ETHNICITY AND CRIME

• The percentage of the population in all high-level ethnic groups has increased since 2011. Asian by 20%, mixed by 30%
• how does coding of ethnicity affect measuring arrests by ethnicity?

  different data sets record ethnicity differently, sometimes Chinese is included within Asian but other times it is not
• counting notifiable offences can change Official statistics, some offences are recordable but dont need to notify Home Office so they never make it onto the official statistics
• How does Free school meals affect crime rate?

  if a child was on free school meals then they are more likely to commit crimes. 66% Black, 57% white
• White people are the greatest prison population at 73%
• 3% of the UKs population are black but 2 in 10 people that are stopped and searched are black, 13% of prison population are black
• How is ethnicity related to being a victim of a crime?

  Targeted more, Stephen Lawrence Murder
• what happened with Stephen Lawrences murder?

  the police had 5 suspects but let them all go, they took the case nowhere until the Home Secretary opened up an inquiry. Shift in policing afterwards due to the Macpherson report 6 years after the murder
• Phillips and Bowling


  Disproportionate number of black men are stopped and searched. There has been an increase in allegations of oppressive policing of ethnic minorities with mass stop and search, paramilitary techniques, excessive surveillance and a failure to respond to racist violence. ‘over policed and under protected’
• Macpherson report

  All record of stop and search must include a reason, outcome and self defined ethnicity of the person
• Lammy Labour MP

  says the Met is not institutionally racist, still some disparities and bias
• Tony Sewell

  Stop and search is not racism instead it is a result of poverty, geography and masculinity. Race is a secondary thought
• what was the Macpherson report?

  suggested the MET police was institutionally racist as they did not handle the Stephen Lawrence case in the same way they would if it was a white person. A report with suggestions and rules for the met to not be racist
• Political Marginalisation

  Lea and Young

  racism has led to marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing.
• Subcultural explanations

  Lea and Young

  high in young, unemployed, black males which produces higher levels of utilitarian crime as a means of coping with relative deprivation. No organisations to represent interests due to marginalisation
• Relative Deprivation

  Lea and Young

  refers to the idea that people are deprived compared to others in society, the media often emphasises consumerism
• More criminal due to Neighbourhood

  Fitzgerald

  crime rates were highest in very poor areas for black youth street robbery. More young people in contact with affluent groups. White people affected by this also more likely to be involved in street crime so ethnicity may not be a cause but Black people are more likely to live in these areas due to racial discrimination
• Social Construction

  Gilroy

  says official figures reflect a social construction of black criminality, it is a myth based on racist stereotypes, no more criminal than any other
• British Imperialism

  Gilroy

  minority crime is a form of political resistance against British imperialism, most black and Asian minorities originated from former British colonies where anti imperialist struggles taught them how to resist opression. When faced with racism in Uk these strategies were adopted to protect themselves and then they were criminalised by state
• Moral Panics

  Hall

  Moral panics unfairly focus attention on black crime, in 70s moral panic about new crime ‘mugging’ but the name was just changed. Media associated this with black youth. This served as a scapegoat to distract attention from true cause of problems such as unemployment. Working class were divided on racial grounds