Sociology-Crime-Ethnicity

Question 1

What do official statistics show about ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system?

Answer 1

They show significant differences. Black people (and Asian people to a lesser extent) are over represented. Eg Black people are 3% of the population but 13.1% of the prison population. Asian people are 6.5% of the population but 7.7% of the prison population. By contrast, white people are underrepresented at all stages of the criminal justice process

Question 2

What does the Ministry of Justice note about ethnic differences in the criminal justice system?

Answer 2

Black people are seven times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched, three and a half times more likely to be arrested, and five times more likely to be in prison

Question 3

What do statistics, however, not show us about ethnicity and crime?

Answer 3

They do not show whether members of one ethnic group are more likely than members of another group to commit an offence in the first place-they simply tell us about involvement with the criminal justice system eg differences in stop and search or arrest rates may simply be due to policing strategies or to discrimination by individual officers, while differences in rates of imprisonment may be the result of courts handing down harsher sentences to minorities

Question 4

What are alternative sources of statistics?

Answer 4

Victim surveys and self report studies

Question 5

What are victim surveys?

Answer 5

Victim surveys such as the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of (usually during the past 12 months)

Question 6

What information can be gained from victims surveys>

Answer 6

We can gain information about ethnicity and offending from such surveys when they ask victims to identify the ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them. Eg in the case of ‘mugging’ (not a legal term but defines robberies/thefts), black people are significantly over-represented among those identified by victims of offender

Question 7

What do victim surveys also show us?

Answer 7

They show us that a great deal of crime is intra-ethnic (it takes place within rather than between ethnic group)

Question 8

However, what are the limitations with victim surveys?

Answer 8

They rely on victims’ memory of events (Phillips and Bowling say evidence suggests white victims may ‘over-identify’ blacks as the offender even when they are unsure). They only cover personal crimes which make up 1/5 of all crimes. They exclude under 10s: minority ethnic groups contain a higher proportion young people. Also they exclude crimes by and against organisations so tell us nothing about the ethnicity of white collar/corporate criminals

Question 9

What is a summary of the limitations of victim surveys?

Answer 9

Victim surveys can only tell us about the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be representative of offenders in general

Question 10

What are self-report studies?

Answer 10

Ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviours

Question 11

What are examples of results from self-report studies?

Answer 11

Graham and Bowling found blacks and whites had similar rates of offending, while Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had much lower rates. Similarly Sharp and Budd note that the 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey of 12,000 people found that whites and people with mixed ethnic origins were most likely to say they committed an offence, then blacks, then Asians

Question 12

What do findings of self report studies show?

Answer 12

They challenge the stereotype of black people as being more likely than whites to offend, though they support the widely held view that Asians are less likely to offend. However, self report studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending

Question 13

What is a summary for evidence on ethnicity and offending?

Answer 13

Overall, the evidence on ethnicity and offending is somewhat inconsistent. Eg while official statistics and victim surveys point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending in blacks, this is generally not borne out by the results of self report studies

Question 14

What are the different stages of the criminal justice system?

Answer 14

Policing, stop and search, arrests and cautions, prosecution and trial, convictions and sentencing, pre-sentence reports, and prison

Question 15

What are the ethnic differences in policing?

Answer 15

Phillips and Bowling note that since he 1970s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities including mass stop and search operations, parliamentary tactics, excessive surveillance, armed raids, police violence and deaths in custody, ,and a failure to respond effectively to racist violence

Question 16

What are the ethnic differences in stop and search?

Answer 16

Members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to be stop and searched. Police can do this with ‘reasonable suspicion’ of wrongdoing. Black people are seven times more likely than white people (asians are twice as likely) to be stopped and searched. British Crime Survey and CSEW show similar patterns. Only small proportion of stop and searches lead to arrest. Terrorism Act 2000 means police don’t need reasonable suspicion to search now, which has increased Asian stop and searches (Phillips and Bowling-‘over policed and under protected’ as minority ethnic groups more likely to say police were unkind in stopping/searching)

Question 17

What are the explanations for stop and search patterns?

Answer 17

Police racism, ethnic differences in offending and demographic factors

Question 18

What is police racism, in terms of explaining stop and search patterns?

