Topic 8 Ethnicity Flashcards
What are the key trends in terms of offending amongst ethnic minority groups?
- Black people make up 3% of the population, but 13.1% of the prison population.
- Asians makeup 6.5% of the population but 7.75 of the prison population.
- Black people are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched, 3 ½ times more likely to be arrested and 5 times more likely to be in prison.
What did Phillips and Bowling identify in terms of stop and searches for ethnic minority groups?
They point out that many police officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, this is known as canteen culture.
What are the 3 explanations for the differences in stop and searches?
- Police racism, this is when the police are institutionally racist and hold negative stereotypes.
- Ethnic differences in offending, the disproportionality of stop and search reflects ethnic differences in levels of offending.
- Demographic factors, ethnic minorities are over-represented in the population groups who are most likely to be stopped. Young unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers.
What do left realists believe about ethnic minority crime?
They argue racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities, who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing. The media emphasis consumerism which promotes relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many members of minority groups are unable to reach by legitimate means.
Why are statistics on minority ethnic crime socially constructed according to neo-Marxists?
They believe statistics are a social construct resulting from police’s negative stereotypes of ethnic minority groups and racism within the institution of the criminal justice system.
Why is black criminality a myth according to Gilroy?
He argues that the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbean’s and Asians. As a result of the police and the 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.
What did Hall discuss?
They argue that the 1970s saw a moral panic over black ‘muggers’ that served the interests of capitalism. The 70s saw the emergence of this new crime ‘mugging’. It was just a new name for street robbery with violence. There was no evidence to suggest that it had risen, and it became associated with black youths. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention away from the true cause of problems such as unemployment. By presenting black youths as a threat to social order, the moral panic served to the divide the working class on racial grounds, weakening the opposition of capitalism.
What is the Macpherson report?
This report was published in 1990 and concluded that the police are institutionally racist against ethnic minorities.
What are the patterns of ethnic victimisation?
The police recorded 54,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2014/15, mostly damage to property and verbal harassment. The CSEW estimates there were around 89,000 racially motivated incidents in 2014/15. Police also recorded 38,000 racially or religiously aggravated offences in 2014/15. 8,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2014.
What are the responses of ethnic groups to being victimised?
They 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. They do this because they don’t think the police will thelp, they deal with it themselves
What is the Neo Marxist explanation of ethnic crimes and crime statistics?
They argue the statistics do not reflect reality. These differences are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority of the population
Define institutional racism
It is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions. In this instance it refers to the police holding racist views and ideas
What did the Macpherson report conclude?
This report concluded that the police investigation into the death of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers
What does Gilroy argue?
He argues that 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
Define canteen culture
A set of conservative and discriminatory attitudes said to exist within the police force. For example police officers hold racist and sexist ideas
What do Sampson and Phillips note?
They note that racist victimisation tends to be ongoing over time, with repeated ‘minor’ instances of abuse interwoven with periodic incidents of violence.
This results in long term psychological damage as well as damage to property by the offenders
What is the left realist explanation of ethnic differences in crime?
the differences in levels of offending by different ethnic groups, is the product of marginalisation, subcultures and relative deprivation
What is Hall et al’s approach?
He adopts a neo-marxist approach and argues that the 1970s saw a moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism
Define the crown prosecution service
- responsible for deciding whether a case brought by the police should be prosecuted in court
- decide whether there is a realistic prospect of prosecution and conviction
What do Phillips and Bowling say about victim surveys when studying ethnic crime?
They argue that victim surveys are limited because they rely on victims’ memory of events. They argue that victims over-identify blacks – saying the offender was black even when they were not
Outline two reasons for ethnic differences in offending, according to left realism?
- marginalisation - black people more likely to face economic exclusion and commit more crime than people (left realism)
- relative deprivation - young black males more likely to commit crime due to not being able to afford the goods advertised in the media (left realism)
How can Lea and Young be criticised for their view on ethnic crime?
- They are criticised for their view on the role of police racism. Arrest rates may be lower than for blacks not because they are less likely to offend but because police stereotype the two groups differently.
- They may see black people as dangerous and Asians as passive
How do Lea and Young criticise Gilroy?
- Asian crime rates are similar to whites. If Gilroy were right, then the police are only racist towards black people and not Asians, which seems unlikely.
- Most crime is intra-ethnic - so it can’t be seem as an anti-colonial struggle against racism
How can Hall et al be criticised?
- Downes and Rock argue that Hall et al were inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also saying that it was rising because of unemployment
- They do not show how the capitalist crisis led to a moral panic
- Left realists argue that inner-city residents’ fear about mugging are not panicky, but realistic
