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Ethnicity and Crime - Coggle Diagram
Ethnicity and Crime
Explaining the differences in offending
Left Realism
statistics represent real differences in rates of offending
Lea and Young - ethnic differences in statistics reflect real difference in offence by different ethnic groups
police racism = unjustified criminalisation but do not explain differences in statistics
90% crimes reported to police by public
black have high rate of criminalisation than Asians = police have to be selective racist
crime = product of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation
higher rates of unemployment, poverty, poor housing + media emphasis on consumerism = relative deprivation as unable to reach
formation of delinquent subcultures (young unemployed black males) = utilitarian crime (theft / robbery)
no organisations = liable to produce non-utilitarian crime (violence / rioting)
Lea and Young criticism = Asians less because less likely to offend and police stereotype that blacks are dangerous + 9/11 changed views of Asians
Neo-Marxism
the statistics are social construct from racist labelling/discrimination in CJS
Gilroy: myth of black criminality
created through racist stereotypes of African Caribbeans and Asians = police act on stereotype so appear high number in official statistics
ethnic minority crime = political resistance through British imperialism
Critical criminology = working-class crime is a political act of resistance to capitalism
Gilroy Critic: Lea and Young - first generation immigrants were law-abiding so unlikely passed down tradition of anti-colonial struggle
Hall et al: policing the crisis
1970s moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism
ruling class rule subordinate class but not during crisis
emergence of media-driven moral panic over new crime 'mugging' = moral panic and crisis were linked / scapegoat to distract attention of unemployment (capitalist crisis)
Hall et al critic: don't show how capitalist crisis led to moral panic or evidence that public blamed crime on blacks
Recent explanation for ethnic differences in crime rates
Neighbourhood
FitzGerald et al: rates highest in poor areas and when deprived young people came into contact with more affluent groups
White + Blacks = same amount of crime rates but blacks live in poor areas due to discrimination in housing and job markets
Criminalisation
Statistics
Victim Surveys
Helps to show intra-ethnic crime
N: Rely on victim's memory of events and only cover personal crimes
Self-report studies
Racism + Criminal Justice System
Stop and Search
Minority likely to be stopped and searched by police
Explaining stop and search patterns
Police Racism - MacPherson Report
Phillips and Bowling - police officers negative stereotypes
Ethnic differences in offending - low and high discretion stops
Arrests and cautions
Ethnic minority more likely to deny offence and exercise legal advice right = more arrests than caution
Prosecution and trial
Bowling and Phillips: CPS more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities due to weak evidence or stereotyping
Convictions and sentencing
Black/ Asian less likely to be found guilty probably due to differences in seriousness of offences
Pre-sentence reports
risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender
Prison
Black 4x more likely to be in prison