There is a much higher chance of an Afro Caribbean being stopped and searched (five times higher) then a person from any another ethnic group. This means that they are subjected to stereotypes of society (and the police are part of that society), so as they are being stopped more there is more chance of them being arrested therefore more chance of them being sent to prison especially as the Jury also follow the stereotype of society it will affect their verdict. This will unbalance the prison and outside prison ethnic populations as stated in aim2. This would mean that in the police force Afro Caribbean people and Asian people are not well represented, because you cant join with a criminal record, and may be viewed sceptically because of their ethnicity and if they cant get jobs in the police or anywhere else they may turn to crime to make ends meet which then makes their stereotype even worse which means they cant get jobs and it goes on until they end up in prison which again unbalances the prison and outside prison populations, which would be a big factor or a bunch of factors depending how you look at it all affecting aim2.
As every one will hold stereotypes that Afro Caribbean or Asians commit crime all the time, the people in that ethnic group will do what they think is expected of them, which then develops the stereotype further. This labelling theory plays in beautifully with aim1 as if these ethnic groups are labelled and commit more crime, the stereotype is affecting them drastically, this could lead to crime, and as the stereotype is around the jury and police follow it as stated in aim3, as they are in prison it unbalances the prison population as stated in aim2. All starting with the stereotype from aim1.
Also as they are already in high crime areas the young people do as they see the norm, which may be to commit crime. This does not conclusively answer either of my questions that I stated, so I had to use my questionnaire to get conclusive answers. This secondary research hints that the police force lives to stereotypes, as the most arrests are in predominantly multi-ethnic areas.
More Secondary Research But Now From:
London Borough’s Crime Audit
This audit of crime shows all of the London borough’s, which have the highest, and lowest crime rates per thousand people. I used it because it clearly displayed the amount of crime relative to each borough and the stats of each borough (e.g. each ethnic groups population which I used). The five boroughs that have the most crime are:
Westminster
Camden
Southwark
Chelsea
Hackney
The five lowest are:
Barnet
Havering
Bexley
Sutton
Richmond upon Thames
The areas that have the highest crime rate per thousand people are predominantly Asian and Afro Caribbean areas. Also the hot spots for the whole of London, mark places where there are large numbers of people from different ethnic minorities. The figures also show that there is very high crime among the poorest areas that have large numbers of people from different ethnic minorities. Is it that ethnic minorities are driven to crime because of poverty? As the ethnic minorities settle in a country they like to settle in and around their own ethnic group as previously mentioned. This has a large impact on the people in the area. If there already a high crime rated in that area, people will see that is a norm for the area, so be allowed to do what people in the culture see as the norm, and that is to commit crime. Then as more crime is committed the stereotype around/about them grows which keeps getting worse like a snowball being rolled down a snowy slope, it gets bigger and faster as it goes. This could easily affect the public’s stereotype on ethnic groups as stated in aim1 and as we established the police and jury are part of society so they get arrested more, which means more of them in prison the authority figures following the stereotypes links to aim3 and because they are jailed it unbalances the prison populations it plays into aim2.
In Britain the Afro Caribbean and Asian population do the largest percentage of manual work. They are also likely to suffer long-term unemployment. It could be that when people from an ethnic minority are unemployed they may have no choice but to turn to crime due to stereotypes, this takes us back to all the aims because it is showing how stereotypes affect how people act. This could be why there is such a high rate of crime among ethnic minorities, so as they cant get good jobs or receive a good education they have no option to turn to crime which makes their stereotype which means universities and workplaces will not want to take them because they also are part of society and look at its stereotypes –and this affects the ethnic minorities due to the stereotype as which is an answer to aim1 - or if they have a criminal record, and a big reason for them having a criminal record is because the police and jury followed society’s stereotypes which would influence the arrest or verdict, and them having that stereotype goes back to aim3 which also unbalances the prison and outside prison populations which of course brings us to aim2 . A factor that could account high crime rates in ethnic minorities is the lack of confidence in the police. Afro Caribbean’s and especially Asian’s are prone to racially motivated attacks. If the police are unable to do anything, then they will normally take the law into their own hands. This would cause them to most likely be arrested, thus raising the crime figures, thus creating even more stereotypes, thus them feeling more rejected by society.
