Ethnicity and Crime Unit 4: Crime and Deviance. Predictions Which ethnic group do you think is most likely to be stopped and searched by the police? Which.

Ethnicity and Crime

Unit 4: Crime and Deviance

Predictions

Which ethnic group do you think is most likely to be stopped and searched by the police?Which ethnic group commits the most crime?

Match the statistics – country profile

91% Asian9% Afro-caribbean5% White2% Non White2% Mixed and other

The facts

• 91% of people in the UK are white• 9% are non-white• 5% Asian• 2% Afro- Caribbean• 2% mixed and other

Ethnicity & Crime• Of the 80,000 men in prison approximately 74% are white,

15% Afro-Caribbean, 7% Asian, 3% mixed and 1% Chinese.• Of the 7,000 women in prison 70% are white, 21% Afro-

Caribbean, 5% mixed, 2% Asian and 2% Chinese and other.• The situation in the USA is very similar – Black Americans

make up 13% of the total population and 50% of the prison population.

In 2008, the Ministry of Justice reported that, compared to white people:

• Afro Caribbean's were: more likely to be arrested for robbery; three times more likely to be cautioned by the police; three and a half times more likely to be arrested; if arrested, more likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to receive a caution; more likely, if found guilty, to receive a custodial (prison) sentence; five times more likely to be in prison.

• Asians were: twice as likely to be stopped and searched (mainly for drugs); more likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to receive a caution; more likely to receive a custodial sentence if found guilty; more likely to be arrested for fraud and forgery.

Explaining this…

How can we explain these patterns?

Victims of Crime• Ethnic minorities are also more likely

to be victims of crime disproportionately to their numbers, and this is particularly s for ethnic minority women.

Why do you think this is the case?

Ethnicity And Victimisation

The BCS (British Crime Survey) and victim surveys are the main providers of information about the type and incidence of racially motivated crimes

Most recorded racist incidents are crimes against property and verbal harassmentMost incidents are unreported

Reasons for Criminality• There are two main strands of thought

as to why ethnic minorities are more likely to be seen as criminals and be victims of crime.

• They are:– Structuralist views: They are more criminal– Social Constructionist views: The justice

system is unfair

Reasons for High criminality of Afro-Caribbean (Structural)

• Lea & Young (left realists) – first criminologists to acknowledge that black people were not simply victims of a racist police force and criminal justice system but are actually more likely to be involved with street crime than whites.

Lea & Young

Read the information on Lea & Young’s study on explaining crime rates and highlight key points.

Do you agree with the findings of the study? Justify your answer.How is their research evidence of left realism?

Other reasons for higher rates of street crime amongst blacks

Rank the explanations

Education Family structure

Mass media

Most significant

Least significant

Beside each you need to explain why you have ranked them in this

order – You must include the following terms in your

explanation: Influence, Values, Socialisation,

Expectations

Crime among other minorities.• Don’t underestimate the impact of a declining influence of

religion in the lives of some minority groups.• In addition you could refer to a rise in some forms of

fundamentalism (which is linked with terrorism and criminal activity. Linked with globalisation when you refer to countries such a Yemen, Afghanistan etc).

Stereotypes and Racism

What do you think the impact of such events has had on Asian citizens today?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uNDm6YfN2k

On the other side of the argument ….

• The over-representation of Afro-Caribbean's in crime statistics is a social construct, created as a result of discrimination towards blacks and Asians by the police and other criminal justice agencies. There is considerable evidence of racist views held by police officers.

Unfair Treatment and Racism• Reiner (2000): Canteen culture amongst the police,

including: suspicion, macho values and racism, which encourages racist stereotypes and a mistrust of those from non white backgrounds.

• Bowling and Phillips (2002): Higher levels of robbery among black people could be the product of labelling that arises from the use of regular stop and search procedures, which in turn leads to the self fulfilling prophecy.

Sharp and Budd (2005) • Black offenders were most likely to have contact with the

criminal justice system in their lifetime and were more likely to have been arrested, been to court and convicted. This is despite their lower levels of offending compared to white people generally and white youths in particular.

• Black and Asian offenders are more likely to be charged rather than cautioned, remanded rather than bailed, given prison sentences rather than probation/communitity punishment compared to white people. This suggests that they are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system.

Waddington (2004)

• Published in the British Journal of Criminology argues that the police do stop a proportionately higher number of blacks compared to whites.

• However, he argues that there are more ethnic minority youths out at night in inner cities and that the police simply target those in high risk areas. If the areas is disproportionately represented by young black males they are more likely to be stopped and searched – because of where they are rather than their ethnicity

Test Your Knowledge• What are the trends linking ethnicity

and crime?

• What is black criminality?

• What is the link between the police and institutional racism?

The Political nature of Black Crime (Gilroy)

• A Neo-Marxist who agrees that young blacks are targeted by the media and the police, but argues that black crime is different in that it is a conscious continuation, in a new context, of anti-colonial struggles in the West Indies.

• It is therefore political and potentially revolutionary, a political response to inequality and discrimination.

• Rastafarianism, for example, is not just a religion; it contains a set of revolutionary political ideas about overthrowing white authority (“Babylon”), and tends to bring its followers into confrontation with the police over, for example, marijuana use.

Stephen Lawrence (AO2a)

BBC Report on Stephen Lawrence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/285553.stm

Evaluation (AO2b)• It has often been claimed that black crime is no higher than crime by the

majority, that the official statistics reflect discriminatory practices by the police and courts. Sometimes questioning this claim can be presented as racist.

