Topic 6 - Ethnicity, crime and justice

Who argued that policing towards ethnic minorities is oppressive

• Phillips and Bowling

• There has been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities

• Failure to respond effectively to racist violence

• Over policed and under protected

Statistic on stop and searches

• In 2020, Black people were 9x more likely to be stopped and searched and Asian people over 2x as likely compared with white people

What does the terrorism act 2000 enable police to do, how has this caused ethnic differences

• Police can stop and search person or vehicle whether or not they have reasonable suspicion

• Asian people are more likely to be stopped and searched than other people under this act

3 reasons which explain stop and search patterns

• Police racism

• Ethnic differences in offending

• Demographic factors

How is police racism evident (Steven Lawrence)

• Macpherson Report

• Racist modern of black teen Stephen Lawrence concluded that there was institutional racism within the met police

How is there ethnic differences in offending

• Ethnic minorities are more likely to be poorer which may lead them to commit higher levels of utilitarian crime

How do demographic factors cause differences in stop and search patterns

• Minority ethnic groups are more likely to be young, unemployed and more likely to get stopped more

Stat for ethnic differences for arrests and cautions

• In 2018/19 the arrest rate for Black people was over three times the rate for white peoples

Who argued that the crown prosecution service (CPS) provided weaker evidence based on stereotypes of minorities

• Phillips and Bowling

• Evidence presented to the CPS is often weaker and based on stereotyping of minority ethnic groups as criminals

Who found that Asian offenders were given a less comprehensive PSR

• Hudson and Bramhall

• Reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful than white offenders

Stat on prisons for blacks and whites

• Black people were almost 4 times more likely to be in prison than white people

How does left realism explain the ethnic differences in offending + sociologists

• Lea and Young

• Racism causes marginalisation of young minorities and economic exclusion

• Consumerism emphasised from the media

• Produces higher levels of utilitarian crime and non utilitarian crime due to frustration

What do Lea and Young say the statistics of ethnic minorities offending are

• Represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups and caused by differences in levels of deprivation and marginalisation

What are the two Neo-Marxist explanations of the ethnic differences in offending

• Gilroy - the myth of Black criminality

• Hall et al - policing the crisis

What does Gilroy argue is the reason why there is higher offending in black groups in official stats

• Argues that black criminality is created by racist stereotypes

• Police act on the racial stereotypes which cause a greater number of offenders in official statistics

How does Lea and Young criticise Gilroy neomarxist approach

• First gen immigrants in the. 1950s and 60s were very law abiding so it is unlikely that they passed down a tradition of anti-colonial struggle to their children

• Police are not only racist towards black people they are also racist towards Asians

Who argues the neo-Marxists view of policing the crisis as a result of differences in ethnic minority offending

• Hall et al

What does Hall et al mean by policing the crisis

• British media created a moral panic of young black men ‘mugging’

• Created a widespread fear during the times of the 1970s

• Diverted attention away from deeper economic crisis such as unemployment

• Black youth was scapegoated and reinforced racist stereotypes

• Justifies authoritarian policies and maintained capitalist orders at the time

How is Hall et al argument criticised

• Panic of crime may be rational

• Inconsistent when claiming that Black street crime was not rising but was rising due to unemployment

How has neighbourhoods explained greater involvement in black youths in street robbery

• FitzGerald

• Poor areas and deprived youths, however, white people affected by these factors were also more likely to commit street crime

• Ethnicity is not a factor

How are black offenders more likely to get caught

• Sharp and Budd

• Black offenders are more likely than white offenders to have been arrested

• Raise their ‘visibility’ to authorities

How was racist victimisation first bought into the publics attention

• Murder of Stephen Lawrence

• Macpherson - concluded institutional racism

What are the responses to racist victimisations

• Fireproof doors and self defence campaigns