ethnic minority

Twentieth century Britain saw the immigration and full or partial integration of a variety of different ethnic minorities. Ethnic minority is defined as any group “whose members see themselves as sharing certain cultural characteristics, such as a common history, language, religion, or family or social values which distinguish them from the majority of the population.” The sets of factors that hindered or encouraged integration of these groups overlap to a considerable extent. Yet, due to the special characteristics of the distinct ethnic minorities – their social, cultural and economic make-up and the different times at which they arrived – each of these groups also experienced peculiar difficulties and/or advantages with respect to integration.

A recent study carried out by the home office in regard to policing British minority ethnic communities, concluded that there is a tendency for black and Asian communities to receive poor and derogatory treatment by the police and that ethnic minority communities are also considered to be suspect societies. Also, despite evidence of police racism, it still seems the case, that conflict between the police and Asian people has been different to that of African/Caribbean people. Studies from the 1970s to the present show that when Asians come into contact with the police, whether as victims or witnesses, their experiences, in terms of the treatment they receive, falls between those of black and whites, with African/Caribbean’s receiving the worst treatment and being most hostile to the police. This essay will look into the reasons why there are inequalities in the criminal justice system, when it comes to those from ethnic minorities and sociologists views into why people deem that black people are more criminally inclined.

Criminal justice statistics have consistently shown that people from certain minority ethnic groups are more likely to have contact with the system than White people. This 'disproportionality' has been debated widely. It has been suggested that these statistics reflect a greater involvement in crime among these ethnic groups. On the other hand, the degree of contact with the system may reflect other factors, such as selective over-policing (e.g. a heavier police presence in certain areas, or a concentration on policing particular ethnic groups).

The Afro-Caribbean population is, on average, younger than the white and therefore a higher proportion of this group falls within the ‘peak age’ for offending (the peak age for offending is 18 for males and 14 for females Criminal Statistics: England and Wales, 1994-Home Office, 1995). The prison population of England and Wales contains a disproportionately high number of Black prisoners (Croall, 1998, p157-159), with Afro-Caribbean's particularly over-represented; despite they're accounting for only a fraction of the general population. Many of the Indians, Pakistani and Bangladeshi prisoners are Muslims, and some recent research has shown how many Muslims are discriminated against while in prison. Despite HM Prison Service’s race relation's policy statement, Muslims faced difficulties in maintaining their religion. (Wilson and Sharp, 1998; cited in Wilson and Ashton, 1998, p.85)

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It is well known that Afro-Caribbean’s constantly have highest conviction rates, followed by whites and then Asians. Many sociologists have suggested sociological reasons for the difference though there is also a connection with prejudiced crime enforcement. Many sociologists relate crime to the environment that people live in. People from ethnic minorities tend to live in areas of social stress with high crime rates, higher unemployment and lower living standards, therefore, we would assume that they would be more inclined to commit an offence than those from middle class areas. However, Asians suffer the same disadvantages in terms of the environment where they live, but they have a lower crime rate than that of white citizens. The reason could be because Asians are more socially tied to the family and do not got out at night, they also tend not to commit offences due to their strong religious beliefs. Why then did the number of stops and searches carried out by the police in 2001, fall by 8% for whites, but rose 30% for black people and 40% for Asian people? Only 14% of these searches resulted in an arrest. National and local studies of attitudes towards the police have consistently found that either Asians disapprove less of the police than African/Caribbeans or whites, or tend to hold views which place them between African/Caribbeans and whites in their dissatisfaction ratings, although some studies lump Asian and African/Caribbean together, so it is hard to draw a clear conclusion from these results. Similarly Asians were less likely to believe that police misconduct occurred frequently compared to whites and African/Caribbean groups with how individual officers treated them, with a third of people from minority groups saying that they were dissatisfied and half that they were very dissatisfied with the way the police had dealt with the problem.

When we turn to criminal justice outcomes, although between 1985 and 1999, there was an 80 per cent increase in the Asian male prison population compared to an increase of a third for white males and a doubling of African/Caribbean males, among Asians this increase began when Asian males were underrepresented in prison compared to their numbers in the general population. Currently the Asian prison population is proportional to their numbers in the general population.

Although 43 per cent of Asian victims of racial violence report their victimisation to the police, in only 18 per cent of cases of racial violence do the police arrest a suspect compared to a 100 per cent arrest rate when the victim was white. However, it is difficult to deduce the obvious conclusion of police racism, because too few whites reported racial incidents to the police. Generally whites were more satisfied than ethnic minority groups with how individual officers treated them, with a third of people from minority groups saying that they were dissatisfied and half that they were very dissatisfied with the way the police had dealt with the problem.

Also the figures show that more then half (58%) of all Afro Caribbean arrests come from the metropolitan police area. A reason for this could be that when people emigrate from a foreign country they do not speak the language, or any qualifications. When they arrive then normally settle around there own people near a port or river in the center. This creates an ethnic ghetto, which often has high crime, unemployment, and low educational qualifications. As the white population has gone through this they are no longer in ethnic ghettos so they have lower unemployment, crime, and higher educational qualifications. The people in the centre of the ethnic ghetto normally live in the worse housing, and areas. This may drive them to crime.

