Ethnicity and Crime

Question 1

What is some evidence that proves society is institutionally racist?

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Why are official statistics unreliable?

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

What are some other sources apart from official statistics

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

What is a Victim survey

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What are some criticisms of victim surveys?

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

What are self report studies?

Answer 6

• 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`

Question 7

How does policing perpetuate institutional racism?

Answer 7

• SInce the 1970’s strategies such as mass stop and searching, deaths in custody, failure to respond to racial violence etc, perpetuate institutional racism

Question 8

How do stop and searches perpetuate institutional racism?

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

How does police racism explain stop and search patterns?

Answer 9

• 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,

Question 10

How does Ethnic differences in offending, explain stop and search patterns?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

How does Ethnic differences in offending, explain stop and search patterns?

Answer 11

• Ethnic minorities are more populous in demographics that are over represented in stop and searches such as the young, the unemployed and labourers etc.

Question 12

How do arrests and cautions perpetuate institutional racism?

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

Hows do prosecutions and trials perpetuate institutional racism?

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

How do convictions and sentencing display institutional racism?

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

How do pre-sentence reports highlight institutional racism in the CJS?

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

How does prison perpetuate institutional racism?

Answer 16

• 2021, quarter of prison population were ethnic minorities with 5.5 per 1000 black people being in prison compared to just 1.4 per 1000 white people
• Black offenders are 4 more likely to be in prison than white people and more likely to serve longer sentences
• Ethnic minorities are less likely to be given bail meaning there is a disproportionate amount of ethnic minority prisoners on remand
• This pattern is similar in other countries such as 2/5 people in jail in America are black

Question 17

According to left realists, Lea and Young what is the cause for ethnic differences in crime stats?

Answer 17

• They reflect real ethnic differences in crime due to the marginalisation of people in colour mixed with the consumerism society promotes causing relative deprivation
• One response is the formation of delinquent subcultures, especially young jobless black boys resulting in utilitarian crime and due to not having a voice they become frustrated and commit non-utilitarian crime
• There is police racism but 90% of arrests begin with a report from the public and the ethnic differences in crime would mean very selective police racism

Question 18

How can Lea and Young’s theory about the role of police racism in shaping police stats?

Answer 18

• Asian people appear in crime statistics less not because they commit less crime because they are stereotyped differently resulting in different treatment from the CJS

Question 19

According to Neo-Marxist. Gilroy, how is the criminalisation of people of colour a social construction?

Answer 19

• Black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes which the police act on making black people more likely to come into contact with the CJS
• Minority ethnic group crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society like they did in the days of imperialism

Question 20

How can Gilroy be criticised?

Answer 20

• First generation immigrants were very law abiding so they wouldn’t have passed on violent anti-colonial resistance
• Most crime is intra-ethnic so it can’t be rebellion against racism
• Asian crime rates are the same or lower than whites meaning according to Gilroy police are not racist to Asian people which is unlikely

Question 21

According to Neo-Marxist. Hall et al, how is the criminalisation of people of colour a social construction?

Answer 21

• The creation of the moral panic of black muggers to use as a scapegoat in the 1970’s to serve the interests of capitalism amidst mass unemployment
• The working class were divided racially and served no opposition to capitalism

Question 22

What are the criticisms of Hall et al?

Answer 22

• Criticised for saying black street crime wasn’t rising and it was a moral panic but it was rising due to unemployment, inconsistent
• No evidence that the public were blaming crime on black youth in the 1970s
• Left realists argue that fears about mugging from inner city residents are realistic