Ethnicity and crime

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

• Black people make up 3% of population but 13.1% prison population.

• Asians make up 6.5% of population but 7.7% of prison population.

What did the ministry f justice (2008) note about white under-represnetedness and black over-representedness?

Members of Black communities are 7x more likely than their White counterparts to be stopped and searched

Why are statistics lacking?

Statistics don’t tell us if members of an ethnic group are more likely to commit an offence than members of an other ethnic group they just tell us about their involvement in the criminal justice system

What are the alternatives to statistics?

Victim surveys and self-report studies

Show what victim surveys found

• CSEW asked individuals so say what crimes they have been victims of = info about ethnicity and offending e.g., with mugging, black people are significantly over-represented.

• Show intra-ethnic (within ethnic groups) crimes.

What are the limitations of victim surveys?

Only cover personal crime, exclude under 10s and rely on victims’ memory e.g., Phillips and Bowling (2012) suggest that white victims may over-identify black people by saying the offender was black even if they weren’t sure.

They can only tell us about ethnicity of small proportion of offenders so not representative.

What did Graham and Bowling (1955) find in their self-report studies?

Ask individuals to disclose own dishonest/violent behaviour. A sample of 2500 people, Graham and Bowling (1955) found blacks (43%) and whites (44%) had similar rates of offending and Indians (30%) and Bangladeshis (13%) had lower rates.

What did Sharp and Budd (2005) find in their self-report study?

Sharp and Budd (2005): Offending, crime, and justice survey (2003) of 12,000 people found whites and ‘mixed’ ethnic origins were most likely to say they committed offence whereas blacks (28%) and Asians (21%).

Sharp and Budd also found 27% of males of mixed ethnicity used drugs in the last year and 16% of black and white males and 5% of Asians.

These reports challenge stereotypes of black people as being more likely than whites to offend.

What is a limitation of self-report studies?

Evidence from these are inconsistent e.g., official statistics and victim surveys point to likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks.

What did Phillips and Bowlings find about policing?

Since 1970s there has been allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities like mass stop and search operations, armed raids, police violence

Why are ethnic minorities more likely to be stopped and searched?

• Police use power if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’.

• White and black people are 7x more likely to be stopped and searched. Asian people are 2x as likely.

• Terrorism Act (2000) say police can stop and search vehicles whether or not they have reasonable suspicion (Asians most likely to be stopped).

• Therefore, members of minority ethnic communities are less likely to think police act politely. Phillips and Bowling (2007) note members of these communities are more likely to think they’re over-policed and under-protected.

• Tasers: 2010-14 police deployed tasers over 38,000 times. For Asians the chance of involvement was 3 in 10,000 and for whites it was 6 in 10,000.

Explain stop and search patterns in terms of police racism

Macpherson Report (1999) on police investigation of racist murder of Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism within the police as they refused to investigate his case (he was stabbed by a group of white people at a bus stop).

Explain stop and search patterns in terms of ethnic differences in offending

Reflects ethnic differences in levels of offending. However, its useful to distinguish between low discretion (police act on relevant info about specific offence) and high discretion stops (police act without specific intelligence and use stereotypes).

Explain stop and search patterns in terms of demographic factors

Ethnic minorities take up a big chunk of groups who are most likely to be stopped and searched such as the young, unemployed.

What evidence is there that ethnic minorities have more arrests and cautions?

• Figures for England and Wales show (2014/15) the arrest rate for blacks was 3x the rate for whites but blacks and Asians were less likely to get caution.

• Members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to deny offence and exercise right to legal advice.

• Not admitting to offence means they cannot get a caution so are more likely to be charged.

What evidence is there that ethnic minorities have more prosecution and trial?

• CPS is body responsible for deciding whether case brought by police should be prosecuted in court. They must decide whether they would be convicted.

• Studies show CPS tend to drop cases against ethnic minorities. Phillips and Bowling (2002) argue this may be because evidence presented tot CPS by police is often weaker and based on stereotyping.

• Members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to elect for trial before a jury in Crown Court (can evoke harsher sentences) instead of magistrate’s court.

What evidence is there that ethnic minorities have more convictions and sentencing?

• Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty.

• Discrimination in police and CPS may bring less serious crimes from ethnic minorities to court (so defendants aren’t convicted).

• Black offenders have imprisonment rates 3% points higher, Asian offenders 5% points higher than white offenders.

• Study of 5 crown courts by Hood (1992) found that even when factors like previous convictions and seriousness of offences are considered, black men were 5% more likely to receive custodial sentence.

What evidence is there that there are more ethnic minorities with pre-sentence reports?

• PSRs is one reason for harsher sentences.

• They are written by probation officers.

• PSR is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding appropriate sentences for offenders.

• Hudson and Bramhall (2005): PSR allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested they were less remorseful than white offenders.

What evidence is there that there are more ethnic minorities in prison?

• 2014, over ¼ of prison population were from minority ethnic groups.

• Among British nationals, 5.5/1000 black people were in jail and 1.4/1000 of white people.

• Blacks 4x more likely to be in prison than whites. Black and Asian more likely to serve longer sentence.

• All minority groups have higher than average proportion of prisoners on remans as they are less likely to be granted bail while awaiting trial.

Explain the differences in offending in relation to large-scale migration in the 1950s-60s from the Caribbean

There was a general agreement that the minority ethnic communities had a lower rate of offending than white population.

However, from mid-70s, more conflict between police and Afro-Caribbean’s = higher street crime and ‘black criminality’.