This is a beautiful example of how stereotypes affect them, as stated in aim1, so they turn to crime to hit back at it then get sent to prison eventually via stereotypically minded police and jury, unbalancing the prison populations which takes us to aim2, and sent there through the jury and police’s stereotypes from aim3. Stereotyping is one of the biggest reasons why there is such a disproportional number of Asians and afro-Caribbean’s in prison. Stereotyping from society, which also includes the jury and police offers, will make them more likely to judge them badly because of the preconception, aim3, therefore unbalancing the prison populations a factor affecting aim2. This is because there are very few Afro-Caribbean or Asian police officers meaning the force is predominantly white. As they are white they will generally share the white communities’ stereotypes of Asians and Afro-Caribbean’s. And if there is a stereotype in society that means that more Asians and Afro Caribbean people will be discriminated by police – again linking to aim 3.
The moral panics the media creates may also be responsible for the high crime figures between Afro-Caribbean’s and Asians. The reason is that one ethnic group will be branded as bad this gives society in general a bad perception of them, and as they are treated badly due to the stereotype it affects them which could turn them to crime as suggested in aim1, as the media holds a great influence over society, and then the police as a part of society will also brand ethnic groups which plays into aim3. This means that as the main bulk police force is white, they will stop more Afro-Caribbean’s and Asians, and this will mean as they are being stopped more, there is more chance they will be arrested and then sent to prison, unbalancing the prison and outside prison populations. They have been arrested because of police stereotypes because they are part of society, linking to aim3, then the jury sends them to prison partly because of the stereotypes also to aim3 but then also unbalances the prison population which could be a reason for aim2.
Also it is well known that ethnic minorities tend to do the worst in the British education system. This means they would have the least qualifications, and the least prospects for employment, because of this and stereotyping they will turn to crime.
Class also pays a major role in the crime figures, as most criminals are working classes. The working class has a set of very distinct beliefs, values and norms, these are normally, education isn’t important, being tough and strong, and that crime is accepted. Also there do not manage to go through the socialization process as well as other classes. The working classes normally have the least numbers of opportunities this means if they are unable to find work they will turn to crime to make ends meet. Class can be measured by occupation so this is how the questionnaire will find out about people’s class.
Table A
Class Type Of Job
Upper Higher Management
Middle Professionals like teachers
Working Unskilled labour, and skilled labour
The table above shows how people’s class were grouped from the response to what type of job they or their parents do. If a person were to say that there parents worked in a factory checking product quality as it went along a conveyor, they were put as working class.
Primary Research
Pilot Study
Before I created my questionnaire in full, I made a small questionnaire to see what sort of answers I got and what questions I should ask to get the maximum possible information. I only asked 20 people. I asked 20 people because I didn’t want to waste too much time and effort for the pilot and also I may ask the same person twice if I ask many people for when I do the real questionnaire. I conducted my questionnaire in Ealing high street, which is a very multi-ethnic area. It also is not crime free but doesn’t have a very bad crime problem. This means we should get answers that reflect the average of society. Everyone I asked was walking along Ealing High Street between 4pm and 7pm on a Monday. I used this face to face, on the spot questionnaire for a number of reasons:
- As it was on the spot people would give their most instinctive answer, which is better and gets their true opinion when they are thinking hard or using their intuition.
- It was more personal so I thought I could judge if people were lying, and people would be less likely to lie as they are giving a person their answers not a piece of paper.
- It was the easiest for me to conduct, I have no way of accessing peoples information and what ethnicity they are, so I couldn’t phone people or send letters or ask them to come for an interview.
- I got a range of people on the High Street, whereas if I dropped of 100 at a work place I would not get an even amount of answers from different ethnic groups and the work place may be a certain class or have racism inside it, so I would get corrupt answers. Or at a school people may think they have a point to prove by being Afro Caribbean and trying to be a gangster or show off, and kids wouldn’t have the experience of who does really commit the most crime and haven’t had as much time to have committed the crime.
- It was a structured random sample this way, which is what I intended. Sample random sample meaning 25 people from each ethnic background, within those 25 as long as they were from that ethnicity it was random.
Pilot Questionnaire
What ethnic group do you belong to?
White Afro Caribbean Asian Other
Have you ever been arrested?
Yes No
Who do you think commits the most crime?