Answer 18

The Macpherson Report in police investigation of racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police. Others found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers. Eg Phillips and Bowling note many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search. Stereotypes endorsed and upheld by ‘canteen culture’ of rank and file officers

Question 19

What is ethnic differences in offending, in terms of explaining stop and search patterns?

Answer 19

Disproportionate stop and searches may reflect ethnic differences in level of offending. However it is useful to distinguish between low discretion (police acting on relevant information) and high discretion stops (police acting without specific intelligence)

Question 20

What are demographic factors, in terms of explaining stop and search patterns?

Answer 20

Ethnic minorities are overrepresented in the population groups that are most likely to be stopped, such as the young, the unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers. These groups are more likely to be stopped regardless of ethnicity but they also have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in them, and so minorities get stopped more

Question 21

What are the ethnic differences in arrests and cautions?

Answer 21

Figures for England and Wales show that in 2014/15 the arrest rate for blacks was three times the rate for whites. By contrast once arrested blacks and asians were less likely than white to receive a caution. One reason may be members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to deny the offence and to exercise their right to legal advice. However, not admitting the offence means they can’t be let off with a caution and are more likely to be charged instead

Question 22

What are the ethnic differences in prosecution and trial?

Answer 22

The CPS is the body responsible for deciding whether a case brought by the police should be prosecuted in court, so must decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and if it’s in the public interest. Studies suggest the CPS is more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities. Bowling and Phillips argue this may be due to lacking evidence presented from the police due to stereotyping. When cases go ahead, members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to elect for trial before jury in Crown court, however they give harsher sentences if convicted

Question 23

What are the ethnic differences in convictions and sentencing?

Answer 23

Black and asian defendants less likely to be found guilty suggesting discrimination in that the police and CPS may be bringing weaker or less serious cases against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts. Black offenders have imprisonment rats three percentage points higher and asian offenders five points higher than white offenders, maybe due to differences in seriousness of offences or defendant’s previous convictions. However Hood studied five crown courts and even when such factors were taken into account, black men 5% more likely to receive custodial sentences (on average three months longer than white men)

Question 24

What are the ethnic differences in pre-sentence reports?

Answer 24

One possible reason for harsher sentences is pre sentence reports (PSRs) written by probation officers. A PSR is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender. However Hudson and Bramhall argue PSRs allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested they were less remorseful than white offenders. They place this bias in the context of ‘demonising’ of Muslims after 9/11

Question 25

What are the ethnic differences in prison?

Answer 25

In 2013, over 1/3 of the prison population were from minority ethnic groups. Blacks four times more likely to be in prison than whites and serve longer sentences. Within total prison population, all minority groups have a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand as they are less likely to be granted bail. There are similar patterns in other countries eg USA 2/5 prisoners in local jails are black and 1/5 is Hispanic

Question 26

How has the ethnic differences in offending changed?

Answer 26

Large scale migration from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinents began in the 1950s. Until the 1970s, there was general agreement that the minority ethnic communities gad a lower rate of offending than the white population. However from the mid 1970s, increased conflict between the police and the African Caribbean community and higher arrest rates for street crime meant that ‘black criminality’ increasingly came to be seen as a problem

Question 27

When did Asian people begin to be seen as a problem?

Answer 27

It wasn’t until the 1990s that crime by Asians also began to be viewed as a problem, with media concerns about the growth of ‘Asian gangs’. The events of 2001-widespread clashes between police and Asian youths in towns in Northern England and 9/11 helped to crystallise the idea that Asians, and especially Muslims, were an ‘enemy within’ that threatened public order

Question 28

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

Answer 28

Left realism and neo-marxism

Question 29

What do left realists, such as Lea and Young, say about the ethnic differences in statistics?

Answer 29

They argue that they reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. Left realists see crime as the product of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation. They argue that racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing. At the same time, the media’s emphasis on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many members of minority groups are unable to reach by legitimate means

Question 30

What is one response to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities?

Answer 30

The formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed black males. This produces higher levels of utilitarian crime, such as theft and robbery, as a means of coping with relative deprivation. Furthermore because these groups are marginalised and have no organisations to represent their interests, their frustration is liable to produce non utilitarian crime such as violence and rioting

Question 31

What do Lea and Young acknowledge?

Answer 31

That the police often act in racist ways and that this results in the unjustified criminalisation of some members of minority groups. However they don’t believe that discriminatory policing fully explains the differences in statistics

Question 32

Why do Lea and Young argue that police racism does not fully explain the ethnic differences in statistics?

