ethnicity and crime

Question 1

what percent of people in the UK are white?

Answer 1

91

Question 2

what percent of the UK are not white

Answer 2

9

Question 3

out of the 800 also men in prison what percent are white, asian, afro carribean, mized, chinise

Answer 3

74% white
15% afro carribean
7% asian
3% mixed
1% chinise

Question 4

7000 women in proson what % are white, afro carribean, mixed, asian, xhinise

Answer 4

70% white
21% afro carribean
5% mixed
2% asian
2% chinise

Question 5

sociologists two approaches to the stats of ethnicity in prison

Answer 5

Firstly, the legal system isn’t fair and Afro-Caribbean are simply victims, racism and discrimination. Secondly, the legal system is generally fair but Afro-Caribbean are simply more criminal than white people in some areas and reasons for their criminology need to be explored.

Question 6

hall and gilroy

Answer 6

argue that young black men are no more criminal than white, and that the legal system was biased.

Question 7

chambliss

Answer 7

Chambless shows a negative labelling black men in the US. Since this research a number of more recent studies have been written which argue the same thing

Question 8

phillips and bowling

Answer 8

argue that the UK criminal justice system is racist. They point the higher number of stop and searches of black men, and over policing an inner city areas. They also use racially abusive language. 

Question 9

stephen lawrence

Answer 9

After the racist murder of the black youth, the McPherson enquiry was set up to examine the circumstances of his death. It was concluded by saying that the police were institutional racist.

Question 10

stop and search and ethnicity / waddington et al

Answer 10

published in the British journal of criminology, agree that the police do not stop a proportionally higher number of minority ethnic compared to whites, but do not agree that this is due to racism. They agree that there are simply more young minority ethnic men out at night in city centres compared to white people

Question 11

reasons for the high criminality of afro carribeans / lea and young

Answer 11

controversy young black men were not simply victims of police racism, but that for street crimes especially, they were more criminal than white or other ethnic groups. They put this down to relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation.

Question 12

hall and gilroy

Answer 12

Argued that when young black men did turn to crime, it was down to structural factors like poverty

Question 13

Lack of educational success

Answer 13

Afro Caribbean boys leave school with the lowest qualifications. This has an effect on self-confidence and ability to further education. With adventures blocked, street crime is one possible route to financial gain.

Question 14

family structure

Answer 14

60% of young black children live with just one parent, normally a mother. This is a lack of a male role model. Also a lack of money.

Question 15

influence of the mass media

Answer 15

Rap music has influence on violence, sex, and drugs. However, this can be criticised as evidence shows a rap can be about a quality and respect. Listening to 50 Cent will not automatically turn you to crime.

Question 16

crime among other minority ethnics

Answer 16

Studies of ethnic and crime tend to focus on influence of religion and culture to explain the low crime rate. (Asian) recent studies have explained the rise by looking at declining influence of religion amongst some Asian boys.

Question 17

vicgim surveys

Answer 17

They ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims are. We can gain information about ethnicity and offending from the surveys. Black people are significantly overrepresented in cases of mugging.

Question 18

limitations of victim surveys

Answer 18

they rely on the victims memory of a ofence.
They only cover personal crimes.
They exclude people under 10
Exclude crimes by organisations
They only can tell us about a small proportion of offenders

Question 19

self report studies

Answer 19

ask individuals to disclose their own honest and violent behaviour
The findings of self report studies challenge the stereotype of black people as being more likely than white people to offend though they support the widely held view that Asians are less likely to offend

Question 20

policing (phillips and bowling)

Answer 20

Since the 1970s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities including mass stop and search operations, police violence, and deaths in custody

Question 21

stop and search

Answer 21

members of minority ethnic groups are more likely to be stopped and search. Police can use his power if they have suspicion of wrongdoing. Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and search. Only a small proportion result in arrest.

Question 22

tasers

Answer 22

Chance of being involved in a taser incident varies with ethnicity. Black people are more likely.

Question 23

police rasism/ mcpherson report

Answer 23

Stephen Lawrence case. bowling points out that many offenders hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals.

Question 24

Demographic favours

Answer 24

ethnic minorities are overrepresented in population group to most likely to be stopped, such as a young the unemployed.

Question 25

arrests and cautions stats

Answer 25

Figures for England and Wales show that the arrest rate for blacks was three times the rate for whites. One reason for this may be that members of these groups are more likely to deny the offence and exercise the right to legal advice because of mistrust the police.

Question 26

prosecution and trial

Answer 26

 CPS is responsible for deciding whether a case should be prosecuted. CPS is more likely to drop cases against minority ethnics. This may be because evidence presented by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping.

Question 27

Convictions and sentencing

Answer 27

there is less black and Asian of the offences.

Question 28

roger hood on convictions and sentencing

Answer 28

Even when such factors were taken into account black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence

Question 29

pre-sentence reports

Answer 29

One possible reason for harsher sentences is this, written by probation officers. A pre-sentence report is intended as a risk assessment.

Question 30

Prison population

Answer 30

just over a quarter were from minority ethnic groups. Black people are four times more likely to be in prison than white people within the total prison population. All minority groups have a higher average proportion to be on remand (awaiting trial rather than actual prisoners)

Question 31

gilroy the myth of black criminal

Answer 31

It’s created by racist stereotypes. These groups are no more criminal than any other. Ethnic minority crime can be seen as political resistance against society. When they found themselves fighting racism in Britain, they adopted the same forms of struggle to defend themselves

Question 32

lea and young critisisms of gilroy

Answer 32

first generation immigrants were very law abiding so it’s unlikely that they passed down a tradition. Asian crime rates are similar to white people. if Gilroy was right, then the police are only racist towards black people and not Asians.

Question 33

hall et al policing the crisis

Answer 33

They argue that the ruling class are normally able to rule the subordinate classes through consent. Unemployment was inflated. Protests were spreading. The rolling class may need to use force to maintain control.

Question 34

moral panic / hall et al

Answer 34

The media presented mugging to be done by black people. There was no evidence for this. Mugging was therefore associated with this group. It served as scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems like capitalists

Question 35

rocks criticism of hall at al

Answer 35

Argue that the claims were inconsistent in claiming that Blackstreet crime was not rising but also that it was rising because of unemployment

Question 36

left realism criticism of hall et al

Answer 36

inner city residence fears about mugging or not panicky but realistic 

Question 37

neighbourhood

Answer 37

They found that rates were highest and very poor areas were deprived young people came in contact with more affluent groups.

Question 38

getting caught

Answer 38

Some groups run a greater risk of being caught. Black offenders are more likely than whites.