Ethnicity and crime

:Patterns and trends.

Black, Asian and minority- ethnic (BAME) people are over-represented in the official criminal statistics and in the prison population. Evidence from victim surveys such as the Crime Survey of England and Wales suggest that people from BAME backgrounds are also disproportionately likely yo be victims of crime.

Rates of offending by different ethnic groups

• Statistics on police activity reveal that in 2014 police stopped and searched Black Britons 4.3 times more than white Britons, and mixed ethnicities twice as often as White Britons. ( In 2014, black people were three times more likely to be prosecuted for a criminal offence. )

• In 2015, 25% of prisoners came from ethnic-minority backgrounds despite the fact that only 12% of the population of England and Wales belong to BAME groups. ( In 2014, the black and mixed-ethnicity groups arrest rates per 1000 people were almost tree- and two-times higher respectively, compared with other ethnic groups.

• 40% of 15-18 year old boys held in youth custody in England and Wales were from BAME backgrounds in 2015.

• In 2009, 29% of the female prison population was made up of BAME women.

• Muslims made up 14.6% of the prison population in 2015.

Victimisation and ethnicity

The risk of being a victim of crime is significantly higher for BAME groups compared with the white ethnic group (2014).

• In 2014/2015, just under 54.000 racist incidents were recorded by the police; equivalent to around one racist incident per 1000 population.

• CSEW figures show that the risk of being a victim of violent street robbery is significantly higher for adults from the mixed, black or Black British and Chinese or other ethnic groups than for adults from the white ethnic groups.

• In 2015, hate crimes against Muslims (Islamophobia) in London rose by 70%. Reported incidents ranged from cyber-bullying and assaults to extreme violence.

Demographic explanations

Morris observes that BAME groups in the UK contain a disproportionate number of young people compared with the white population. Morris concludes that the disproportionate number of BAME people is a statistical illusion caused by the fact that most crime is committed by young people/

Explanations:

Labelling and institutional racism

Interpretivist or labelling theory suggest that criminal statistics are socially constructed and do not tell us much about black or Asian criminality. They simply tell us about their involvement with the criminal justice system. Statistics may simply reflect levels of discrimination towards ethnic minorities by the police and other criminal justice agencies.

• Phillips and Bowling argue that oppressive military-style policing has resulted in the over-policing and criminalisation of ethnic minorities.

• Simon Holdaway argues that police caneen culture is still characterised by racist language and jokes and this often underpins the disproportionate “stop and search” of BAME youth.

• The MacPherson Report into the death of Stephan Lawrence, the black teenager, was guilty of “institutional racism” in its failure to tackle such discrimination.

Paul Gilory (1982) : Crime as political protest

Neo -Marxist Gilory argues that young black men feel:

1. Hostile to white people( especially when they learn about historical exploitation, slavery, and colonialism)

2. Alienated by their everyday experience of casual racism and what they perceive as a racist police force( racial profiling and disproportionate “stopping and searching” )

As such, crime is a form of protest against a racist capitalist society. Street disorders (e.g. London 2011) are political uprisings rather than riots. Other street crimes such as robbery are revolutionary acts of resistance aimed at eventually overthrowing white domination. Gilory also claimed that black youth viewed the police as a predominantly white military force occupying black areas (like an invading power).

However , black people rather than white people are most often the victims of black criminals which undermines Gilory’s argument.

Right/ left realism: control theory

Triple quandary theory

Tony Sewell identifies three risk factors responsible for the relatively high levels of crime amongst black boys.

1. Lack of father figure: many black boys are brought up by single mothers. In seeking a father figure, they often look up to male role models within their community such as gang leaders or drug dealers.

2. Negative experience of white culture: Black boys are disaffected because of their experience in school, policing and employer racism.

3. Media: Black boys are influenced by media role models such as rap and hip-hop stars and believe that status can be achieved in two ways :

• acquisition of status-symbol designer clothing and jewellery

• by the construction of a hyper-masculine identity based on violence and sexual conquest.

  Consequently, they see street culture as more important than education and jobs.

1. Explanations that blame the ethnic minority group- they are more likely to commit crime.

• Point: Black ethnic minority groups are more likely to commit crime because they experience a lack of socialisation into societies core values

  Explain: Sewell

• A high proportion of Black Caribbean lone mother families

  -Black boys lack the discipline and male role model provided by fathers.

• As a result, young Black males follow the “ hyper masculine role model” often shown in rap and drill music videos on YouTube

  -create a roadman identity where they achieved status amongst their peer groups for being deviant.

  Examples: Sewell did unstructured interviews and spoke to young boys in groups about crime

  Evaluation: Marvin Harrison (Dope Black Dads) , Sewell - He needs to look at wider factors, over simplistic, he took one cause over many

  -it doesn’t explain why ethnic people that have both parents and still commit crime.

