Topic 9 - Ethnicity and Crime

There are 3 main ways of gathering statistics on ethnicity and crime
1. Official Statistics
2. Victim Surveys
3. Self Report Studies
4. The data gathered seems to be inconsistent
Stop and Search of Blacks
1. Negatively labelled/stereotyped
Official Statistics
1. Blacks are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched and 5 times more likely to be in prison
2. Some sociologists argue that these statistics are not a true reflection of offending rates as they may be a reflection of the police and CJS racism actions/behaviour
  1. So may not reflect real offending rates of ethnic minorities
3. Blacks also have a large population of people aged in prime ages of crime (14-25) meaning that its only natural for rates to be high
4. More economically disadvantaged a social group the higher the crime rates, young black youths tend to be in worst paid jobs and more likely to be unemployed than white or asian youths
5. A study taken place in Croydon over the course of a year found that blacks were most likely to be stopped and searched, 7 times more than whites and significantly more than asians
White crime is not really studied
Victim Surveys
1. Victims of crime are asked for a recollection of the ethnicity of their offender
  1. One problem is that this relies on victims memory and white victims tend to over identify blacks as offenders
    1. Racial stereotypes
  2. No information will be provided about ethnicity of white collar crime
2. British crime survey found the majority of crime is intraracial
  1. Over 50% of black victims were identified as being committed by a black offender
3. Limitations of Victim Surveys
  1. Victim surveys only cover personal crimes which is only a fraction of all crimes
  2. They also exclude under 16's minority ethnics, so missing a large chunk of crime
  3. No information will be provided about ethnicity of white collar crime
    1. White collar crime is worth $400 billion
  4. Many people over identify blacks
Self Report Studies
1. Self report studies use anonymous questionnaires to ask people what offences they have committed
2. Studies show that blacks and whites had similar offending and that asians had much lower rates
  1. Yet black people are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched
Sentencing
1. Blacks are 5 times more likely to be in prison that whites
2. After arrest, african carribeans are more likely to be held in custody and also charged with more serious offences than whites
3. If Blacks are found guilty they are also more likely to to receive harsher sentences
  1. However this may be due to differenced in the seriousness of the offences that they commit or may also be a reflection of previous offences
4. Sociologists have found that discrimination of ethnic minorities does exist
5. Sociologists all reject that there is any link between 'race' and crime, in the sense that people being a particular ethnic group has any importance in explaining crime
Racist Police Practises
1. Canteen Culture
  1. This approach argues that police officers have developed a distinctive set of working values as a result of their job
  2. They have developed a 'subculture' among themselves to help deal with the pressures of the job
  3. Researchers in this field note that they demonstrated racist views amongst police officers, they held stereotypical views on criminality of youths of afrcian carribean origin
    1. This leads to young black males being stigmatized and this is why they are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched
2. Institutional Racism
  1. Racism built into the normal practises of an organisation
  2. After the racist murder of Black youth, Stephen Lawerence, the Macpherson inquiry was set up to look at the circumstances of his death and the handling of the situation of the police
    1. The Mcpherson inquiry concluded that the police where characterized by institutional racism
      1. By this is meant that the police have procedures and practises and a culture that tend to disadvantage non whites
      2. This was built into the day to day activities of the organization based upon racist ideas and practises
      3. This means that police offices may assume certain things about young black males and also their likely hood of offending and this may influence police officers attitudes and behaviour towards certain races
Theorizing Race and Criminality
1. Triple Quandary Theory
  1. Sewell in this triple quandary theory identifies 3 risk factors that are responsible for high levels of crime among african carribean boys
  2. They feel they cannot relate to mainstream culture as they believe that teachers, police officers are racist and therefore work against their interests
  3. They are very influenced by the media emphasis on consumerism, identity and status, they also strive for material items
    1. Also look up to role models e.g. rappers, celebrities
  4. Many african carribean boys are brought up in single families, lack of fathers means not as much discipline and no male role mdoel
  5. Sewell argues that these factors create an anxiety for black boys which is resolved by constructing subcultures and gangs
    1. These subcultures and gangs is a place where people can gain a status and respect from peers while engaging in violence and also consumption from proceeds e.g. phones, burglaries, stealing
2. Neo Marxist Hall claims that moral panics about disruptive groups in society are created by mass media working on behalf of state to divide and rule working class
  1. This diverts attention away from exploitive nature of capitalism
  2. Hall also looked at how media presented 'mugging' as a new crime which black criminal robbed white victims
    1. This has ideological function of diving black and white working class against each other, diverting attention of capitalism
      1. Stigmatizes black ethnics
3. LEFT REALIST APPROACH LEA AND YOUNG
  1. Go to Realist Approach to crime topic

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Topic 9 - Ethnicity and Crime

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	Created by Victor Mendon over 10 years ago