ETHNICITY AND CRIME– ETHNICITY AND CRIMINALISATION ETHNICITY AND CRIME– ETHNICITY AND CRIMINALISATION
- Black people make up 3% of the pop, but 13.1% of the prison pop ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
- Asians 6.5% of general pop, 7.7% of the prison pop - Ethnic diffs at each stage of the criminal justice process
- White people are under-represented at all stages of criminal justice
process- POLICING; PHILLIPS AND BOWLING note since the 70s there are allegations of
- Black are 7 x likelier to be stopped and searched oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities including mass stop and
- 3.5 x likelier to be arrested searching, excessive surveillance, armed raids, police violence and deaths in
- 5 x likelier to be in prison custody, and a failure to respond effectively to racist violence
VICTIM SURVEYS STOP AND SEARCH; members of BME groups are likelier to be stopped and
CSEW – ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of – searched by the police. Police can use this as ‘reasonable suspicion’ of
learn the ethnicity of victims and perpetrators- greater deal is interethnic wrongdoing. Compared w white, black are 7 x likelier to be stopped and searched
(within rather than between ethnic groups). and Asian over twice likely.
HOWEVER; victims surveys can only tell us about the ethnicity of a small Terrorism Act 2000; police can stop and search persons or vehicles whether or
proportion of offenders which may not be representative of offenders in not they have reasonable suspicion- Asians likelier to searched than others
general under the terrorism act
Rely on victim memory Therefore, BME groups think police more unfair. PHILLIPS AND BOWLING note
BOWLING & PHILIPS; link to labelling, white victims over identify they feel overpoliced and under protected and have no faith in police
blacks, even when unsure Tasers; HOYLE found chance varies with ethnicity- Asians 3/10,000 chance,
Only cover personal crimes – make up 1/5- excludes crimes by and white 6/10,000 and blacks 18/10,000
against organisations so tell us nothing about ethnicity of white
collar and corporate crime EXPLAINING STOP AND SEARCH PATTERNS;
Exclude under 10s; minority ethnic groups contain a higher POLICE RACISM- Macpherson Report on Stephen Lawrence racist murder
proportion of young people found institutional racism within Met police – some officers deeply ingrained racist
attitudes. PHILLIPS AND BOWLING; racist stereotypes of BME as criminals,
SELF REPORTS STUDIES leads to deliberate targeting- endorsed by canteen culture of officers (REINER)
- ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour ETHNIC DIFFS IN OFFENDING- disproportionality in stop and search reflects
- GRAHAM AND BOWLING; blacks (43%) and white (44%) had ethnic diffs in levels of offending
similar rates of offending whilst Indians (30%), Pakistanis (28%) and - Low discretion stops, police act on relevant info about a specific offence
Bangladeshis (13%) had lower rates - High discretion stops, police act without specific intelligence, in these
- SHARP AND BUDD; 12,000 found white and mixed ethnic origins stops, officers stereotype
were likelier to say they committed an offence (around 40%), DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS- Ethnic minorities over represented in groups who
followed by blacks and Asians – also found 27% of males of mixed are likelier to be stopped and searched (young, unemployed, manual workers
ethnicity said they had used drugs in the last year, compared with and urban dwellers)
16% of both black and white males and 5% of Asian males.
- Findings of self report studies challenge stereotype of black people ARRESTS AND CAUTIONS
as being more likely than whites to offend, support the widely held - Black 3 x likelier to be arrested, once arrested blacks and Asians less
view that Asians are less likely to offend- however, self report likely to get a caution than whites
studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending - BME likelier to deny the offence and to exercise right to legal advice (as
- evidence on ethnicity is inconsistent- OS and VS suggest rates of don’t trust police). Not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off
offending by blacks, this is generally not true of self report with caution and so are charged instead
- Black people make up 3% of the pop, but 13.1% of the prison pop ETHNICITY, RACISM AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
- Asians 6.5% of general pop, 7.7% of the prison pop - Ethnic diffs at each stage of the criminal justice process
- White people are under-represented at all stages of criminal justice
process- POLICING; PHILLIPS AND BOWLING note since the 70s there are allegations of
- Black are 7 x likelier to be stopped and searched oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities including mass stop and
- 3.5 x likelier to be arrested searching, excessive surveillance, armed raids, police violence and deaths in
- 5 x likelier to be in prison custody, and a failure to respond effectively to racist violence
VICTIM SURVEYS STOP AND SEARCH; members of BME groups are likelier to be stopped and
CSEW – ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of – searched by the police. Police can use this as ‘reasonable suspicion’ of
learn the ethnicity of victims and perpetrators- greater deal is interethnic wrongdoing. Compared w white, black are 7 x likelier to be stopped and searched
(within rather than between ethnic groups). and Asian over twice likely.
HOWEVER; victims surveys can only tell us about the ethnicity of a small Terrorism Act 2000; police can stop and search persons or vehicles whether or
proportion of offenders which may not be representative of offenders in not they have reasonable suspicion- Asians likelier to searched than others
general under the terrorism act
Rely on victim memory Therefore, BME groups think police more unfair. PHILLIPS AND BOWLING note
BOWLING & PHILIPS; link to labelling, white victims over identify they feel overpoliced and under protected and have no faith in police
blacks, even when unsure Tasers; HOYLE found chance varies with ethnicity- Asians 3/10,000 chance,
Only cover personal crimes – make up 1/5- excludes crimes by and white 6/10,000 and blacks 18/10,000
against organisations so tell us nothing about ethnicity of white
collar and corporate crime EXPLAINING STOP AND SEARCH PATTERNS;
Exclude under 10s; minority ethnic groups contain a higher POLICE RACISM- Macpherson Report on Stephen Lawrence racist murder
proportion of young people found institutional racism within Met police – some officers deeply ingrained racist
attitudes. PHILLIPS AND BOWLING; racist stereotypes of BME as criminals,
SELF REPORTS STUDIES leads to deliberate targeting- endorsed by canteen culture of officers (REINER)
- ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour ETHNIC DIFFS IN OFFENDING- disproportionality in stop and search reflects
- GRAHAM AND BOWLING; blacks (43%) and white (44%) had ethnic diffs in levels of offending
similar rates of offending whilst Indians (30%), Pakistanis (28%) and - Low discretion stops, police act on relevant info about a specific offence
Bangladeshis (13%) had lower rates - High discretion stops, police act without specific intelligence, in these
- SHARP AND BUDD; 12,000 found white and mixed ethnic origins stops, officers stereotype
were likelier to say they committed an offence (around 40%), DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS- Ethnic minorities over represented in groups who
followed by blacks and Asians – also found 27% of males of mixed are likelier to be stopped and searched (young, unemployed, manual workers
ethnicity said they had used drugs in the last year, compared with and urban dwellers)
16% of both black and white males and 5% of Asian males.
- Findings of self report studies challenge stereotype of black people ARRESTS AND CAUTIONS
as being more likely than whites to offend, support the widely held - Black 3 x likelier to be arrested, once arrested blacks and Asians less
view that Asians are less likely to offend- however, self report likely to get a caution than whites
studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending - BME likelier to deny the offence and to exercise right to legal advice (as
- evidence on ethnicity is inconsistent- OS and VS suggest rates of don’t trust police). Not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off
offending by blacks, this is generally not true of self report with caution and so are charged instead
