whats percentage of ethnic groups make up the UK population?
white - 87%
black - 3%
asian - 7%
other - 3%
what percentage of ethnic groups make up the convictions in the UK?
white - 73%
black - 8%
asian - 5%
other - 14%
what is the average custodial sentence for different ethnic groups in the UK in months?
white - 15.9
black - 23.4
asian - 22.4
other - n/a
what can be suggested from the statistics about ethnic differences and crime?
- black are the minority of the total pop but have the longest custodial sentences
- white have the highest amount of convictions but lowest custodial sentence rate
what don’t statistics tell us?
whether p’s from one group are more likely to commit an offence in the first place
what are 2 alternative sources of statistics?
- victim surveys (p’s asked if they’ve been a victim and to what)
- self report studies (p’s asked if they’ve committed a crime)
what stats are there about black p’s involvement with the police?
- 7x more likely to be stop and searched
- 4x more likely to experience police force
- 3.5x more likely to be arrested
- 5x more likely to be imprisoned
what are the findings of victim surveys?
- black p’s are over represented among offenders
- shows a lot of crime is intra-ethnic
what are the findings of self report studies?
- blacks and whites had similar rates of offending
- asians had a much lower rate of offending
what are the strengths of self report studies and victim surveys?
- looks at unreported crime
- avoids police bias
- anonymous: more likely to be truthful
- surveys can be reused (reliable)
- preferred by positivists
what are the weaknesses of self report studies and victim surveys?
- rely on p’s being truthful
- self reports might use deception, unethical
- aren’t live, out of date, low temporal validity
- p’s can interpret questions differently
according to Bowling and Phillips what are the stages of the CJS?
- stop and search
- arrests and cautions
- prosecution and trials
- convictions
- prison
what are the differences in ethnicities with stop and search?
- more likely ethnic minorities
- black 7x more likely than white
- asian over 2x as likely as white
- asians more likely to be stopped under terrorism act than white
- blacks more often involved in taser incidents
what can cause ethnic differences in stop and search?
- selective policing
- demographic factors
- police racism
- stereotypes fueled by media
what are the ethnic differences in arrests and cautions?
- 3x more blacks than white (2014)
- black and asian less likely to receive cautions
- black / asian more likely to get custodial sentence
- EM more likely to deny charges and request legal advice
- white criminality is invisible compared to EM criminality
- EM more likely to commit crimes that raise visibility to authority
what ethnic differences are there in prosecution and trial?
- CPS more likely to drop cases against EM
- when EM cases go ahead, EM more likely to elect for trial in front of a jury
- jury’s are normal people
- less chance of institutional racism
what are the ethnic differences in convictions and sentencing?
- asian / black defendants less likely found guilty
- when found guilty they serve longer sentences
- usually 4+ years
what is the ethnic differences in prison?
- 1/4 of prison pop is EM (2014)
- black 4x more likely to be in jail than white
among british nationals in jail:
- 5.5 per 1000 black
- 1.6 per 1000 asian
- 1.4 per 1000 whites
what was ethnic differences and crime like in 1970’s?
general agreement that EM had lower crime rates than white
what was ethnic differences and crime like in mid 1970’s?
- increased conflict between police and african carribeans
- higher arrest rates for street crime
- increased black criminality
what was ethnic differences and crime like in the 1990’s?
- crime by asian is viewed as a problem
- concerns about growth of ‘asian gangs’
- 9/11 confirmed fears of asians specifically muslims as the enemy within
what are the 2 explanations for ethnic differences in stats?
- left realism
- neo marxism
how do left realists describe ethnic differences in stats?
lea and young:
- black crime for some offences is higher than white
- due to marginalisation and discrimination
- relative deprivation = legitimate routes blocked
- these create subcultures mainly in young black males which increases street crimes
how does left realist approaches explain utilitarian crimes?
