Reasons for Differences in Offending by Ethnicity

What are the reasons for ethnic rates of offending?

• Neo-Marxist explanations

• Hall

• Gilroy

• Left realist explanations

• Strain and subcultural theories

• Institutional racism

• Interactionist theories

What did Hall et al find out about policing the crisis?

• Examined the unequal structure of British society and the perceptions of the black community in the UK

• Aggressive policing tactics, such as stop and search mobilised bystanders to react to discrimination

• Media legitimised police actions by portraying black

• Immunity as criminal

What did Gilroy find out about the myth of black criminality?

• Black criminality is a myth according to Gilroy

• Self-report surveys show similar levels of criminality in black and white communities

• Action is a form of political resistance to oppression and police retaliation is the state's way of reaffirming control

What is the explanation of left realists?

• The marginalisation of ethnic minority groups in society that are economically and socially excluded

• Failures of education result in the formation of subcultures as a response to blocked opportunities

• Media representations of ethnic minority criminality feel further marginalisation and exclusion

What is the strain theory?

• Ethnic minority groups are over-represented in poverty measures - 40% of ethnic minorities are classified as below the poverty line

• Lack of resources leads to strain, but lack of legitimate opportunities leads to retreatism or innovation in order to achieve society's goals

What are the subcultural explanations?

• Gunter (2008) development of 'road culture' amongst young black males

• Cloward and Ohlin suggest limited opportunities lead to the formation of criminal, conflict and retreatist subcultures

• Status frustration felt by lack of status within education and society - status provided by gang cultures

What is the institutional racism?

• MacPherson Report - stated Metropolitan Police operated on practices that were institutionally racist

• Waddington and Fielding both found evidence of racial stereotyping in the attitudes of off-duty police and the development of a 'canteen culture'

• Whites have the lowest rate of stop and search - Black 9 times higher according to the 2019 CSEW

What are the interactionist theories?

• Role of media in creating folk devils out of both Black and Asian males

• Ethnic minority groups are less likely to be able to negotiate the justice system than white middle-class

• Negative stereotyping of Black and Asian males being associated with certain crimes- e.g. drug dealing, carrying knives