AQA A2 Sociology - Ethnicity and Crime

2. Black people are over represented.
• They make up 2.8% of the population, but 11% of the prison population
• Asians make up 4.7% of the population, but 6% of the prison population
However, these statistics don’t tell us whether members of one ethnic
minority are more likely than another to commit crime in the first place.

3. ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF STATISTICS
Victim Surveys:
These involve asking individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of (usually in
the last 12 months) and ask them to identify the ethnicity of the actor. They have found
that blacks are over represented as ‘muggers’ and show a great deal of crime is intra-ethnic.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) (2007) found 90% of crimes where the victim
was white, at least one of the offenders was too.
Limitations:
• Rely on the victims memory: Bowling and Phillips say white victims may “over identify
blacks”
• Only cover personal crimes
• Exclude under 16s – the minority ethnic groups have a higher proportion of young
people
• Exclude white collar and corporate crime
• Unrepresentative

4. ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF STATISTICS
Self-report Studies
These ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent
behaviour.
Graham and Bowling conducted a study with a sample of 2500 and found
blacks and whites had very similar rates of offending – other ethnicities
had lower rates.
Sharp and Budd note the 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice survey of
12000 people found whites and those of ‘mixed’ ethnic origins were
most likely to say they had committed an offence. They also found 27%
of ‘mixed’ ethnic individuals said they had used drugs in the last year.
(Class A drug use was much higher among whites)
Self-report studies challenge the stereotypes of black people as being more
likely to offend than white people. However, they are inconsistent: the
higher rates of offending by blacks isn’t borne out of these studies.

5. ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM (CJS)
Policing:
Philips and Bowling note since the 1970s there have been many allegations
of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities
Stop and Search
Members of minority ethnic groups are more likely than whites to be
stopped and searched. Police can use this power if they have
‘reasonable suspicion’ – blacks are 7x more likely to be stopped and
search (only a small proportion end in arrest).
Under the Terrorism Act, police can stop and search people whether they
have reasonable suspicion or not – this resulted in Asians being 3x
more likely to be stopped and searched. Phillips and Bowling note
members of ethnic communities are more likely to think they are “over
policed and under protected” and they have limited faith in the police.

6. ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CJS
Explaining stop and search patterns
There are three possible reasons:
• Police racism: (It’s worth reading up about the Stephen Lawrence
murder and the Macpherson report) Phillips and Bowling point out
many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as
criminals. This leads to deliberate targeting for stop and searches.
These views are upheld by the ‘canteen culture’.
• Ethnic differences in offending:
Low discretion: police act on relevant information about an offence
High discretion: police use their stereotypes when acting;
discrimination is likely
• Demographic factors: ethnic minorities are over-represented in the
population groups who are more likely to be stopped (e.g. the young,
unemployed which regardless of their ethnicity are most likely to be
stopped)

7. ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CJS
Arrests and Cautions: The arrest rate for black people is 3.6x the rate for
whites. However, they are less likely to receive a caution. They are more
likely to deny an offence and exercise their right to legal advice. This
highlights their distrust in the police.
Prosecution: The Crown Prosecution Survey (CPS) are more likely to drop
cases against ethnic minorities. Phillips and Bowling note this may be
due to the cases being presented to the CPS by the police are based on
racist stereotypes.
Trial: Black people are more likely to elect for trial before a jury in the
Crown Court where they face tougher sentences because they don’t
trust the police.
Convictions: Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty.
In 2006/7, 60% whites, 52% blacks, 44% Asians were found guilty.

8. ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CJS
Sentencing: Black people are most likely (68%) to receive custodial
sentences whereas whites and Asians are more likely to receive
community sentences. Hood’s study of 5 crown courts found black men
are 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence and on average are
given a 3 month longer sentence.
Pre-sentence reports: Hudson and Bramhall found that these allow for
unwitting discrimination. They found Asian offenders were less
comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful. These
places bias in the context of the ‘demonising’ of Muslims.
Prison: in 2007, one-quarter of the population in prison who were male were
from a minority ethnic groups (15% were black, 7% were Asian). Blacks
are 5x more likely to be in prison than whites and has to serve longer
sentences. In the USA, 2 out of 5 prisoners held in local prisons are
black and 1 out of 5 were Hispanic.

9. EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCES IN OFFENDING
Large scale migration began in the 1950s and until the 1970s, minority
ethnic communities has lower rates of offending. But, from the mid
1970s, ‘black criminality’ increasingly came to be seen as a problem. By
contrast, in the 1990s, Asian crime began to be viewed as a problem
and the events of 9/11 supports the idea that Asians were an ‘enemy
within’ that threatened public order and safety.

