months) than white men

Question 14

stop and search

Answer 14

(black people are seven times more likely to be stopped, and Asians are three times- under Terorrism Act 2000)
-Only a small proportion result in arrests
-increase number is due to:
Police racism
Demographic factors
Ethnic differences

Question 15

police racism

Answer 15

-institutional racism within a police force (the Macpherson report, 1999- Stephen Lawrence case.
-Philip’s and Bowling: many officers, hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminal, which leads to deliberate targeting for stop and search.

Question 16

demographic factors

Answer 16

ethnic minority are overrepresented in population groups, most likely to be stopped e.g. Young, unemployed and urban dwellers.

Question 17

ethnic differences in offending

Answer 17

-patterns may reflect the possibility that some ethnic groups are more likely to offend
-WADDINGTON

Question 18

Waddington

Answer 18

-published in the British journal of criminology argues that the police do stop a proportionally higher number of black than whites
-However, he argues that there are more ethnic minority youths out at night in inner cities, and at the police simply target those in high-risk areas
-If the areas are 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 19

Discretion stops: low and high

Answer 19

-in low discretion stops: police act on relevant information about a specific offence e.g. Victim’s description of the offender.
-in high discretion stops: police act without specific intelligence, and it is in the stops that officers can use their stereotypes that disproportionality and discrimination are most likely

Question 20

Left realism explanation of crime: Lea and Young

Answer 20

-argue that official statistics are generally accurate and young black men really are committing more offences than other groups
-The first criminologist to acknowledge that black people were not simply victims of a racist police force and CJS, but are actually more likely to be involved with street crime than whites
-reasons: marginalisation, relative deprivation, subcultural response

Question 21

marginalisation

Answer 21

LR’s argue that racism has led to the marginalisation and
economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher
levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing.

Question 22

relative deprivation

Answer 22

The media’s emphasis on consumerism promotes a
sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals
that many members of minority groups are unable to
reach by legitimate means

Question 23

a subcultural response

Answer 23

One response is the formation of delinquent subcultures,
esp by young unemployed black males. Producing
higher levels of utilitarian crime e.g. Theft and robbery.
Because these groups are marginalised and have no
organisations to represent their interests, their frustration
can lead to non utilitarian crime e.g. violence and rioting

Question 24

Lea and Young- why police racism is unlikely to account for the ethnic differences?

Answer 24

-Lea and Young recognise that racist policing often leads to the unjustified criminalisation of some members of minority groups.
-However even if police do act in racist ways, Lea
& Young argue that this is unlikely to account for
the ethnic differences in the statistics (90% of crimes
known to police reported by members of public)
-Similarly police racism cannot explain the much
higher conviction rates of black people than of
Asians, they would have to be selectively racist
against black people not Asians to cause these
differences

Question 25

Why are Lea and Young criticised?

Answer 25

Lea and Young are criticised for their views on the
role of police racism e.g. Arrest rates for Asians
may be lower than for blacks not because they are
likely to offend but because police stereotype the 2
groups differently seeing black people as dangerous
and Asians as passive.

These stereotypes may have changed since 9/11,
Asians now seen as dangerous- explaining rising
criminalisation rates for this group

Question 26

other reasons for higher rates of street crime amongst black males

Answer 26

–educational success
-family structure
-mass media

Question 27

educational success

Question 28

family structure

Question 29

mass media

Question 30

Neo-Marxist explanation: Black crime as a construct

Answer 30

-Gilroy (1982) and Hall et al (1979) reject the view that the statistics reflect reality
-They are the outcome of a social construction process that stereotypes minorities as more criminal than the majority population

Question 31

Gliroy: the myth of black criminality

Answer 31

-Gilroy argues that the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribeans and Asians
-In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other group
-But as CJS acts on these racist stereotypes, minorities are criminalised and therefore appear in greater numbers in the official crime statistics
-Ethnic minority crime is a form of political resistance against a racist society, this resistance has it roots in earlier struggles against British imperialism (holds similar view to critical criminology- argues WC crime is a political act of resistance to capitalism)
-Most black people and Asians in the UK originated in former British colonies, where their anti-colonial struggles taught them how to resist oppression e.g. through riots and demonstrations
-When they found themselves facing racism in Britain, they adopted the same forms of struggle to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state

