Ethnicity, crime & justice

Question 1

What do OS suggests about ethnicity and crime?

Answer 1

• OS suggests higher offending rates among ethnic minorities e.g. black people make up 3% of the population but make up 13% of the prison population
• however victim & self report surveys > contradict this pointing to possible systemic bias in policing & the CJS

Question 2

What are the first 3 stages that an ethnic minority may go through in the CJS?

Answer 2

• Policing > Phillips & Bowling note that since the 1970s, MEG have faced oppressive policing, including mass stop-and-search & excessive surveillance
• Stop & search > 2019/20, Black people were 4x more likely to have force used against them by police & 5x more likely to have Taser-like devices used on them
• arrests & cautions >Black people in England & Wales were arrested at 3x the rate of White people in 2018/19

Question 3

What are the last 4 stages that an ethnic minority may go through in the CJS?

Answer 3

• prosecution & trial > CPS more likely to drop cases against EM defendants due to weaker evidence > racial stereotyping
• convictions & sentencing> Black & Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty, suggesting possible discrimination in charges brought by police
• pre-sentence reports> Hudson & Bramhall argue that PSRs on Asian offenders are less comprehensive & assume a lack of remorse, likely influenced by post-9/11 biases
• Prison > 2021, over 1/4 of prisoners were from MEG’s with Black people being almost 4x more likely to be in prison than White people.

Question 4

What are the three explanations for disproportionate stop & search rates among MEG’s?

Answer 4

• police racism > The Macpherson Report found institutional racism in the police following murder of Stephen Lawrence > still no change in the Casey report 2023
• ethnic differences in offending > some argue that disproportional in stop & search rates simply reflect different crime levels among ethnic groups
• demographic factors > ethnic minorities are overrepresented in groups more likely to be stopped e.g. young, unemployed > groups are all more likely to be stopped

Question 5

How do left realists explain ethnic differences in crime?

Answer 5

• Left realists (Lee & Young) argue that ethnic differences in crime are not just a result of racist policing but reflect real differences in offending rates > discriminatory policing cannot fully explain OS
• These differences arise due to relative deprivation, marginalisation, and subcultures
• Marginalisation: ethnic communities often lack political representation & face racism as well as discrimination > leading to frustration & resentment
• RD: minorities may experience economic hardship and feel deprived compared to white people > this is worsened by high expectations of success but limited legitimate opportunities
• Subcultures: As a response, some form deviant subcultures, where crime becomes a way to cope with their situation, such as robbery or drug dealing (utilitarian crime)

Question 6

Evaluation of the Left realists explanations of crime

Answer 6

• If deprivation and marginalisation cause crime, why do Asian crime rates tend to be lower than Black crime rates, despite both groups facing economic disadvantages?
• Acknowledges racism but doesn’t fully explain how policing might distort crime statistics

Question 7

What do Neo-Marxists argue about ethnic differences in crime statistics?

Answer 7

• differences in crime statistics do not reflect reality
• differences are actually the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic groups as inherently more criminal than the rest of the population

Question 8

How does Gilroy (Neo-Marxists) explain ethnic differences in crime statistics?

Answer 8

• black criminality is a myth created by racists stereotypes of Afro-Caribbean & Asian people
• argues that ethnic minorities are over-policed & not more criminal > thus OS reflect discriminatory policing rather than actual crime rates
• young black men who engage in crime are not inherently criminal but are resisting against a racist society & marginalisation that has characterisesd thier experience historically-history of anti-colonial struggle > thus their criminal behaviour is an act of political & symbolic resistance against an oppressive state similar to w/c crime being an act against capitalism

Question 9

Evaluation of Gilroy’s explanation for ethnic differences in crime

Answer 9

• Highlights how racist labelling distorts crime statistics
• Lee & Young criticise Gilroy, he romanticises crime > when in fact many crimes are intra-ethnic (crimes committed by ethnic minorities are against their own communities, not acts of political resistance)
• Overstates the role of racism > Some ethnic minorities (e.g. Asians) experience racism but have lower crime rates

Question 10

How does Hall et al (Neo-Marxist) explain ethnic differences in crime?

Answer 10

• Hall et al > argues that Black criminality was intentionally exaggerated by the state in the 1970s to distract from economic problems
• The economic crisis of the 1970s led to rising unemployment & social unrest leading to protests etc. > oppositions to capitalism was growing so ruling class needed a legitimate way to maintain control
• this led to the government & media creating a moral panic around “the Black mugger” to shift public focus away from capitalism’s failures > myth of the mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from real issues
• this justified harsher policing, reinforcing racist stereotypes & further criminalising Black communities > by presenting them as a threat

Question 11

Evaluation of Hall et al explanation of ethnic differences in crime

Answer 11

• Highlights the media’s role in shaping public perceptions of crime
• No direct evidence that the state deliberately created the moral panic

Question 12

How do more recent approaches explain ethnic differences in crime?

Answer 12

• Fitzgerald > Neighbourhood Factors: Crime is Linked to Deprivation, Not Ethnicity
• he Found that Black crime rates were higher in deprived areaswhere young people came into contact with affluent groups > white people in the same areas also committed high levels of crime
• ethnicity itself was not a cause of crime, but Black people were more likely to live in deprived areas because of discrimination
• Sharp & Budd > Getting Caught: Black offenders were more likely to be arrested than white offenders due to greater police surveillance
• because they’re more likely to commit visible crimes (e.g., robbery vs. fraud), more likely to have had previous convictions & more likely to be excluded from school thus identified by authorities

Question 13

Evaluation of recent approaches to explaining crime

Answer 13

• doesn’t explain lower crime rates in some ethnic minorities or deprived groups
• shows how discrimination contributes to long term patterns of criminalisation