As Berstein noted, since ethnic minority families tend settle in areas with high social deprivation, children are at a disadvantage when it comes to schooling, as many schools in working class areas are economically poor and therefore are lacking in resources, and are subsequently at a disadvantage. Results from the 2002 census showed that black children are more likely to drop out of school than white children. Bourdieu pointed out that children born in the UK, with non native parents are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to schooling, as knowledge is passed down within families, and if a child’s parents are unfamiliar with the native language then it puts them at an obvious disadvantage. According to a investigation carried out in the US, on average, Blacks tend to score 15 points lower than whites in IQ tests. There are several links between IQ and the law.

The earliest studies of the relationship between criminality and intelligence were conducted by Goddard in 1912, but are still going on to this day. IQ causes delinquency as it inhibits the ability to learn. It has been proven that children with parents of a low IQ are more likely to become delinquents as their parents are unable to teach the socialising process, and therefore are more likely to turn towards crime due to a lack of morals. Another study looked at the difference between black children brought up by their own parents and black children who had been adopted by white middle class families, and they found that the IQ of the adopted children was, on average, 20 points higher than the national average for black children. There are many reasons which contribute to a low level of intelligence for black people. People of ethnic minorities used to be discriminated against at school, particularly by the education system, therefore, they would of found it much harder to find work after schooling, due to a lack of qualifications. Consequently, they would turn to crime to get money and perhaps not put as much effort into their work as children born to white parents who would be pushed to do well at school, allowing them to move on to higher education, so they would be at an advantage when it comes to finding work.

In Britain the Afro Caribbean and Asian population do the largest percentage of manual work. They are also more likely to suffer long-term unemployment. It could be that when people from an ethnic minority are unemployed they may be have no choice but to turn to crime due to stereotypes. This could be why there is such a high crime rate among ethnic minorities. 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 any thing, then they will normally take the law into there own hands. This would cause them to most likely being arrested, thus raising the crime figures. This then reinforces people stereotypes, which is also responsible for the high crime figures. Stereotyping is one of the biggest reasons why there is such a disproportional number of Asian and Afro Caribbean's in prison. This is because there are a very small number of Afro Caribbean and Asian police officers this means that, as the main part of the police force is White. As they are white they will most likely have the stereotypes of the people in the local area. The moral panics that the media creates may also responsible for the high crime figures between Afro Caribbean's and Asians. The reason is that one ethnic group will be branded as bad, and then the police as a part of society will also brand ethnic groups. This means that as the main part of 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 that they will be arrested. Also it is well known that ethnic minorities do the least well in the British education system. This would means that they will have the least qualifications, and the least prospects for employment, because of this and stereotyping they will turn to crime. Class also plays a major role in the crime figures as most criminals are working class. Working class has a set of very distinctive beliefs, values, and norm, these are normally education is not important, being tough and strong, and that crime is accepted. Also they do not mage to go through the socialization process as well as other classes. The working classes normally have the least number of opportunities this means that if they are unable to find work they will turn to crime. Class can be measured by occupation so this how I will find out about the peoples class.

After the events of September the 11th and 7/7 there is a real concern today for the ethnic minority community, that the threat of terrorism in Britain and an association with Muslim identity and terrorism and disorder, will force police officers to make invalid generalisations of citizens, especially young people, of different races as having an inclination to violence, and that evidence will be found of high or growing levels of racist violence and other forms of slander of Islam. Fuad Nahdi editor of the Muslim Q News magazine said: “If the police tell one lie, it raises questions about a lot of things and about what really was going on. It makes a bad situation even worse.” It is events like these that suppress ethnic minorities communities respect for the police force and perhaps even tempt them to behave how they are expected to, which inevitably furthers Britain’s racial divide.

For many years the police have been the subject of fierce allegations about their racially prejudiced and discriminatory treatment of Black and Asian people in Britain. From the statistics and examples looked at, it is clear that when it comes to ethnic minorities and the law, there is still an inequality. Although, there are some sociological factors such as education and the environment that contribute to their tendency to commit crimes, it is immoral to treat criminals from different races differently. But unless all British people begin to see the problem of inequality in criminal justice as their own, and unless we take responsible measures to respond to it, Britain’s crime problem and racial divide will only get worse.

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References:

Croall, H. (1998) Crime and Society in Britain London, Longman.

Cook, D. & Hudson,B. (eds)(1993) Racism and Criminology.

Home Office Report.

John Hagan and Ruth D Perterson “Crime and inequality” Stanford University Press

John Solomos (1992)“Race and Racism in Britain” The Macmillan Press

Michael Keith (1993) “Race, Riots and policing – Lore and Disorder in a Multi- racist Society” UCL Press.

Tariq Modood (1992) “Not Easy Being British: Colour, Culture and Citizenship” Runnymede Trust and Trentham Books.

Wilson, D. and Ashton, J. (1998) What Everyone in Britain Should Know About Crime and Punishment London, Blackstone Press LTD.