Ethnicity And Victimisation

Until recently, what has the focus on the ‘ethnicity and crime‘ debate been largely on?

The over-representation of black people in the CJS.

More recently, what have sociologists taken an interest in?

Other issues such as the racist victimisation of ethnic minorities.

When does racist victimisation occur?

When an individual is selected as a target because of their race ethnicity or religion. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but was brought to greater public focus with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Where does information on racist victimisation come from?

Two main sources:

• Racist incidents.

• Racially or religiously aggravated offences.

What are racist incidents?

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

What are Racially or religiously aggravated offences?

(Assault, wounding, criminal damage and harassment) where the offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group.

What are examples of racist victimisation?

• The police recorded 54,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2014/15 - mostly damage to property or verbal harassment.

• However, most incidents go unreported. The CSEW estimates there were around 89,000 racially motivated incidents in 2014/15.

• The police also recorded 38,000 racially or religiously aggravated offences in 2014/15, mostly harassment. 8,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2014.

What does the risk of being a victim of any sort of crime vary according to?

Ethnic group - the 2014/15 CSEW shows that people from mixed ethnic backgrounds had a higher risk of becoming a victim of crime than did black people, Asians or whites.

What may the differences in the risk of being a victim be partly the result of?

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

While statistics record the instances of victimisation, do they capture victims’ experience of it?

No.

What do Sampson and Phillips note?

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.

What have members of minority ethnic communities 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.

What do such responses to victimisation need to be understood in the context of?

Under-protection by the police, who have often ignored the racist dimensions of victimisation and failed to record or investigate reported incidents properly.

What did the Macpherson Enquiry conclude?

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 have others found?

Deeply ingrained racist attitudes and beliefs among individual officers.