Answer 32

For example they note that over 90% of crimes known to the police are reported by members of the public rather than discovered by the police themselves. Under these circumstances, even if police do act in discriminatory ways, it is unlikely that this can adequately account for the ethnic differences in the statistics. Plus, blacks have a considerably higher criminalisation than Asians, so the police would have to be very selective in their racism for it to be the cause of these differences

Question 33

What do Lea and Young conclude?

Answer 33

That the statistics represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups, and that these are caused by real differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation

Question 34

How can Lea and Young be criticised for their views on the role of police racism?

Answer 34

Arrest rates for Asians may be lower than blacks, not because they are less likely to offend, but because police stereotype the two groups differently, seeing blacks as dangerous and Asians as passive. Furthermore these stereotypes may have changed since 9/11 because police now regard Asians too as dangerous explaining the rising criminalisation rates for this group

Question 35

What dies neo-marxism argue about the ethnic differences in statistics?

Answer 35

They argue that the differences in the statistics do not reflect reality. They are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority population. The work of the neo-Marxists Gilroy and Hall et al illustrate this view

Question 36

What does Gilroy argue about black criminality?

Answer 36

The idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbeans and Asians. In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other. However as a result of the police and criminal justice system acting on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities come to be criminalised and therefore to appear in greater numbers in the official statistics

Question 37

What is Gilroy’s explanation of ethnic differences in crime statistics?

Answer 37

Ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society, and the resistance has its roots in earlier struggles against British imperialism. Gilroy’s view is similar to critical criminology that agues that working class crime is a political act of resistance to capitalism

Question 38

According to Gilroy, how does political resistance explain ethnic minority crime?

Answer 38

Most Blacks and Asians in the UK originated in the former British colonies, where their anti-imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, eg through riots and demonstrations. When they found themselves facing racism in Britain, they adopted the same forms of struggle to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state

Question 39

How do Lea and Young criticise Gilroy?

Answer 39

First generation immigrants in 1950s and 60s were very law abiding so it’s unlikely that they passed down a tradition of anti–colonial struggle to their children. Also most crime is intra-ethnic so it can’t be seen as an anti-colonial struggle against racism (critical criminologists like Gilroy romanticise street crime as revolutionary when it is not at all). Also Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If Gilroy was right, then police are only racist towards Blacks and not Asians, which seems unlikely

Question 40

What do Hall et al talk about?

Answer 40

They adopt a neo-marxist perspective and argue that the 1970s saw a moral panic over black ‘muggers’ that served the interests of capitalism

Question 41

How do Hall et al see capitalism as a reason for the ethnic differences in statistics?

Answer 41

The ruling class are normally able to rule the subordinate classes through consent. However in times of crisis, this becomes more difficult. In the early 1970s British Capitalism faced a crisis. High inflation and rising unemployment were provoking widespread industrial unrest and strikes, conflict in Northern Ireland was intensifying and student protests were spreading. At such times, the ruling class may need to use force to maintain control. However, the use of force needs to be seen as legitimate or it may provoke even more widespread resistance

Question 42

According to Hall et al, how did the ruling class create moral panic in order to maintain their control?

Answer 42

The 1970s also saw the emergence of a media-driven moral panic about the supposed growth of a ‘new’ crime-mugging. In reality, mugging was just a new name for the old crime of street robbery with violence, and Hall et al note that there was no evidence of a significant increase in this crime at the time. Mugging was soon to be associated by the media, police and politicians with black youth

Question 43

How did the ruling class use the moral panic about muggings to maintain their control?

Answer 43

The emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a specifically black crime at the same time as the crisis of capitalism was not a coincidence-they were linked. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems such as unemployment-capitalist crisis. The black mugger began to symbolise the disintegration of social order-the feeling that the British way of life was ‘coming apart at the seams’. By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society, the moral panic divided the working class on racial grounds and weakened the opposition to capitalism. Also won popular consent for more authoritarian forms of rule that could suppress opposition

Question 44

However, what do Hall et al conclude about the capitalist crisis and moral panic?

Answer 44

They do not argue that black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment, and this drove some into a lifestyle of hustling and petty crime as a means of survival

Question 45

How have Hall et al been criticised?

