In-depth notes on Ethnicity, Crime and Justice in terms of Crime and Deviance. It includes the necessary sociologists and recent statistical data to take your grade to the next level. Exams come pre-highlighted to focus on the essential aspects needed in an essay/exam. These notes gave me an A* in ...
Crime and deviance - Topic 6: Ethnicity, crime and justice
Ethnicity and criminalisation-sociologist list
Key:
Heheh-Sociologist Heheh-Important information
Key information:
- Official statistics show significant differences in the likelihood of being
involved in the criminal justice system →
- Black people (and some Asian minorities) are overrepresented in the UK
- Black people → 3% of the total population, 13.1%the of the total prison
population
- Asians → 6.5% of the total population, 7.7% of the total prison population
● Ministry of Justice - MOJ (2008)
- Quote → 'Members of our Black communities are seven times more likely
than their White counterparts to be stopped and searched, three and a half
times more likely to be arrested, and five times more likely to be in prison.’
- Statistics hide certain factors:
1. Does not state what ethnic groups are more likely to offend in the first place
2. Differences in stop and search/arrest rates → might be due to discrimination
from the officer
3. Differences in rates of imprisonment → Courts may give harsher sentences
to ethnic minorities
Alternative sources of statistics
- Two other statistics that give a more direct view of ethnicity and offending:
1. Victim surveys
2. Self-report studies
Victim surveys
- Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) can be used to ask victims what
crimes they were involved/associated with (in the last 12 months)
1
, - Ask what ethnicity the offender was (e.g. ‘mugging’, where black people are
overrepresented as offenders of these crimes)
- Shows that most crime is intra-ethnic → most crime takes place with the
same ethnicity (victim and offender is the same ethnicity)
- Limitations of victim surveys:
- Phillips and Bowling (2012) → relies on the victim's memory of events;
evidence suggests white individuals people may ‘over-identify’ black people
even if it's not true
- Only covers personal crime (fifth of all crime)
- Excluded the under 10’s → BAME groups have a higher proportion of
young people
- Excludes crimes by/against organisations → does not talk about ethnicity
and the link to white-collar/corporate crime
- Only tells us about a small proportion of offenders, which may not be
representative
Self-report studies
- Asks individuals to disclose their own dishonest/violent behaviour
● Graham and Bowling (1995)
- Black and white people had similar rates of offending (43% - 44%)
- South-Asian people had lower rates of offending (Indians - 30%, Pakistani -
28%, and Bangladeshis - 13%)
● Sharp and Budd (2005)
- [Study 1]. 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice survey (12,000 people) →
Whites and ‘mixed-ethnic’ groups were most likely to admit to offending
(40%), black people (28%), and Asians (21%)
- [Study 2]. Findings from 9 self-report studies (by the Home Office) indicated
similar findings of drug use among males:
- Use of soft drugs → Mixed (27%), White & Black (16%), and Asians (5%)
- Use of class A drug → Whites (6%) Blacks (2%) and Asians (1%)
- Challenges the stereotypes of black people being more likely to offend than
white people,
- Holds the view that Asians are less likely to offend
2
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller TheShahan. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £3.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
