Ethnicity and Crime Flashcards
What does official statistics suggest about black people?
Black people are, according to statistics:
- Over twice as likely to be cautioned by the police.
- Around three times more likely to be arrested.
- More likely to be charged, remanded and face court than to receive a caution.
- More likely, if found guilty, to receive a custodial sentence and for a longer term.
- Five times more likely to be in prison.
What are Asians more likely to have happened to them, according to official statistics?
Asians are, according to official statistics:
- More likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to receive a caution.
- More likely to receive a custodial sentence if found guilty and for a longer term.
What do left realists say about the causes of ethnic minority crime?
LEA AND YOUNG:
- Black crime is higher than white crime due to:
—> Marginalisation: being pushed to the sides of society due to educational underachievement, unemployment etc.
—> Relative Deprivation: Media and society emphasise consumerism, making ethnic minorities feel relatively deprived as they cannot achieve the consumer goals that other members feel.
As a result, these lead to criminal subcultures being formed, which produce higher levels of utilitarian crime as a way of coping with relative deprivation, but also non utilitarian crime as a way to express their frustration at being marginalised.
Why isn’t ethnic minority crime caused by police racism, according to left realists?
LEA AND YOUNG:
- Argue that whilst the police may act in racist ways, this doesn’t fully explain the statistics for the following reasons:
1) Over 90% of crimes known to the police are reported by members of the public, meaning the statistics cannot be affected by racist stop and searches, for example.
2) Black individuals have higher rates of criminalisation than Asians. The police would
therefore have to be very selective in their racism.
What are the criticisms for left realists arguments on the causes of crime?
The police may stereotype black and Asian individuals differently but still treat them both differently to white individuals.
How can Merton’s strain theory be applied to explain ethnic minority crime?
How can Cohen’s status frustration be applied to explain ethnic minority crime?
How can Cloward and Ohlin’s three different subcultures be applied to explain ethnic minority crime?
How can control theory be applied to explain ethnic minority crime?
Why ethnic minorities may not commit more crime
What is the Neo Marxists argument for seeing black crime as a myth and resistance
- Neo Marxists, such as GILROY, see black crime as a myth and resistance.
- However, as a result of the criminal justice system and the police holding negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities and crime, ethnic minorities are criminalised and appear more in official statistics.
- However, Gilroy argues crime by ethnic minorities can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society.
- This is rooted in the historic resistance of ethnic minorities to British imperialism in their countries of origin. For example, riots and demonstrations were used to resist British imperial rule in former British colonies. These are the same tactics ethnic minorities use today to resist racism.
Why ethnic minorities may not commit more crime?
What are criticisms of neo Marxists arguments of black crime being a myth and resistance?
- First generation immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s were very law abiding.
- Most crime is intra-ethnic (the victim and criminal are of the same ethnicity).
What is neo Marxists argument in regards to black crime and scapegoating being a reason for ethnic minorities not committing more crime?
Hall et al argue that in the 1970s, Britain was facing an economic and political crisis characterised by high inflation and unemployment.
- This threatened the dominance of ruling class ideology (a crisis of hegemony) as it indicated there were problems with capitalism.
- At the same time a moral panic developed which portrayed black youths as more involved in crimes such as mugging and this was promoted by the media.
- This moral panic resulted in growing demands by the public that something should be done.
Hall et al argued the moral panic was used to:
—> Justify more aggressive policing against the black community, e.g. stop and search.
—> Distract the public from the problems with capitalism.
—> Divide the working class along ethnic lines by encouraging white working class individuals to see black working class individuals as criminals.
—> Win support from the public for more authoritarian forms of rule that could be used to
suppress opposition to capitalism.
What are the criticisms neo Marxists arguing that black crime and scapegoating resulting in ethnic minorities not committing more crime?
- The conflicts between minority ethnic groups and the police still exist, as do negative media stereotypes, but the crisis of hegemony does not.
- Lea and Young point out that most crimes are reported by the public, not discovered by the police.
- Therefore it is hard to say black crime is as a result of police racism.
What do Phillips and Bowling suggest about racial discrimination in terms of police labelling and how is it shown?
PHILLIPS AND BOWLING:
Suggests that racial discrimination is shown in the following ways:
1.) Stop and search
2.) Canteen culture
3.) Institutional racism
4.) Arrests, charges and court proceedings
5.) Discrimination in sentencing
6.) Over representation in prison
What does Phillips and Bowling say stop and search is?
- In 2021 Asians were twice as likely, whilst African Caribbeans were nines times more likely, to be stopped and searched.
- Minority ethnic groups fit police stereotypes of troublemakers and they are therefore targeted more by the police.
- This has a bigger impact when the police have discretion about how they use their powers.
- This is often based on racial stereotypes rather than reasonable suspicion.
- This also creates resentment towards the police from these communities, which was seen as a reason behind the 2011 riots.
