Ethnicity and Crime

Question 1

Lea and Young: Left realist explanation

Answer 1

Marginalisation: of BME in society = economicallt and socially exculded

Blocked opportunities: Failures in education result in formation of subcultures

Media: representations of BME ciminality fule further marginalisation and exclusion

Young men from minority backgrounds also experience marginalisation as they are often under-represented at the highest levels of society - government, political parties

Question 2

Gilroy: Myth of black criminality

Answer 2

Black criminality is a myth

self report studies:
levels o criminality in black and white are similar

Actions are due to political resistance to opression - former colonial struggles in ancersral homelands

When they resisted racism in Britain, it was criminalised

Question 3

Hall et al: Policing the crisis

Answer 3

Unequal structure of British society + perceptions of the black community in the UK.

Aggressive policing tactics:
- stop and search = react to discrimination

Media legitimised police actions by portraying black community as criminal

1960’s moral panic: black men & mugging

Question 4

Strain theory

Answer 4

Lack of resources = strain, lack of legitimate opportunities leads to retreatism/innovation to achieve goals

Question 5

Subcultural theories

Answer 5

GUNTER - ‘road culture’ - young black males: status gained through criminal activities

Question 6

Interactionist theories

Answer 6

Role of the media in creating folk devils out of both black and Asian males.

Ethnic minority groups are less likely to be able to negotiate the CJS than white middle class (Cicourel: negotiation of justice)

Negative stereotyping of black and Asian males being associated with certain crime e.g. drug dealing, carrying knifes.

Question 7

Statistics on ethnic differences

Answer 7

Arrest rate for black people was 2.4 times higher than for white people

27.2 stop and search on black people vs 5.6 on white people

Conviction rates are lower for ethnic minority groups than white

27% of uk prisoners are ethnic minorities

reoffenders : 32% for children with asian/chinese backgrounds, 36.7% for white background and 46.9% for black background