Ethnicity And Crime - Topic 2 Flashcards
What does BAME stand for?
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
What is meant by the term institutional racism?
When the policies, procedures and practices of an organisation unconsciously discriminate against certain groups. (E.g. stop and search)
What is meant by the term adultification?
Term used to describe how Black children are viewed as older than they are.
What are some patterns and trends for stop and search?
2019/20 - BAME were 4 times more likely to be stopped and searched and black people where 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched (Stopwatch,2022)
What are some patterns and trends for the use of force?
- Black men are 7 times more likely than white men to die from police restraint
- Between 2011 and 2021, 52 black peoples died in or following police custody or contact
- The use of tasers went up by 73%
What are some patterns and trends for arrests?
- Black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white people
- There were 29 arrests for every 1000 black people and 9 arrests for every 1000 white people (Home Office, 2021)
What are some patterns and trends for victims?
- March 2020 - a higher percentage of people from Mixed (19.5%), Black (14.3%) and Asian (14.9%) ethnic groups said they were victims of crime compared with white people (12.9%)
- BAME people are more likely to be victims of serious violence or hate crime than the white community
- ONS (2023) statistics show that black people are four times as likely to be murdered as white peoples
- There were 39.7 black morder victims for every million people
Give some reasons for ethnic differences in crime statistics
- poor relationships between BAME communities and the police
- institutional racism
- lack of role models in schools (subcultures)
- stereotypes and labelling in education
- abuse of power/ racism with police (stop and search - mainly black people are stopped and searched)
- status frustration (Cohen)
- media representation
- geographic location - people from ethnic minorities are more likely to live in cities where there is more crime
What is meant by the term confidence gap?
It refers to some ethnic groups having less confidence in the police compared to others
Adults from Black and Mixed ethnic backgrounds are less likely to have confidence in the police than adults from White or Asian backgrounds, and the confidence gap has widened.
What evidence is there that there is still an issue with the policing of racist incidents?
- more than 75,000 race related incidents was recorded by three police in England and Wales (2019/20)
- Black men and women still report that they have been treated as suspects and not victims of crime
What evidence is there to show that there is still an issue with the representation of ethnic minorities in different police forces?
- 2020 —> BME officers represented only 7% of the police services across England and Wales
- Only 4% of officers are at or above the rank of chief inspector are from BME backgrounds
Explaining differences in ethnicity and patterns of offending can be divided into what two themes?
- Ethnic minorities are more likely to be caught and prosecuted
- Ethnic minorities do more crime
What are reasons for ethnic minorities being more likely to be caught and prosecuted
- Institutional racism
- Labelling
These explanations suggest that ethnic minorities are more likely to be TARGETED by police and given harsher treatments
What are reasons for ethnic minorities do more crime?
- Functionalism
- New Right
- Left Realism
- Neo-Marxism
These explanations suggest that ethnic minorities DO more crime due to either their culture or their situation.
Cases of institutional racism in the criminal justice system: Stephen Lawrence
- he was murdered in a racist attack but when the police arrived they assumed he and his friend Dwayne Brooks were actually the criminals
- this affected the way the evidence was gathered and meant that a successful prosecution against the murderers failed
