ethnicity and crime

Question 1

trends :
black people make up ___% of the population but __%of the prison population

Answer 1

black people make up3% of the population but 13% of the prison populatio

Question 2

trends :
asian people make up __% of the population but __% of the prison popualtion

Answer 2

asian people make up 6.9% of the population but 8% of the prison popualtion

Question 3

alternative sources of data - victim surveys AO1

Answer 3

such as Crime Survey for England and Wales

ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of.
ask them to identify the ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them

show crime is intra-ethnic - takes place within rather than between ethnic groups

Question 4

alternative sources of data - victim surveys AO3 - memory

Answer 4

rely on the victims’ memory of events. evidence suggests white victims may over-identify black suspects saying the offender was black even if theyre not sure

Question 5

alternative sources of data - victim surveys AO3 - limited application

Answer 5

only cover personal crimes which make up only 1/5 of all crimes

exlcudes crimes by and against organisations so they tell us nothing about the ethnicity of white collar and corporate crimes

Question 6

alternative sources of data self-report studies AO1

Answer 6

ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour

Question 7

alternative sources of data self-report studies AO2

Answer 7

sample of 2,500 people
white and black rates of offending were very similar 44% and 43% but indian 30%, pakistani 28% rates were much lower

Question 8

alternative sources of data self-report studies AO3 - challenge stereotypes

Answer 8

findings of self-report studies challenge the stereotype of black people as more likely than white people to offend

Question 9

alternative sources of data self-report studies AO3 - inconsistent

Answer 9

evidence is inconsistent

Question 10

ethicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - 1. policing

Answer 10

1. policing
   oppressive policing of minorities

Question 11

ethicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - 2. stop and serach

Answer 11

police can use the power if there is reasonable suspicion.

only a small proportion of stops results in arrests

under the terrorism act, police can stop and search whether or not they have reasonable suspicion = Asians more likely to be stopped

minority ethnic groups more likely to think they’re over-policed and under-protected

blacks 4x more likely to have force used against them

Question 12

ethicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - 2. stop and search AO2

Answer 12

compared with white people, black people 9x more likely to be stopped and searched and asians 2x more likely

Question 13

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - explaining stop and search patterns - police racism

Answer 13

police racism:
AO2 study: Stephen Lawrence
institutional racism within the metro police
many officers hold negative stereotypes about minority ethnic groups leading to deliberately targeting of stop and search

Question 14

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - explaining stop and search patterns - demographic factors

Answer 14

. minority ethnic groups are over represented in the groups who are more likely to be stopped such as the young, unemployed, manual workers

more likely to be stopped regardless of ethnicity

Question 15

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - arrests and cautions

Answer 15

arrest rate for black was over 3x the rate as white people

black and asian less likely to receive a caution than white

Question 16

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - prosecution and trial

Answer 16

CPS is more likely to drop cases against minority ethnic groups may be because evidence presented is weaker and based on stereotyping of minority groups

Question 17

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - convictions and sentencing

Answer 17

black and asian less likely to be found guilty

Question 18

ethnicity and the criminal justice system: the stages - prison

Answer 18

over a quarter of prison population were from minority ethnic groups

black 4x more likely to be in prison than white

minority are less likely to be granted bail

Question 19

2 explanations for ethnic differences in statistics

Answer 19

left realism - statistics present real differences in rates

neo marxism - the statistics are a social construct resulting from racist labelling

Question 20

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - left realism AO1

Answer 20

Lea and Young
ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences

see crime as a product of relative deprivation and marginalisation. racism has led to the marginalisation of minority ethnic groups who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty. media’s emphasis on consumerism promotes sense of relative deprivation.

a response is formation of delinquent subculture especially by young unemployed black males = higher rates of utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation.

police act in racist ways but dont believe this fully explains the differences.

Question 21

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - left realism AO2

Answer 21

90% of crimes known to the police are reported by the public. so it’s unlikely police racism can account for difference in statistics

black people have higher criminalisation rate than asian so police would have to be very selective in their racism.

Question 22

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - left realism AO3

Answer 22

Arrest rates for asian people may be lower than black people not because they’re more likely to offend but because police stereotype the groups differently
blacks = dangerous
asians = passive.

but since 9/11 police now regard asian too as dangerous - this explains the rising criminalisation rates of asians

Question 23

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Gilroy - AO1

Answer 23

differences are the outcome of social construction
Gilroy

black criminality is a myth created by racism stereotypes of african caribbean and asian people. when in reality these groups are no more criminal than any other.

as a result of police acting on these racist stereotypes minority ethnic groups come to be criminalised and so appear more on official statistics

minority ethnic group crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society e.g WC crime is a political act of resistance to capitalism

Question 24

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Gilroy - AO2

Answer 24

WC crime is a political act of resistance to capitalism

Question 25

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Gilroy - AO3 - romanticises

Answer 25

lea and young argue Gilroy romanticises street crime as somehow revolutionary

Question 26

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Gilroy - AO3 - simialr crime rates

Answer 26

asian crime rates are simialr if not lower than for whites
if gilroy was right then the police are only racist towards black people and not asians which seems unlikely

Question 27

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Hall et al AO1

Answer 27

1970s media driven moral panic of the growth of a new crime ‘mugging’ - was just a new name for an old crime of street robbery.

when actually there was no evidence of an increase

mugging was soon associated by the media and police with black youth

it arriving at the same time as the crisis of capitalism was not a coincidence as the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems such as unemployment (capitalism)

it served to divide WC and weaken opposition to capitalism

crisis of capitalism marginalised black youth and drove them into crime

Question 28

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Hall et al AO3 - realistic

Answer 28

left realists argue residents fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic

Question 29

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - neo-marxism - Hall et al AO3

Answer 29

Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming black street crime was not rising but also was rising because of unemployment

Question 30

explanations for ethnic differences in statistics - alternative explanations - can be used as AO3 or conclusion - neighbourhood

Answer 30

rates were highest in very poor areas and also where deprived young people came into contact with more affluent groups
but
white people affected by these factors were also more likely to commit street crime
so
ethnicity was not a cause
however
black people are more likely to live in poor areas

Question 31

extent and risk of victimisation AO2 - police recorded ____ racist incidnets in england and wales

Answer 31

54,000

Question 32

responses to vicimisation

Answer 32

organised self-defence campaigns aimed at physically defending neighbourhoods from racist attacks