White Afro Caribbean Asian No Difference Other
Analysis
From this research it is clear that there are many factors that affect the crime figures for different ethnic groups. I will also refer back to these factors, to help establish what factors occur the most and why. The factors are:
- Class
- Education
- Location
- Family (Opportunities)
- Punishments
- Being Stereotyped
- Peers (Norms and influence)
My questionnaire was my primary research; I felt it backed up my secondary research (statistics from home office) quite well it showed society’s stereotypes. I collected all the figures from the home office statistics. I feel that, as I had been able to use primary research it benefited my research as I got my research first-hand and was given some assurance that the figures were real. I conducted my questionnaire in Ealing high street, which is a very multi-ethnic area. It also is not crime free but doesn’t have a very bad crime problem. This means we should get answers that reflect the average of society. Everyone I asked was walking along Ealing High Street between 4pm and 7pm on a Monday. I used the home office figures for crime and then I used the questionnaire to explain the official statistics. I asked 25 people from each ethnic group (a total of 100 people); this gave me a wide range of people’s views and more information about that group and their activities I was trying to find out about. All those factors, location, and the sample would give me a wide range of society, which would help me answer aim 1. My pilot questionnaire was also primary research and I used it for a number of reasons:
- To see if the public would answer my questions.
- To see what questions gave a lot of information and how I could expand them.
- If a question didn’t work/or people were uncomfortable answering it I could leave it out of the real one.
My larger questionnaire showed me that most people have peers that commit crime. The ethnic group that has the most amount of peers that commit the most crime was Afro Caribbean 90%, and I found out that of the Afro Caribbean’s asked 60% of their peers are of the same ethnic group. This by itself does not explain why there is such a high number of Afro Caribbean’s in prison, which suggests it could be police and jury stereotypes suggested in aim3. I was also told that 68% of Afro Caribbean’s that were asked in the questionnaire lived in single parent households. This means that instead of getting their beliefs, values and norms from home they get them from peers who will be committing crime. This maybe because your peers are a secondary method of socialisation, so if there are no parents to be the agents of primary socialisation the peers will take their place. As the peers would be committing crime it would mean to fit into their culture they must commit crime, this may be a reason why 5% of the population of Britain is Afro Caribbean but 13% of the prison population is Afro Caribbean. Another surprising figure was that of the people asked:
40% Afro Caribbean
60% White
90% Other
85% Asian
Said that they thought Afro Caribbean’s committed the most crime in England. This is very surprising as the figures from the Home Office show that whites commit the most crime in England. As the police are a reflection of society they will view this stereotype, which is, that Afro Caribbean’s commit the most crime, which would start to prove aim 3 as the stereotypes are affecting their judgement, also factor 6 as they are being stereotyped. This means they will stop more Afro Caribbean’s than whites, then as 90% of Afro Caribbean’s admitted to committing a crime, and are five times more likely to be stopped by police it means there will be more Afro Caribbean arrests. This may explain why the population in prisons does not match the population outside of prison, which is starting to explain my aim2 as it is suggesting a reason for why the prison populations are disproportional across ethnicities.
The questionnaire shows that the ethnic group that has the lowest educational qualifications is Afro Caribbean’s. Normally the people who commit crime have the lowest educational qualifications, as they are unable to find work so they turn to crime. As the parents are role models if they have no educational qualifications it may be likely their children will not either. This will cause alienation. The family affecting the crime is factor 4.
A very surprising figure was the number of people who admitted that their parents/carers had committed a crime; again this sets a bad example or an example that crime is right as you learn off your parents, which is a good example of factor 4. The highest number was from the white people asked, 70%, and the lowest was Afro Caribbean’s at 33%. The figure is not very surprising as the original figures show that Whites commit the most crime. This would reinforce the idea that instead of Afro Caribbean’s getting their beliefs, values and norms from their family they come from their peers, this links to factor 7 as peers are affecting the crime, of all the Afro Caribbean’s asked, 85% are in single parent families. This means they could respect their peers more as single parent households stereotypically are not as close and provide a less stable ‘norm learning’ environment, this means factor 7 is probably more influential then factor 4 as they will spend more time with their friends, and more peers commit crime then the family.
A pattern that emerged was that there was a link between those who admitted committing a crime, and their family background. There may be two reasons for this; the first may be that there is a link or that there is a flaw in the research as there are only 4 ethnic groups.
Table B
Class also turned out to be an underlying factor, this is because more then 50% of Afro Caribbean’s asked are working class. This would mean that they have some of the lowest educational qualifications and prospects. This would mean that they would turn to crime. They may turn to crime, as they have no prospects of work, which could be due to society not giving them jobs because of their stereotype. This links to aim1 because the society’s stereotype is affecting an Afro Caribbean on how he cannot get a job. As they have poor qualifications it is part of factor 1, and as they are working class they could commit crime for money, factor 2.