Question 32

Criticisms of Gilroy

Answer 32

Lea & Young criticise Gilroy
-First generation immigrants were law abiding; its unlikely they passed on a tradition of anti-colonial struggle
-Most crime is intra-ethnic (criminals & victims have same ethnicity) therefore not a struggle against racism
-Gilroy romanticises street crime as revolutionary

Question 33

Hall et al: policing the crisis

Answer 33

-Hall et al argue that the 1970’s saw a moral panic over black ‘muggers’ that served the interests of capitalism in dealing with a crisis
-Ruling class are normally able to rule society through consent but in times of crisis this becomes difficult.
-In early 1970’s British capitalism faced a crisis: high inflation, unemployment and strikes. At such times when opposition to Capitalism begins to grow, the ruling class may tend to use force to maintain control. Use of force needs to be seen as legitimate or it may provoke more widespread resistance
-1970’s saw a media driven moral panic about the supposed growth of a ‘new’ crime- mugging- apparently committed by black youths. In reality there was no evidence of a significant increase in this crime at the time. Mugging became associated with black youth
-The emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a ‘black’ crime at the same time as the crisis of capitalism was no coincidence. The myth of the young black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of society’s problems e.g. Unemployment
-By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society, the moral panic served to divide the WC on racial grounds and weaken opposition to capitalism, as well as winning popular consent for more authoritarian forms of rule that could be used to suppress opposition.
-However Hall et al do not argue that black crime was only a product of media labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment, and this drove some into petty crime to survive.

Question 34

Criticisms of Hall et al

Answer 34

-DOWNES AND ROCK: Hall et al are inconsistent; they claim that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment
-They don’t show how the crisis led to a moral panic, or that the public were actually blaming crime on blacks
-Left Realists argue that inner city residents’ fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic

Question 35

ethnicity and victimisation

Answer 35

-Information comes from victim surveys (CSEW) and police recorded statistics which cover racist incidents and racially or religiously aggravated offences
-Police recorded 54,000 racists incidents (2014/15) while the CSEW reports 89,000 many go unreported.
-People from mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be victims of crimes (27.9%), compared to blacks (18%), Asians (15.8%) and White (15.7%)

-Could be due to other factors such as being young, male and unemployed. Ethnic groups with large numbers of young males may have higher rates of victimisation
-Figures don’t necessarily capture the ‘experience’ of being a victim. Racial victimisation tends to be ongoing over time with repeated ‘minor’ instances of abuse and harassment interwoven with periodic incidents of physical violence which can have long term psychological impacts in addition to physical injury and property damage. (SAMPSON AND PHILLIPS)

Question 36

responses to victimisation
(by members of EM communities)

Answer 36

-have ranged from situational crime prevention measures e.g. fireproof doors and letterboxes to organised self-defence campaign aimed at physically defending neighbourhoods from racist attacks
-Such responses need to be understood in the context of accusations of underproduction by the police who have often ignore the racist dimensions of victimisations and failed to record or investigate reported incident properly
-e.g. the Macpherson Enquiry concluded that the police investigation into the death of the black teenager, Stephen Lawrence was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism, and a failure of leadership by senior officers
-Others have found deeply ingrained, racist, attitudes and beliefs among individual officers

Question 37

more recent approaches explanations?

Answer 37

-neighbourhood
-getting caught

Question 38

neighbourhood: Fitzgerald et al

Answer 38

-examine the role of neighbourhood factors in explaining the greater involvement of black youths in street robbery
-Found that rates were highest in very poor areas, and where very deprived people came into contact with more affluent groups- black were more likely to live in these areas and to be poor
-However, whites affected by these factors were also more experience crime so ethnicity was not a cause
-However, black people may be more likely to live in poor areas because of racial discrimination in the housing and job markets

Question 39

getting caught: Sharp and Budd

Answer 39

-some groups have a greater risk of being caught
-Found that black offenders were more likely than white offenders to be arrested as they were more likely…
-to commit crimes like robbery where victims can easily identify them
-to have been excluded from school
-to associate with known criminals
These are all factors that raised their ‘visibility’ to authorities