Ethnicity and crime
Ethnicity and criminalisation Sources of statistics on ethnicity and criminalisation:
1) Official statistics
These show ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the
criminal justice system
For example, blacks are 7 times more likely than whites to be stopped
and searched and 5 times more likely to be in prison
2) Victim surveys
These ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of
Sometimes they ask respondents to identify the ethnicity of the person
who committed the crime against them. For example, in the case of
‘mugging’, black people are more likely to be identified as offenders
3) Self-report studies
These ask individuals what crimes they have been a victim of.
Graham and bowling found that black and whites had almost identical
rates of offending, while Asians had much lower rates
Overall, the evidence on ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. Official
statistics and victim surveys indicate higher rates of offending by
blacks, but self-report studies do not
Racism and the criminal Policing
justice system Philip and bowling note that there have been many allegations of
oppressive policing of minority communities including:
• Mass stop and search operations, excessive surveillance, armed
raids, police violence and failure to respond effectively to
racism violence
• Minorities are more likely to think they are ‘over policed’ and
under protected
Stop and search
Blacks are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites
These patterns may be explained by:
1. Ethnic difference in offending- patterns may simply reflect the
possibility that some ethnic groups are more likely to offend,
and that police are acting on relevant information about a
specific offence
2. Police racism- members of minority ethnic groups may be
stopped more because of police racism. In high discretion stop,
police act without specific information and are more likely to
discriminate
3. Demographic factors- ethnic minorities are over-represented
in the groups most likely to be stopped regardless of their
ethnicity
Ethnicity and criminalisation Sources of statistics on ethnicity and criminalisation:
1) Official statistics
These show ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the
criminal justice system
For example, blacks are 7 times more likely than whites to be stopped
and searched and 5 times more likely to be in prison
2) Victim surveys
These ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of
Sometimes they ask respondents to identify the ethnicity of the person
who committed the crime against them. For example, in the case of
‘mugging’, black people are more likely to be identified as offenders
3) Self-report studies
These ask individuals what crimes they have been a victim of.
Graham and bowling found that black and whites had almost identical
rates of offending, while Asians had much lower rates
Overall, the evidence on ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. Official
statistics and victim surveys indicate higher rates of offending by
blacks, but self-report studies do not
Racism and the criminal Policing
justice system Philip and bowling note that there have been many allegations of
oppressive policing of minority communities including:
• Mass stop and search operations, excessive surveillance, armed
raids, police violence and failure to respond effectively to
racism violence
• Minorities are more likely to think they are ‘over policed’ and
under protected
Stop and search
Blacks are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites
These patterns may be explained by:
1. Ethnic difference in offending- patterns may simply reflect the
possibility that some ethnic groups are more likely to offend,
and that police are acting on relevant information about a
specific offence
2. Police racism- members of minority ethnic groups may be
stopped more because of police racism. In high discretion stop,
police act without specific information and are more likely to
discriminate
3. Demographic factors- ethnic minorities are over-represented
in the groups most likely to be stopped regardless of their
ethnicity
