Ethnicity and Crime

• Key Patterns:


  African-Americans make up 50% of the US prison population, and ethnic minorities make up 30% of the UK prison population.
• Macpherson report


  Lawrence - found that police have institutionalised racist policies. They started investigating the black victim of a homicide first, and ignored race as a factor. They had no self examination of why they failed to solve the murder.
• Bowling


  Police officers hold racist expectations of offenders, leading to more stop-and-searches. Develops into anti-police feelings that can lead to actual offences.
• Waddington


  Ethnic minorities live in inner circles, and more likely to be in poverty so rates of offending are as expected. Says police treatment is roughly equal, regardless of race, for stop-and-search
• Hargrave


  Black people are more than 2x likely to be portrayed as criminals in the media.
• Hall - Policing the Crisis

  Neo-marxist - studied young black men who mugged white people. He found that the bourgeoisie amplified the crimes to divide the proletariat. The economy was in decline so this distracted the working class.

  • Evaluation - Cohen - journalists make stuff up to succeed in their career, not for capitalism
• Gilroy


  Ethnic minorities may commit more crime as a way of resisting British culture, oppression and a loss of their culture. He says the race riots in the 80s are a good example.
• Hate Crimes


  = acts of violence of hostility directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are.