Another factor was the location. This is because the areas that are mainly populated by ethnic minorities have high crime rates. As the location is directly affecting the crime it goes back to factor 3. This would mean that the younger generation would think that crime is the norm. Then learn these norms off their peers and think crime is acceptable and the right thing to do proving factor 7, peers affect the crime.
This shows that there may be a link between crimes and family, so if they are part of a single parent family they may harbour resentment to their mother and/or father, so their beliefs, values and norms will come from their friends. Again underlining factor 7 and how peers can affect crime more then the family.
The questionnaire compared to the statistics shows that it is not down to racism why there are such high figures among ethnic minorities. The actual reasons are that the police are part of the society and have the same kinds of beliefs as that society that Afro Caribbean and or Asian’s commit the most crime, this again goes to aim3, that public stereotype affect the police and jury’s treatment of Afro Caribbean people and Asians, also goes with actor 6 as they are being stereotyped. This however is wrong, as my figures would show that whites commit the most crime, goes AGAINST aim1, as White people are not seen as committing the most crime yet they do, the stereotype is that Afro Caribbean and Asian’s do but they however do not, this goes against 1. Also that as there is high unemployment, lowest educational qualifications –factor 2 as education is the factor in this case because it is driving them to crime- and one of the highest percentages of single parent families is Afro Caribbean people, this is to do with their family so therefore factor 4, especially as single parent households stereotypically are poorer so offer less opportunity. All of these factors contribute to the high crime figures. Officially (resulting from my questionnaire) the factors that I think contribute the most to the crime figures are high unemployment, low educational figures and single parent families. Though as a sociologist and after hours of research on the topic and some in depth thinking, after a certain age and people start to become more independent (i.e. around 12/13) their friends influence them in everyday behaviour (i.e. streets behaviour), which for some groups will result in committing crime.
Evaluation
Overall I think that there are some ways in which I could improve my work. Firstly my statistics were a little old (1999) and as times have changed the statistics may have too. The questionnaire that was carried targeted equal numbers from each ethnic group so that it would give much clearer results. As I was comparing the questionnaire results with home office statistics, the 4 ethnic groups Afro Caribbean, Asians, White, Other had to be used. This is because home office uses these. This limited my research too as I had to use those 4 groups when I found information. I think I used enough could improve statistics and the questionnaire was of ample size. I should have asked have you or you committed a crime and have your peers committed a crime as separate questions not in one, and then I should have asked, ‘If your peers hadn’t committed a crime, do you think you would have?’ to those that answered ‘yes’ on if their peers and them had committed a crime.
I believe I fulfilled my aims by answering the three questions:
- I aim to find out the public’s view on crime and which ethnic minorities are believed to cause the most.
- I am to find out if societies view on who commits the most crime reflects the prison population.
- I aim to find out if Racial Stereotypes affect the police force and jury’s judgement.
Using my questionnaire I found the answer to aim 1, which was that the public definatly thought that Afro Caribbean people committed the most crime BUT white people committed the most crime, which went against the stereotype. Reasons for that could be that white people may be seen as rich or middle class people therefore wouldn’t commit crime.
Using my secondary research I definatly found out that the prison population does nowhere NEAR reflect the population of society which is aim 2. There are too many Afro Caribbean and Asian people in prison proportionally to how many there are outside of prison.
I used my questionnaire, secondary research, knowledge and other bits and pieces from books etc. to answer aim 3, which is answered below.
I believe I explained my beliefs and the facts in a good combination to answer the question ‘Is the Judicial System Racist’ And if I had to give an answer I would say yes, but it is not so much racism as a combination of other things with stereotypes of society (in my mind) being the biggest part. However what racism that is a rare oddity or more ignorance and the police following stereotypes then hatred. I don’t think the Judicial Force holds any ‘hate’ to any race they just follow the stereotypes of their society and they are that Afro Caribbean’s commit the most crime, so they are stopped more often, meaning they are arrested more often. That is why there are more Afro Caribbean’s in prison compared to the outside population. They are more likely to be stopped in the street, which means they are more likely to be arrested. This links back to aim 3, as the most direct aim to answer the most bigger question ‘Is the Judicial System Racist’, which I answered.
Bibliography
www.statistics.gov.uk
www.courseworkhelp.co.uk
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Sociology Alive
Sociology
www.bbc.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
By Leo Matlock (esquire) 11R
