Ethnicity, Crime And Justice

Question 1

Give a statistic to demonstrate the over-representation of Asian people in the prison system

Answer 1

Asians make up 4.7% of the total population but 6% of the prison population

Question 2

What are two important sources of statistics that provide information on ethnicity and offending

Answer 2

Victims surveys and self-report studies

Question 3

What are victim surveys?

Answer 3

They ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of during the past 12 months

Question 4

What do victim surveys show about a great deal of crimes?

Answer 4

They are intra-ethnic so take place within rather than between ethnic groups

Question 5

What are some of the limitations of victim surveys?

Answer 5

They rely on victims’ memory, they only cover personal crimes and they exclude under 16’s

Question 6

What are self-report studies?

Answer 6

They ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour

Question 7

According to Sharp and Budd, what sort of people are more likely to say they had committed a crime in self report studies?

Answer 7

Whites and those of ‘mixed’ ethnic origins

Question 8

What do Philips and Bowling note about policing since the 1970s?

Answer 8

They note that since the 1970’s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities

Question 9

Who is more likely to be stopped and searched by the police?

Answer 9

Members of minority ethnic groups

Question 10

How many times more likely are black people to be stopped and searched compared to white people?

Answer 10

7 times

Question 11

What recent legislation has given police the power to carry out more stops and searches?

Answer 11

The Terrorism Act of 2000 gave police the power to stop and search persons or vehicles whether or not they have reasonable suspicion

Question 12

What do Philips and Bowling note about the attitudes of members of ethnic minority communities?

Answer 12

They believe that members of these communities are more likely to think that they are ‘over-policed and under-protected’ and have limited faith in the police

Question 13

What are the three possible reasons for the disproportionate use of stop and search against members of minority ethnic groups?

Answer 13

Police racism, ethnic differences in offending and demographic factors

Question 14

Give a statistic to demonstrate the over-representation of Black people in the prison system

Answer 14

Black people make up just 2.8% of the total population, but 11% of the prison population

Question 15

Give an example of police racism

Answer 15

The Macpherson report on the police investigation of the racist murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence

Question 16

What do Philips and Bowling note about police racism?

Answer 16

They point out that many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals which leads to deliberate targeting for stop and search

Question 17

What is the ‘canteen culture’?

Answer 17

Negative stereotypes endorsed and upheld by rank and file officers

Question 18

What are the differences in the arrest rate between Black and white people?

Answer 18

Figures for England and Wales show that in 2006/7 the arrest rate for blacks was 3.6 times that of whites

Question 19

What makes it more likely that minority ethnic groups will be charged?

Answer 19

They are more likely to deny the offence which means they cannot be let off with a caution so are charged instead

Question 20

What do studies suggest about the Crown Prosecution Service?

Answer 20

That they are more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities

Question 21

Who is more likely to be found guilty by the Crown Prosecution Service?

Answer 21

White defendants

Question 22

What did Roger Hoods study find about sentencing?

Answer 22

He found that Black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences on average 3 months longer than white men

Question 23

How many times more likely are black people to be in prison?

Answer 23

Five times more likely than white people

Question 24

What are the two main explanations for ethnic differences in official statistics?

Answer 24

Left realism and Neo-Marxism

Question 25

How do left realists explain ethnic differences in the statistics?

Answer 25

They argue that the statistics represent real differences in rates of offending

Question 26

How do Neo-Marxists explain ethnic differences in the statistics?

Answer 26

They argue that the statistics are a social construct resulting from racist labelling and discrimination in the criminal justice system

Question 27

What do left realists such as Lea and Young argue?

Answer 27

They argue that ethnic differences in the statistics reflect real differences in levels of offending by different ethnic groups

Question 28

What do left realists see crime as a result of?

Answer 28

Relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation

Question 29

How do ethnic minorities respond to feelings of relative deprivation and marginalisation, and what does this lead to?

Answer 29

They form delinquent subcultures which produce higher levels of utilitarian crime, such as theft and robbery

Question 30

What do Neo-Marxists such as Gilroy argue about black criminality?

Answer 30

He argues that the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Carribeans and Asians

Question 31

According to Gilroy, what can ethnic minority crime be seen as?

Answer 31

A form of political resistance against a racist society

Question 32

How do Lea and Young criticise Gilroy?

Answer 32

Most crime is intra-ethnic so it can’t be seen as an anti-colonial struggle against racism and Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites

Question 33

What do Neo-Marxists such as Stuart Hall et al argue?

Answer 33

They argue that the 1970’s saw a moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism

Question 34

According to Hall, what came to be associated with black youths by the media, police and politicians?

Answer 34

Mugging

Question 35

What did the myth of the black mugger serve as, and what did it symbolise?

Answer 35

A scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems such as unemployment, and it began to symbolise the disintegration of the social order

Question 36

How do Downes and Rock criticise Hall et al?

Answer 36

They argue that they are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment

Question 37

When does racist victimisation occur?

Answer 37

When an individual is selected as a target because of their race, ethnicity or religion

Question 38

Information on racist victimisation comes from two main sources - what are they?

Answer 38

The crime survey and police-recorded statistics

Question 39

How many racist incidents were recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2006/7?

Answer 39

61,000

Question 40

Who has the highest risk of being a victim of crime?

Answer 40

People from mixed ethnic backgrounds

Question 41

What sort of factors are strongly linked with victimisation?

Answer 41

Being young, male and unemployed

Question 42

What is the problem with using statistics to investigate victimisation?

Answer 42

They do not necessarily capture the victims experiences of the crime