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Patterns of Ethnicity and Criminalisation (Sources of statistics (Official…
Patterns of Ethnicity and Criminalisation
Sources of statistics
Official statistics
These show ethnic differences in likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. According to official stats, black people are 7 times more likely to be involved in the CJS
Victim Surveys
Ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of. Details of the offender such as ethnicity are sometimes asked. Black people are more likely to be identified as muggers than white people
Self-Report studies
Ask individuals to disclose crimes they have committed
Graham and Bowling
– Blacks and whites had almost identical rates of offending, Asians had much lower rates. Other self-report studies find the same, discrediting the stereotypes that blacks are more likely to offend
The official statistics
Of the
80,000
men in prison approximately 74% are White, 15% Afro-Carribean, 7% Asian, 3% Mixed and 1% Chinese
Of the
7,000
women in prison 70% are White, 21% are Afro-Carribean, 5% mixed, 2% Asian and 2% Chinese
In the USA, Black people make up 13% of the total population and 50% of the prison population however they could be over represented in the system
Ministry of Justice report
Afro-Carribeans
More likely to be arrested for robbery; three times more likely to be cautioned by the police; three times more likely to be arrested; if arrested, more likely to be charged and face court proceedings than to receive a caution; more likely, if found guilty, to receive a custodial (prison) sentence; five times more likely to be in prison
Asians
Twice as likely to be stopped and searched (mainly for drugs); more likely to be charged and faced court proceedings than to receive caution; more likely to receive a custodial sentence if found guilty; more likely to be arrested for fraud and forgery
However....
Statistics do not tell us whether members of one group are more likely than members of another to commit an offence in the first place - they just tell us about involvement with the CJS
Differences stop and search or arrest rates may simply be due to policing strategies or discrimination by officers, while differences in rates of imprisonment may be a result of courts handing down harsher sentences to minorities