Ethnicity and crime

What do statistics show about stop and search?

Black people are 4 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people

Asian and mixed ethnicity people are 2 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people

Section 60 allows police to stop and search without suspicion, this has meant that in some areas black people were 29x more likely to be stopped and searched.

What do statistics show about prosecution?

Ethnic minority cases are more likely to be dropped and less likely to be found guilty

60% of white people were found guilty against only 52% of blacks and 44% of asian in 2006

Bowling and Philips say this is because there is never enough evidence to prosecute as its mainly based on racist stereotyping.

What do statistics show about convictions?

White people mainly get convicted for theft and violence whereas black and asian people for possession of drugs showing that crimes of white people are more serious

What do statistics show about prison?

73.8% white people in prison population compared to 81% in general population

12% of black people in prison population compared to 4% in general population

This shows that black people are over represented in prisons.

What are the two explanations for these statistics?

1. That those from ethnic minority groups are more likely to offend in the first place

2. There is racial bias and discrimination in the criminal justice system and so the stats are inaccurate.

What are the two cultural factors for ethnic differences in crime?

Anti-school masculinity and family structure

Anti-school masculinity

Tony Sewell observed that Black Caribbean boys face peer pressure to adopt the norms of a ‘street’ or ‘urban’ subculture e.g. value defiance towards teachers. He argued that black boys have real opportunities but are failing to grasp them

Family structure

Single parent families are more prevalent among African Caribbean households (51%) compared to 17% of white English households.

This may lead boys from these backgrounds to offend due to the absence of a male role model to provide guidance and discipline

What are the two economic explanations for ethnic differences in crime?

marginalisation and relative deprivation.

Marginalisation

Official governement statistics show black and asian people are much more likely to suffer from social exclusion, they are also 3x more likely to live in areas with barriers to housing and social services. Also more than 30% of black people lived in the top 10% most deprived neighbourhoods.

This means ethnic minorities may feel largely ignored/marginalised by the rest of society which causes frustration and resentment in which they express through committing crime.

Relative deprivation

In 2020, nearly half of black people were in poverty compared to just 19% of the white population. They are also much less likely to be successful in the labour market compared to their peers meaning they suffer from low wages.

Therefore, black people are much more likely to suffer from relative deprivation which can fuel them to commit crime

Political struggle/organised resistance explanation

Paul Gilroy argued that black people have developed quite distinctive oppositional subcultures as a response to their history of oppression.

crime is a form of organised resistance to white authorities. we see this in rising community tensions between police and BME.

Black criminality is a form of political action against oppression.

The Mcpherson report 1999

Set up to investigate the handling of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. this is because despite the availability of good evidence, the police failed to investigate properly to prosecute the suspects

This report branded the Met police as institutionally racist. it suggested reform in the police e.g. more BME officers, zero tolerant approach to racism etc.

Mark Daly 2003

Covert participant observation into racism in the GMP after the McPherson report.

Found that a minority of police officers held deeply racist views, some of which allowed these views to affect their policing on the streets.

Racist attitudes still existed in the police force but were being driven deeper underground

He concluded that the Mcpherson report recommendations were failing.

The Casey Report 2023

Found that the Met police are racist, misogynistic and homophobic demonstrating that racist attitude still exist in the largest police force in the country. It is part of their culture.

Stuart Hall- a crisis in capitalism and media moral panic

due to the economic crisis of the 70s, the govt used the media to divide the w/c one race grounds by over reporting mugging and scapegoating black males. They became folk devils. This justified a police crackdown on black communities which Hall said led to a breakdown in relationship between the police and the black community.

this led to the toxteth and brixton riots in 1981.

Bowling and Philips- experiences of black communities

black people feel overpoliced and under protected.

police hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search.

Self report studies

Graham and Bowling 1995 found that blacks (43%) and whites (44%) had similar and almost identical rates of crime but asians had lower rates

Sharp and Budd 2005 found that whites and mixed ethnicity were more likely to say they had committed a crime followed by blacks (28%) and asians (21%)

Evaluate the explanations of ethnic differences of crime.

ethnicity is interconnected with social class and gender issues e.g. black males are 4x more likely to be stopped and searched but so are white males in inner city and deprived neighbourhoods. it could be that many ethnic minorities commit crime because of their lower socio economic positions rather than just ethnicity.

those from BME groups are more likely to be victims of crime