Ethnicity and Crime Flashcards
1
Q
What is some evidence that proves society is institutionally racist?
A
- Black people make up 3% of the population but 13% of the prison population
- Asian people make 6.9% of the population but 8% of the prison population
- White people are underrepresented in all stages of the cjs making 83% of the population but only 73% of the prison population
2
Q
Why are official statistics unreliable?
A
- Do not tell us whether members of one ethnic group are more likely to commit crimes, they only tell us involvement with the CJS
- For example, stop and search rates may be due to police strategy rather than crime rates
3
Q
What are some other sources apart from official statistics
A
- Victim surveys, Crime survey of England and Wales asking people what crimes they have been a victim of annually
- Self report studies, Criminals admit to their crimes
4
Q
What is a Victim survey
A
Victim surveys, CSEW, people asked whether they have been victims of crime in the past 12 months
- People are asked to identify the ethnicity and black people are underrepresented in this metric when it comes to mugging
- This shows there is an ethnic pattern to offending with certain groups more likely to commit certain crimes than others
5
Q
What are some criticisms of victim surveys?
A
- Rely on victim’s memory, Philips and Bowling say white people over-identify black subjects even when they are not sure
- Only cover personal crimes which make up 20% of offences
- Exclude under 10’s with more ethnic groups having younger average ages
- Ignore white collar and corporate crimes
6
Q
What are self report studies?
A
- Ask people to disclose their own offences
- Sample of 2500 people, Graham and Bowling founded white and black offending rates were similar 44 and 43%. Also found Bangladeshi (13%), Indian (30%) and Pakistani (28%)
- Sharpe and Budd, survey of 12000 found that 40% of white and mixed people admitted offending but only 28% of black and 21% of Asian people
- Use of class A drugs such as cocaine is more popular amongst white people
- Challenge the stereotype of black people being more likely to commit crime and support the idea that Asians are less likely to commit crime`
7
Q
How does policing perpetuate institutional racism?
A
- SInce the 1970’s strategies such as mass stop and searching, deaths in custody, failure to respond to racial violence etc, perpetuate institutional racism
8
Q
How do stop and searches perpetuate institutional racism?
A
- Ethnic minorities being more likely to be stopped and searched due to ‘reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing’
- 2020, Black people were 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched and Asian people over twice as likely with only 14% ending in arrests
- Terrorism act of 2000 allow police to stop and search vehicles without reasonable suspicion with Asian people being the most likely to commit crime
- This explains why ethnic minorities are more likely to object a stop and search and be arrested with black people being 4x more likely to have force used against them and 5x more likely to be tasered
9
Q
How does police racism explain stop and search patterns?
A
- Police racism, the Macpherson report concluded the murder of Stephen Lawrence was an act of police racism
- Philips and Bowling, many officers have racist stereotypes about ethnic minorities, which are upheld by canteen culture, leading them to target them for arrests and stop and searches
- Demographic factors,
10
Q
How does Ethnic differences in offending, explain stop and search patterns?
A
- It simply reflects the ethnic differences in offending
- High discretion stops, police stops without probable cause based on their racial stereotypes
- Low discretion stops, police stops based on probable causes
11
Q
How does Ethnic differences in offending, explain stop and search patterns?
A
- Ethnic minorities are more populous in demographics that are over represented in stop and searches such as the young, the unemployed and labourers etc.
12
Q
How do arrests and cautions perpetuate institutional racism?
A
- England and Wales figures show that black people were arrested 3x more than white people
- Black and Asian arestees were less likely to receive cautions than white people
- This may be due to ethnic minorities distrusting the police and seeking legal advice instead and not admitting the offence means they are more likely to be sentenced than cautioned
13
Q
Hows do prosecutions and trials perpetuate institutional racism?
A
- The CPS decide whether to move a case to court and they’re more likely to drop cases of ethnic minorities due to cases of weaker evidence due to stereotyping of police
- More likely to elect a jury due to distrust of magistrates with harsher sentences being placed in crown courts explaining higher ethnic minority prison populations
14
Q
How do convictions and sentencing display institutional racism?
A
- Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty due to evidence being based on police stereotypes rather than actual evidence
- However, when they are sentenced black people are 5% more likely to be given a custodial sentence and sentences 3 months longer than white men
15
Q
How do pre-sentence reports highlight institutional racism in the CJS?
A
- Written by probation officers as a risk assessment to advise the court on the sentence
- Hudson and Bramhall, reports on Asian offenders were less remorseful which could be blamed on the demonisation Muslims due to 911 November 1st
