Ethnicity and Crime

Question 1

ethnicity - neo-marxist; black crime as resistance

Answer 1

gilroy
crime by black people is a form of political action to resist inequality & policy racism
negative stereotyping of black criminals more than whites was created by the media & police

Question 2

ethnicity - neo-marxist; black crime & scapegoating

Answer 2

1970s
crisis of hegemony and growing conflict between police & african-caribbean community due to selective publication of crime statistics and media image of the ‘black ‘mugger’
created moral panic & justified aggressive policing to black community which generated resistance to the police thus re-establishing their hegemony in society

Question 3

ethnicity - criticism of neo-marxism

Answer 3

• inadequate; conflicts & stereotypes still occur even though crisis ended
• black crime often committed against other black/poor people, not always resistance to oppression
• most crime reported by public, doesn’t explain police racism on black people

Question 4

ethnicity - left realism; why black crime higher than white crime?

Answer 4

lea & young

• marginality
• relative deprivation
• subcultures

Question 5

ethnicity - what is greater criminality by black people linked to?

Answer 5

poverty and social exclusion

it generates peer-group status and a powerful black identity

Question 6

ethnicity - asians identity

Answer 6

poorest group in british society yet have lower crime rate

due to clear cultural identity & stronger control within communities

Question 7

ethnicity - labelling theorists & marxists

Answer 7

crime statistics are socially constructed, misleading, evident of selective law enforcement

Question 8

ethnicity - what does racist stereotypes in police culture mean?

Answer 8

black and asians more likely to be labelled a criminal

contributes to higher arrest rates than whites

Question 9

ethnicity - indirect racial discrimination; mistrust of the police

Answer 9

ethnic minority suspects are less likely than white offenders to cooperate with the police

Question 10

ethnicity - indirect racial discrimination; social position

Answer 10

ethnic minorities are more likely to display social characteristics which make them placed in custody rather than on bail as they are though to escape

Question 11

ethnicity - direct racial discrimination; stop and search

Answer 11

black & asian people are targeted for heavier policing as they fit the ‘troublemaker’ stereotype
only 1 in 10 stop and searches lead to an arrest
- self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 12

ethnicity - direct racial discrimination; institutional racism in the police force

Answer 12

patterns of discrimination based on ethnicity structured into social institutions
police officers arrest black/asian suspects without sufficient evidence
investigation into stephen lawrence by 5 white youth had a series of mistakes; assumed he was involved in a street brawl instead of a victim of racist attack

Question 13

ethnicity - direct racial discrimination; discrimination

Answer 13

black people in the same position as white offenders are more likely to receive a longer sentence
black/asian prisoners face more brutal regime than white offenders

Question 14

ethnicity - direct racial discrimination; over-represented in prison

Answer 14

26% of prison population were ethnic minorities

compared to their proportion in general population is 12%

Question 15

ethnicity - sharp & budd; percentage committing an offence

Answer 15

white - 42%

black - 27%

Question 16

ethnicity - sharp & budd; percentage of having been arrested

Answer 16

white - 13%

black - 17%

Question 17

ethnicity - evaluation

Answer 17

minority ethnic groups have more younger people suffering from deprivation than white people
this may relate to higher crimes rather than ethnicity