Answer 45

Downes and Rock argue that Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but that it also was rising because of unemployment. Also they don’t show how the capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were actually in panic or blaming crime on blacks. Also left realists argue that inner-city residents’ fears abut mugging are not panicky, but eralistic

Question 46

What are more recent approaches to explaining ethnic differences in crime rates?

Answer 46

Neighbourhood and getting caught

Question 47

How is neighbourhood a recent approach to explaining ethnic differences in crime rates?

Answer 47

FitzGerald et al examine the role of neighbourhood factors in explaining the greater involvement of black youths in street robbery. They found that rates were highest in very poor areas and where very deprived young people came into contact with more affluent groups. Young blacks were more likely to live in these areas and to be poor. However, whites affected by these factors also were more likely to commit street crime. Therefore ethnicity as such is not a cause. However, black people may be more likely to live in poor areas because of racial discrimination in housing/job markets

Question 48

How is getting caught a recent approach to explaining ethnic differences in crime rates?

Answer 48

Some groups run a greater risk of being caught. Sharp and Budd found that black offenders were more likely than white offenders to have been arrested. Reasons included that they were more likely to commit crimes such as robbery, where victims can identify them, and to have been excluded from school or to associate with known criminals that raised their ‘visibility’ to the authorities

Question 49

How have sociologists focus within the topic of ethnicity and crime changed?

Answer 49

Until recently, the focus on the ethnicity and crime debate had been largely on the over representation of black people in the criminal justice system. However, more recently, sociologists have taken an interest in other issues such as the racist victimisation of ethnic minorities

Question 50

What is racist victimisation?

Answer 50

It occurs when an individual is selected as a target because of their race, ethnicity or religion. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but was brought into greater public focus with the racist murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and he subsequent inquiry into the handling of the police investigation (Macpherson)

Question 51

Where does our information on racist victimisation come from?

Answer 51

Two main sources: victim surveys such as the CSEW and police-recorded statistics. These both generally cover racist incidents, and racially or religiously aggravated offences

Question 52

What are racist incidents?

Answer 52

Any incident that is perceived to be racist by the victim or another person

Question 53

What are racially or religiously aggravated offences?

Answer 53

Assault/wounding/criminal damage/harassment where the offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group

Question 54

What statistics demonstrate the extent of victimisation?

Answer 54

Police recorded 54,000 racist incidents in England and Wales 2014/15 (mostly damage to property or verbal harassment), however most incidents go unreported and the CSEW estimates around 89,000 racially motivated incidents in 2014/15. The police also recorded 38,000 racially/religiously aggravated offences in 2014/15-mostly harassment. 8,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2014

Question 55

What statistics demonstrate the risk of being a victim?

Answer 55

The risk of being a victim to any sort of crime (not just racist crime) varies by ethnic group. The 2014/15 CSEW shows people from mixed ethnic backgrounds had a higher risk (27.9%) of becoming a victim of crime, than did blacks (18%), Asians (15.8%) or whites (15.7%)

Question 56

What are possible reasons for the ethnic differences in extent and risk of victimisation?

Answer 56

The differences may be partly the result of factors other than ethnicity. Eg for violent crime, factors such as being young, male and unemployed are strongly linked with victimisation. Ethnic groups have a high proportion of young males and thus are likely to have higher rates of victimisation. However some of these factors such as unemployment, are themselves partly the result of discrimination

Question 57

What are problems with the use of statistics when looking at victimisation?

Answer 57

While they record instances of victimisation, they don’t necessarily capture the victims’ experience of it. Sampson and Phillips note that racist victimisation tends to be ongoing over time, with repeated ‘minor’ instances of abuse and harassment interwoven with periodic incidents of physical violence. The resulting long term psychological impact needs to be added to the physical injury and damage to property caused by the offenders

Question 58

What are the responses to victimisation?

Answer 58

Members of minority ethnic communities have often been active in responding to victimisation. Responses have ranged from situational crime prevention measures such as fireproof doors and letterboxes, to organised self defence campaigns aimed at physically defending neighbourhoods from racist attacks

Question 59

How should the responses to victimisation be understood?

Answer 59

They need to be understood in the context of accusations of under protection by the police, who have often ignored the racist dimensions of victimisation and failed to record or investigate reported incidents properly, eg the Macpherson Enquiry concluded that the police investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence was ‘marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers’. Others have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes and beliefs among individual officers