10. LEFT REALISTS
Lea and Young argue ethnic differences in the statistics reflect real
differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. They
believe crime is the product of relative deprivation, subcultures and
marginalisation.
Racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic
minorities who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor
housing. Also, 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 to relative deprivation is the formation of delinquent
subcultures. This produces higher levels of utilitarian crime as a means
of coping with it. Furthermore, these groups are marginalised and have
no organisations to represent their interest. This leads to frustration
which is expressed through non-utilitarian crime. (link to Merton’s
‘strain to anomie’ and Cohen’s status frustration theories)

11. LEFT REALISTS
Lea and Young acknowledge that the police often act in racist ways and the
results are unjustified. But, they don’t believe discriminatory policing
fully explains the differences. Over 90% of crimes know to the police are
reported by the public so they can’t account for the ethnic differences
even if they act in discriminatory ways. Also, blacks have a higher
criminalisation rate than Asians, so the police would have to be very
selective in their racism.
Thus, they conclude that the statistics represent real differences in levels
of offending between ethnic groups and that these are caused by real
differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation.

12. CRITICISMS
• Asian arrest rates may be lower than blacks as police stereotype the
two groups differently (they see Asians as passive and blacks as
dangerous – although, Asians may now be seen as dangerous since
9/11)
On the other hand, Neo-Marxists believe statistics are a social construct
resulting from racist labelling and discrimination in the CJS. Two neo-
Marxists illustrate this view…

13. GILROY: THE MYTH OF BLACK CRIMINALITY
Gilroy believes black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes. In
reality, these groups are no more criminal than any other. But, because
the police act on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities come to be
greater in the official statistic numbers.
In his view, ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political
resistance against a racist society and this resistance has its roots in
earlier struggles against British Imperialism (similar to critical
criminology). Their anti-imperialist struggles taught them how to resist
oppression through riots for example, and when they faced racism in
Britain they adopted the same forms of struggle to defend themselves.

14. CRITICISMS
Lea and Young criticise Gilroy:
• First generation immigrants in the 1950s/60s were law abiding citizens
so it is unlikely they passed down a tradition of anti-colonial struggle
• Most crime is intra-ethnic, so it can’t be seen as an anti-colonial
struggle against racism. Gilroy has romanticised street crime as
revolutionary
• Asian crime rates are similar to or lower to whites. If gilroy is right, then
police are only racist towards blacks, which seems unlikely

15. HALL ET AL: POLICING THE CRISIS
Hall et al argue the 1970s saw a moral panic over black ‘muggers’ that
served the interests of capitalism. They argue the ruling class are
normally able to rule the subordinate classes through consent, but in
times of crisis this becomes more difficult.
In the early 1970s, British capitalism faced a crisis of high inflation and
rising unemployment which were provoking widespread industrial
unrest and strikes. At such times, capitalist opposition grew, so the
ruling class may have needed to use force to maintain control.
The 1970s also saw media driven moral panic about a new crime –
‘mugging’. Hall et al argue this was a new name for an old crime, and
there is no evidence of this crime at the time.

16. POLICING THE CRISIS
Hall et al argue this moral panic was no coincidence – they think it is linked
to the crisis. The black mugger myth served as a scapegoat to distract
attention away from the true cause of problems (capitalism).
But, Hall et al don’t argue black crime as a sole produce of media and
police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising
black youth through unemployment and this drove some into crime to
survive.

17. CRITICISMS
• Downes and Rock argue they are inconsistent in claiming that black
street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising due to
unemployment
• They don’t show how the capitalist crisis led to a moral panic or provide
evidence that the public were panicking or blaming crime on blacks
• Left realists argue fears about mugging are realistic, not panicky

18. ETHNICITY AND VICTIMISATION
More recently, sociologists have taken an interest in issues like the racist
victimisation of ethnic minorities. This occurs when an individual is
selected as a target because of their race, ethnicity or religion. It isn’t
new, but the Stephen Lawrence murder and subsequently the
Macpherson report brought it into focus.
Information on racist victimisation comes from victim surveys and police
recorded statistics which cover:
• Racist Incidents
• Racially or Religiously Aggravated Offences

19. EXTENT AND RISK OF VICTIMISATION
• The police recorded 61000 racist incidents in England and Wales in
2006/7
• Most incidents are unreported. The BCS estimates 184000 racially
motivated incidents in 2006/7
• Police recorded 42600 racially or religiously aggravated offences in
2006/7. 106000 were prosecuted or cautioned
The risk of being a victim varies by ethnic group. The 2006/7 BCS found
people from mixed ethnic groups were 36% more likely to be a victim
(blacks 27%, Asians 25%, whites 24%). However, it could be due to other
factors such as being young, male and unemployed (ethnic groups have a
high proportion of this). But, some of these factors are largely due to
discrimination.
But, these statistics don’t capture the victims’ experience of it. Samson and
Phillips note racist victimisation tends to be ongoing over time (repeated).

20. RESPONSES TO VICTIMISATION
This ranges from situational crime prevention to fireproof doors to self-defence
campaigns. Such responses need to be understood in the
context of accusation under-protection by the police.
The Macpherson report found professional incompetence, institutional
racism and the failure of leadership by senior offices.