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Ethnicity, Crime and Justice - Coggle Diagram
Ethnicity, Crime and Justice
Ethnicity and criminalisation:
- Official stats indicate ethnic disparities in involvement with the CJS. Black and to a lesser extent Asians being over-represented
- Prison:
- Black: 3% general pop, 13.1% prison pop
- Asian: 6.5% general, 7.7% prison
- White: underrepresented at all stages
- Likelihood of involvement (Ministry of Justice):
- Black 7x more likely than White to be stopped and searched
- Black 3.5x more likely to be arrested
- Black 5x more likely to be in prison
Alternative Sources of Stats:
- Victim surveys: Black are over-represented among those identified by victims as offenders in mugging incidences. Intra-ethnic crime - a significant amount of crime occurs within ethnic groups
- Memory reliance, limited scope, excludes under 10s, excludes organisational crime
- Self-report/offender studies:
- Graham and Bowling (2500 people): Blacks (43%) and whites (44%) had similar rates of offending. Indians (30%), Pakistanis (28%) and Bangladeshi (13%) had lower rates.
- Sharp and Budd (12000): Whites and mixed ethnic origins (around 40%) were most likely to report committing an offence. Followed by Blacks (28%) and Asians (21%)
- Drug Use (Sharp and Budd): Mixed ethnicity males 27%, black and white 16%, Asian 5%. Class A drugs higher among whites (6%) than Blacks (2%) or Asians (1%)
Ethnicity, racism and the CJS
Policing:
- Phillips and Bowling: Since 70s, allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic groups include 'mass stop and search operations, paramilitary tactics, excessive surveillance, armed raids, police violence and deaths in custody, and a failure to respond effectively to racist violence
Stop and search:
- Black 7x more likely
- Asian over 2x
- Only small proportion stops result in arrests
- Terrorism Act 2000: Asians more likely to be stopped and searched under this act, which doesn't require 'reasonable suspicion'
- Impact: minority ethnic communities less likely to perceive police politeness or fairness during stops. Phillips and Bowling - they feel 'over-policed and under-protected' with limited faith in police
- Tasers (Hoyle): Deployed over 38000 times. Involvement Asians 3 in 10000, whites 6, blacks 18
Explaining stop and search patterns:
- Police racism (Macpherson report): found institutional racism within the Met police. Phillips and Bowling - negative stereotypes held by officers, leading to targeting reinforced by canteen culture
- Ethnic differences in offending: some argue disproportionality reflects actual differences in offending levels. Low discretion stops: police act on specific info. High discretion stops: police action without info, stereotypes more likely to lead to disproportionality
- Demographic factors: ethnic minorities are over-represented in groups more likely to be stopped (young, unemployed, manual workers, urban dwellers) regardless of ethnicity
Arrests and Cautions:
- Arrest rate black 3x white
- Once arrested Black and Asian less likely to receive a caution. Might be because they are more likely to deny the offence and seek legal advice, preventing caution offered
Prosecution and trial:
- CPS more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities. Bowling and Phillips - due to weaker police evidence based on stereotypes
- Minority ethnic more likely opt for a crown court jury trial, but they can impose harsher sentences upon conviction
Convictions and sentencing:
- Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty, suggesting discrimination where police/CPS bring weaker cases
- Black have 3% higher imprisonment rates, Asian 5% than white
- Hood: Black men 5% more likely receive custodial sentencing and were given average 3 months longer than white men. Asian men received sentences averaging 9 months longer
- Hudson and Bramhall: pre-sentence reports allow for unwitting discrimination. Reports on Asian offenders less comprehensive and suggested more remorse, possibly influenced by demonising of Muslims post-9/11
Prison:
- Minority ethnic represent over a quarter prison population
- Incarceration reports: Black 5.5 per 1000 in jail, Asian 1.6, White 1.4. Black 4x more likely to be in prison than White
- Black and Asians more likely to receive longer sentences (4 years+)
- All minority groups higher proportions of prisoners on remand because they are less likely to be granted bail
- 2/5 prisoners in local jails are Black, 1/5 is Hispanic
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