Ethnicity and crime Flashcards
What do the statistics say?
There are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system.
Black people, and to a lesser extent Asians, are over-represented in the system.
Black people make up just 4% of the UK population but make up 12% of the prison population.
Asian people make up 6.5% of the population but 8% of the prison population.
Black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested than white people
Men were 6 times as likely to be arrested as women
Black men were over 3 times as likely to be arrested than white men
What do graphs show about arrests over ethnicity
** 32 is showing to be the rate of arrests per 1,000 black people (500 men & 500 women). 30 black men out of 1000 commit crime, whereas only 4-5 black women commit crime out of 1000. This makes the rate 32.
This is different to the next graph where it shows that black men commit 60 crimes as this is out of 1000 black men, rather than 500 like this graph is showing.
arrest rates are decreasing but black people have the highest arrest rates
the arrest rate for black people was 2.2 times higher than for white people – there were 20.4 arrests for every 1,000 black people, and 9.4 for every 1,000 white people
In 2008 the Ministry of Justice reported that, compared to white people…
Afro Caribbeans were:
7x more likely to be stopped and searched
3x more likely to be cautioned by the police.
3.5x more likely to be arrested
5x more likely to get a custodial sentence i.e. be sent to prison
More likely to be arrested for burglary
Asians were:
2x more likely to be stopped and searched (mainly for drugs)
More likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to receive a caution.
More likely to receive a custodial sentence if found guilty.
more likely to be arrested for fraud and forgery.
How would labelling theorists explain the statisitcs and how would realists?
labelling:
Difference in arrest rates and stop and search are due to policing strategies or racial profiling.
Differences in rates of imprisonment are the result of courts giving harsher sentences to ethnic minorities due to negative labels.
realists:
Both Right and Left realists would argue that the Crime stats on ethnicity are reflective of reality.
Stop and search powers:
A police officer has powers to stop and search you if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect you’re carrying:
illegal drugs
a weapon
stolen property
something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar
You can only be stopped and searched without reasonable grounds if it has been approved by a senior police officer. This can happen if it’s suspected that:
serious violence could take place
you’re carrying a weapon or have used one
you’re in a specific location or area
Black individuals had the highest proportion of stop and searches for offensive weapons (including firearms) at 24%, compared to 15 to 21% for all other ethnic groups
In 2022/23, 22% of all stop and searches (where ethnicity is known) resulted in an outcome that was linked to the reason for the search, i.e., the officer found what they were searching for
Arrests were the principal outcome in 14% of stop and searches, A higher proportion of black individuals received the principal outcome of arrest at 17%
Phillips and Bowling: Stop and Search
Since the 1970’s there has been many allegations made about the oppressive policing of ethnic minority communities.
Despite the high rate of stop and search amongst these communities, only a small proportion of these stop and searches result in arrests.
Members of these communities feel over-policed and under-protected.
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, they don’t even need ‘reasonable suspicion’. Statistics show that Asian people are more likely to be stopped and searched under this act.