• On the other hand, however, and sometimes in the same accounts, it is claimed that high rates of some crimes, especially street crimes, are to be expected, part of the survival strategy of a reserve army of labour which finds itself unwanted, an understandable response to disadvantage and discrimination.

• Like other Marxists studying crime, Gilroy can be seen as reading meanings which may not be there into the behaviour of young blacks; they are unlikely to agree with his explanation of their behaviour.

Conclusion• Institutional Racism

• Structural factors

• Ethnicity may just be one element in a complex web of courses.

• Should never neglect power relations.

• Should consider which social groups have the most power in creating and enforcing the law.

Ethnicity and Ethnicity and crimecrime

Key factsKey facts

Official statistics say black people Official statistics say black people are:are:

7 times more likely to be 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched.stopped and searched.

3 ½ times more likely to be 3 ½ times more likely to be arrested.arrested.

5 times more likely to be in 5 times more likely to be in prison than their white prison than their white counterparts. counterparts.

Victim studies say black Victim studies say black people are more likely to people are more likely to be identified as offenders be identified as offenders & most crime is & most crime is intra –intra –ethnicethnic meaning it takes meaning it takes place among rather than place among rather than between ethnic groups.between ethnic groups.

Self-report studies Self-report studies conclude that black people conclude that black people have similar rates of have similar rates of offending to whites if not offending to whites if not lower. lower.

Ethnicity and the Ethnicity and the criminal justice systemcriminal justice system

2.2.Stop and searchStop and search

Lots of stop an search is Lots of stop an search is perhaps due to racism perhaps due to racism and the targeting of ethnic and the targeting of ethnic minorities.minorities.

1. 1. PolicingPolicing

Many allegations of Many allegations of oppressive policing from oppressive policing from minority ethnic minority ethnic communities are made.communities are made.

3. 3. Arrests and cautionsArrests and cautions

More likely to be More likely to be arrested and cautioned arrested and cautioned perhaps due to a perhaps due to a mistrust of police and not mistrust of police and not admitting to the offence.admitting to the offence.

4. 4. Prosecution & Prosecution & convictionconviction

Crown prosecution Service Crown prosecution Service more likely to drop cases more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities. against ethnic minorities. Black and Asian Black and Asian defendants are less likely defendants are less likely to be found guilty. to be found guilty.

5. 5. Sentencing and PrisonSentencing and Prison

Custodial sentences more Custodial sentences more likely to be given to black likely to be given to black offenders. Blacks and offenders. Blacks and Asians over-represented in Asians over-represented in prisons and more likely to prisons and more likely to be given longer sentences.be given longer sentences.

Ethnicity and Ethnicity and crimecrime

Explaining differences Explaining differences in offendingin offending

Left realismLeft realism

Ethnic minorities commit more Ethnic minorities commit more crime because racism in wider crime because racism in wider has caused them to be has caused them to be marginalisedmarginalised, coupled with , coupled with economic exclusioneconomic exclusion such as such as high unemployment and poor high unemployment and poor housing. Left realists don’t housing. Left realists don’t believe that racism in the police believe that racism in the police can account for higher crime can account for higher crime because black people have a because black people have a higher offending rate than higher offending rate than Asians. Asians.

Neo-Marxist - Paul GilroyNeo-Marxist - Paul Gilroy

Black people commit more Black people commit more crime because they resent the crime because they resent the cultural experience of cultural experience of colonialismcolonialism i.e. being taken i.e. being taken over and having black slaves over and having black slaves sent to Britain to work. This sent to Britain to work. This experience causes resentment experience causes resentment in young black males which in young black males which makes them commit crime. makes them commit crime.

Neo-Marxist - Stuart Neo-Marxist - Stuart Hall et al (Policing Hall et al (Policing the crisis)the crisis)

Combines Marxism and Combines Marxism and Labelling theory.Labelling theory.

Economic conditions in Economic conditions in the 1990’s were bad, the 1990’s were bad, government look for a government look for a scapegoat.scapegoat.

Young black muggers Young black muggers are labelled and a moral are labelled and a moral panic is created about panic is created about their behaviour in the their behaviour in the media.media.

Young black males Young black males commit no more crime commit no more crime than any other group but than any other group but labelling and the labelling and the economy makes it seem economy makes it seem like they do.like they do.

VictimisationVictimisation

Police recorded 61,000 Police recorded 61,000 racists incidents while the racists incidents while the BCS reports 184,000 many BCS reports 184,000 many go unreported. People from go unreported. People from mixed ethnic backgrounds mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be victims were more likely to be victims of crimes. of crimes.

Stephen LawrenceStephen Lawrence

The death of Stephen Lawrence The death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 by a white gang caused in 1993 by a white gang caused outcry as police botched the outcry as police botched the investigation. The inquiry investigation. The inquiry called the called the Macpherson reportMacpherson report declared institutional racism in declared institutional racism in the police. the police.

How this applies to the exam…(b) Using material from Item A and elsewhere,

assess the view that ethnic differences in crime rates are the result of the ways in which the criminal justice system operates. (21 marks)

Plenary

• In pairs you have a set of concepts and sociologists on cards.

• One of you has the card and has to describe the concept on the card. You cant say the name. The other person has to try and guess what you are talking about.

• Keep swapping roles – so you both get turns at describing and guessing.