  Clarke (analysis or supporting argument) : the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the likely consequences

  • if the perceived rewards of crime outweigh the perceived costs, then people will likely offend.

  Point: Ethnic minority groups are more likely to experience status frustration and seek an alternative status hierarchy

  Explain: Cohen

• W/c boys suffer from status frustration

• This leads them to form deviant subcultures which have engaged in value inversion

• Deviant behaviour is therefore a way to climb the subculture’s alternative status hierarchy.

  Example: Of ethnic Minorities experiencing status Frustration

  Nightingale

• Studied black boys in Philadelphia who wanted to be part of mainstream America culture.

• They avidly watched America TV with its emphasis on consumerism

  -But they were excluded from participating due to racism- they struggled to get a good education and a good job

• because of their situation they felt compelled to join violent criminal gangs.

  Evaluation:

• Most ethnic minorities conform at school despite educational failure.

• Cohen ignores female delinquency

• Cohen neglects the role of agents of social control in the social construction of delinquency (e.g media representations and police stereotyping)

  2. Explanations that blame ethic minority group position in society- they are more likely to commit crime

  • Point: Ethnic minorities are more likely to experience inequalities in capitalism and turn to crime as a form of resistance.

    Explain: Taylor

  • Crime is a political act

    -for example theft is an attempt to redistribute wealth

  • Criminals are not passive puppets of capitalism

    -they are political revolutionaries

    Example: Hebdige

  • argues young ethnic minority individuals join subcultures as a form of resistance to the racist capitalist system ( e.g Brixton riot)

  • They exaggerate their style and activities

    Evaluation:

  • Only focuses on primary male criminals and criminality

  • Romanticises ethnic minorities as “Robin Hoods” who are fighting racism- This is a myth-why?

    -Large amounts of crime is intra- ethnic

    “Black on black” crime”

  • Point: Ethnic minority groups are more likely to experience relative deprivation and marginalisation and hance from deviant subcultures

    Explain: Left realism, Lea and Young

  • Racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities, who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing.

  • At the same time the media’s emphasis on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many members of minority groups are unable to reach by legitimate means.

  • One response is the formation of delinquent subcultures , especially by young unemployed black males. This produces higher level of utilitarian crime but also non-utilitarian crime such as rioting as a form of protest.

    Example: Philips& Bowling

  • Suggest that higher levels of robbery by Black people could be linked to poverty and social exclusion

  • Black communities are more likely to suffer deprivation and marginalisation, property crime can generate both peer-group status and a sense of powerful black identity otherwise denied

    Evaluation:

  • Romanticises ethnic minorities as “Robin Hoods” who are fighting racism- This is a myth-why?

    -Large amounts of crime is intra- ethnic

    “Black on black” crime”

  • Not all deviant subculture are marginalised or relatively deprived

  • Not all deviant subcultures engage in criminal activity.

3. An alternative Explanation (institutional racism)

   What is institutional racism?

   • Institutional racism or systematic racism describes forms of racism which are structured into political and social institutions. It occurs when organisations, institution or governments discriminate, either deliberately or indirectly against certain groups of people to limit their rights.

   How might it operate in the criminal system? Which sociologists could you use support this evidence?

   Policing- Philips & Bowling since the 1970s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities.

   Stop and Search - British Crime Survey- compared to white people, black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched and Asian people twice as likely. UCL(2020) - young black males are 19 times more likely to be stopped and searched

   Prison- CSEW-just over 25% of the prison population were from minority ethnic groups despite only making up only 18% of the overall UK population. Ethnic minority are also less likely to be white offenders.

   Do you know any high profile cases?

• George Floyd

• Stephan Lawrence (case study-research)

• Macpherson report- looks at the police force, calls the police force racist publicly and all over the media.

Consolidate your understanding

• Functional Subcultural ; Cohen, status frustration

• The new right and right realism; Sewell

• Neo-Marxism

• Left realism

• interactionism

Application task

Battle of Brixton riots 1981 (neo-marxism)

-5 days before the battle the police saturated the centre of Brixton and use the power of stop and search - in 5 days 1000 black people were stopped.

-Stop and search was implemented was rough and was done in horrendous fashion (strip search publicly)

-”time waiting for a thunder storm that came in summer 81”

-operation swamp

-over 200 youths black and white fought against the police

-because there was so many people involved it, the battle started

-vibrantly in the community was gone

-road block/ helicopter Saturday

-the streets were full of angry people

• police talk:

  -on every street corner there were uniforms(police)

  -there were encounters between the police and black people

  -the police was hostile

  -the police was out there out for black people

  -the police questioned the hurt person instead of helping

  -the police were not expecting anything to really happen

  -that night the police increased the number of police and stop and searches.

  -the police were going high speed in the middle of the road throwing bricks at people

  -as the trouble spread the ingeruies increased.