- p’s lack access to materials
- commit crime for monetry gain
- gain material illegitimately
how does the left realist approach explain non utilitarian crimes?
To gain acceptance / reinstate masculinity / status they lose from society, they re gain it in subcultures through crime
what do Lea and Young say about police and racism?
- police often act in racist ways
- this results in unjustified criminalisation
- however this can’t fully explain ethnic differences as 90% of crimes are reported by public
- stats show real differences caused by real differences in marginalisation and relative deprivation
what does the neo marxist Gilroy say about stats?
- do not reflect reality
- they’re socially constructed to stereotype EM as criminal
what does neo marxist Gilroy say about black criminality
- myth of black criminality
- created by racist stereotypes
- police and CJS act on these stereotypes
- EM then make up more stats and seem more criminal
according to neo marxist Gilroy what was black crimes caused by?
- 1970’s: black crime was political action
- represented a culture of resistance to inequality and oppression
- EM crime is political resistance against racism
- resistance originated against British imperialism
- EM carry the weight of historical violence e.g slavery
what happened when EM experiences racism in Britain according to neo marxist Gilroy?
- they adopted an anti-imperialistic form of resistance to defend them self
- their political struggle was criminalised by British state
what examples can you support neo marxist Gilroys idea of political resistance to?
- black lives matter movement
- rose parks
whats the weaknesses of neo marxist approach?
- first generation immigrants (1950’s and 60’s) were law abiding
- unlikely they passed down anti-colonial attitudes to kids
- most crime is intra-ethnic
- can’t be seen as anti-colonial struggle against racism
what did neo marxist Hall state happened in the 1970’s?
- british capitalism faced a crisis of hegemony due to political and economic issues
- high inflation and rising unemployment = protests, strikes and conflict in northern Ireland
- media driven moral panic about the growth of ‘mugging’
describe neo marxist Hall’s idea of the black mugger
- media, politicians and police associated mugging with black youth
- black mugger was a scapegoat to distract attention from unemployment
- black mugger symbolised disintegration in social order
what did the idea of the black mugger cause in britain according to neo marxist hall?
- appeared british life was under threat
- moral panic divided w/c on racial grounds
- weakened opposition to capitalism
- created hostility between CJS/ police and EM
what did neo marxist hall say the crisis of capitalism created?
- increasingly marginalised black youths through unemployment
- this led to hustling and petty crimes
what were the wider origins of the deviant act - ‘policing the crisis’
britain faced a crisis of hegemony due to political and economic problems
what was neo marxist halls theory?
policing the crisis
what were the immediate origins of the deviant act - ‘policing the crisis’
moral panic
what was the act itself - ‘policing the crisis’
- street crime
- mugging
- robbery
- violence
what was the immediate origins of the social reaction - ‘policing the crisis’
- marginalisation
- segregation
- police racism
what are the wider origins of the social reaction - ‘policing the crisis’
- disintegration of social order
- british life under threat
what were the effects of labelling ‘ ‘policing the crisis’
- increased hostility and marginalisation
- hustling and petty crimes
- self fulfilling prophecy
what are the strengths of the neo marxist approach?
- shows the micro and macro approaches
- not outdated
- proves bougeoisie uses ideology to manipulate masses
what are the weaknesses of neo marxism?
- stop and search can be good, it can stop future crimes
- Hall claimed black crime wasn’t rising, then contradicted and said it was due to unemployment
what is a more recent approach than neo marxism?
fitzgerald (2013):
- neighbourhood factors could explain the higher reporting of black crime
what is racist victimisation?
occurs when p is selected as a target because of their race, ethnicity or religion
what evidence is there about racist victimisation?
2015 - Dylan Roof killed 9 African american during bible study in texas
brenton Tarrant - killed 51 in christchurch shooting in new zealand
what are the chances of ethnic groups facing racist victimisation?
mixed ethnic background - 27.9%
blacks - 18%
asians - 15.8%
whites - 15.7%