Ethnicity And Crime

Question 1

Statistics

Answer 1

• African Caribbean and Asian people are overrepresented in official crime statistics, in relation to the population they are 3.5x more likely to be arrested and 6x more likely to go to prison
• source; official statistics, victim surveys (victims overstate offenders as being black/ ethnic) and self report studies–> Graham and Bowling- black people and white people similar rates of offending

Question 2

Interactionists

Answer 2

• Phillips and Bowling; black communities are over-policed and subjective to oppressive attention
• Cicourel; officers hold typifications, these affect police decisions (arrest/ charge), justice becomes a negotiation depending on social class, gender and ethnicity
• Holdaway; canteen culture- police use strategies to manage their time and workload including short cuts hen dealing with offenders which are understood within a canteen culture- abbreviations of quick references are part of banter dialogue (stereotyping in policing)
• Macpherson report; lack of professionalism in dealing with the Lawrence case revealed racist behaviour and practices within the met police- reinforced by canteen culture and banter

Question 3

Neo marxist views

Answer 3

• Hall (policing the crisis); black people were scapegoated in 1970s and blame was put on them for mugging and other street crime —> during this time there was a crisis of capitalism leading to unemployment and unrest, focusing attention on minority communities was used as a distraction- stats manufactured by a repressive racist state
• Gilroy (empire strikes back); racial prejudice and stereotypes exist, ethnic minorities are claimed during times of unrest, unemployment and BAME used as scapegoats- accused of violence and illegal immigration- crime as a response to colonialism and racism

Question 4

Left realist

Answer 4

• Lea and Young; higher crime rates shown in the statistics and apply their cases of relative deprivation, marginalisation and subcultures
• work in North London, young male w/c people commit crimes in most deprived areas
• 92% of crimes brought to police by public, hard to believe number of Blacks in official figures is entirely due to police discrimination

Question 5

Functionalist

Answer 5

• Cohen; status frustration of w/c boys
• Cloward and Ohlin; three criminal subcultures (conflict, criminal and retreatist)
• Merton; strain theory- black people have lack of institutional means to achieve success

Question 6

Right realism

Answer 6

• reasons for crimes to be committed by lower class and w/c inner city areas;
• biological differences (Wilson and Hernstein)
• inadequate socialisation (Murray/ Dennis & Erdos)
• rational choice theory (Clarke)

Question 7

Victimisation

Answer 7

• racist victimisation as growing- selecting a target based on race, ethnicity or legion
• victimisation of Stephen Lawrence showed issues- recording 61,000 racist incidents in England/ Wales 2006
• responses; members of minority ethnic groups have been active in responding- using situational crime prevention strategies and organising self defence campaigns