Why was there are growing problem with Asian crime in the 1990s?

It wasn’t till 1990s that crime by Asians seen as problem

2001 widespread classes between police and Asian youths in northern England and 9/11 helped solidify idea that Asians (especially Muslims) were ‘enemy within’ and threaten safety.

What does Lea and Young (1993) find about ethnic differences as left realists?

Ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences in level of offending by different ethnic groups

What do left realists see crime as the product of?

Relative deprivation, subculture, and marginalisation.

Racism = marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who have higher unemployment, poverty, housing

How does the media add to crime (left realism)?

The medias emphasis on consumerism promotes relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that minorities cannot get by legitimate means.

This increases delinquent subcultures = increased utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation. These groups are marginalized so have frustration = non-utilitarian crime.

What else do Lea and Young acknowledge?

That police sometimes act racist = unjustified criminalisation but they don’t believe discriminatory policing fully explain differences in statistics e.g., 90% crimes reported by public not police.

They also argue we cannot explain differences between minorities in terms of police racism e.g., blacks have much higher rate of criminalisation than Asians so the police would have to be selective with their racism.

How are Lea and Young criticised?

Views of role of police racism e.g., arrest rates for Asians might be lower than Blacks not because they are less likely to offend but because of police stereotyping them differently.

What does Gilroy (neo-marxist) say about black criminality?

Black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbeans and Asians (these groups aren’t actually more criminal).

As a result of police/criminal justice racism, ethnic minorities appear higher in official statistics

What does Gilroy say about the reason for ethnic minority crime?

Ethnic minority crime is form of political resistance against racist society from earlier struggles like slavery and riots.

This is from former British colonies where their oppression taught them how to resist oppression

How do Lea and Young criticise Gilroy?

• First-gen immigrants in 50s-60s were law-abiding, so its unlikely they passed down tradition of anti-colonial struggle.

• Most crime is intra-ethnic so it cannot be seen as anti-colonial struggle against racism.

• Romanticises street crime as revolutionary when it isn’t.

• Asian crime rates are similar/lower than whites, so if Gilroy was correct, the police are only racist towards Black people.

What is Hall et al’s policing the crisis theory (neo-marxism)?

Ruling class are normally able to rule lower classes with consent. However, in crisis it becomes harder.

Early 70s British capitalism faced crisis of high inflation and unemployment which caused strikes and opposition to capitalism.

The ruling class needed to use their force to maintain control, it needs to be seen as legitimate or resistance may continue.

What is Hall et al’s moral panic?

• 70s also saw emergence of media-driven moral panic about growth of ‘new crime’ – mugging.

• Mugging was actually just new name for old crime street robbery with violence which had no evidence of increasing.

• This emerged as a ‘black’ crime at the same time capitalism went through a crisis (no coincidence).

• The myth of ‘black mugger’ was a scapegoat for the true causes of problems like unemployment.

• The black mugger also symbolised the coming apart of social order by dividing WC on racial grounds and weaking opposition to capitalism.

However, what do Hall et al not argue?

That black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism helped marginalise black youths through unemployment.

How has Hall et al been criticised?

• Downes and Rock (2011): they were inconsistent in claiming black street crime wasn’t rising but it also was rising because of unemployment.

• Don’t show how capitalism crisis led to moral panic or have evidence that the public were panicking/blaming black people for crime.

• Left realists: inner-city residents fears about mugging are realistic not panicky.

What are the two more recent approaches on ethnicity and crime?

Neighbourhood and getting caught

What is the neighbourhood theory?

• FitzGerald et al (2003) examine role of neighbourhood factors in explaining greater involvement of black youths in street robbery.

• They found the rates were highest in poor areas and where poor young people encountered rich.

• Young black people more likely to live in poor areas maybe because of racial discrimination in housing and job market.

• However, whites affected by these factors more likely to commit street crime = ethnicity not cause.

What is the getting caught theory?

Sharp and Budd (2005) found black offenders more likely to have been arrested as they were more likely to commit crimes where victims can identify them

When does racist victimisation?

Racist victimisation occurs when individual is selected as target because of their race.

Our info on this comes from victim surveys like CSEW and police-recorded statistics

What are the different types of racist victimisation?

• Racist incidents

• Racially or religiously aggravated offences where offender is motivated by hostility towards members of one of these groups.

List some statistics about the extent and risk of victimisation?

• Police recorded 54,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2014-15.

• However, most go unreported. CSEW estimates there were 89,000 racially motivated incidents 2014-15.

• Police recorded 38,000 racially or religiously aggravated offences 2014-15, mostly harassment. 8600 people were prosecuted/cautioned for these offences in 2014.

• 2014-15 CSEW shows people from mixed ethnic backgrounds had higher risk of victimisation (27.9%) than blacks (18%), Asians (15.8%) or whites (15.7%).

• Differences may be result of other factors such as being young, male and unemployed (violence).

What does Sampson and Phillips (1992) say about extend risk of victimisation?

Racist victimisation tends to be ongoing over time, with repeated ‘minor’ instances of abuse and harassment with incidents of physical violence.

What are the different responses to victimisation?

Responses range from situational crime prevention measures such as fireproof doors and letterboxes for self-defence.

These responses are also due to the under-protection of the police who ignored racist dimensions of victimisation and failed to record.

What did the Macpherson Enquiry (1999) show about responses to victimisation?

Police investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence was ‘marred by a combo of professional incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers’.