Official statistics
Which ethnic group is most likely to be stopped and searched - White, Black or Asian?
Black
Which sociological explanation argues that women commit fewer crimes due to stricter socialisation and control?
Which report concluded that the Metropolitan police were "institutionally racist"
MacPherson
Do Lea and Young believe ethnic differences in crime statistics are the result of
a) actual ethnic differences in offending?
or
b) the criminalisation of ethnic minority groups by police and other officials in the criminal justice system?
a) actual ethnic differences in offending
Intimate violence (domestic violence, sexual abuse or stalking)
Identify one gender difference in the type of crime committed
Men more likely to commit sexual or violent crimes
Women more likely to commit property offences (except burglary)
Women more likely to shoplift
Women more likely to engage in prostitution
What are the two "deals" that encourage women to conform, according to Carlen?
›The class deal: women who work hard will be rewarded with money and a good standard of living
›The gender deal: women who are a good daughter, wife and mother will be rewarded with financial support and emotional satisfaction
Under what legislation can police stop and search without reasonable suspicion
Terrorism Act
According to Hall et al.'s "Policing the Crisis", why did the media create a moral panic based around the stereotype of the "Black mugger"?
- To distract attention away from the true cause of unemployment and other problems (the true cause = the crisis of capitalism)
- To divide the working class among racial grounds and weaken its opposition to capitalism
Give two reasons why ethnicity may influence the risk of being a victim of crime
- Minority ethnic groups more at risk of racially motivated attacks due to racism
- Minority ethnic groups more at risk of unemployment and unemployed are more likely to be victims
- Some ethnic minority groups may have a higher proportion of young males -> increased risk of victimisation
What term describes when ethnic groups appear more in the criminal justice system than in the general population?
Over-representation
Explain three ways in which three different groups of boys/men may use crime and deviance to accomplish masculinity
›White middle class boys have to subordinate themselves to teachers in school in order to achieve middle class status, so attempt to accomplish masculinity outside of school through drinking, pranks and vandalism
›White working class boys have less chance of educational success, so accomplish masculinity both in and outside of school through opposing teachers authority and sexist attitudes
›Black working class boys may not expect good qualifications or a reasonable job due to racism, so may use gang membership to accomplish masculinity, or turn to serious property crime to achieve material success
›Middle class men with access to corporate and occupational crime opportunities may use these to achieve hegemonic masculinity
Which ethnic group is most likely to receive a caution - White, Black or Asian?
Why might this be?
White people
Ethnic minority groups may be more likely to deny the offence and exercise their right to legal advice (due to distrust of the police)
Identify two things that help to create the "myth of Black criminality", according to Gilroy
Criminalisation of ethnic minorities by the British state/police
Give two reasons for gender differences the risk of being a victim of crime
- Patriarchal society - leads to domestic or sexual abuse of women
- Men may act tough to assert masculinity - increasing risk of being attacked by other men
Describe each of the following sources of statistics:
Official statistics
Victim surveys
Self report studies
OS - Large scale quantitative data gathered by official bodies
VS - Questionnaires which ask people to give information about crimes they have been a victim of
SRS - Ask people to disclose their own criminal behaviour
Identify three criticisms of Adler's liberation thesis
- Female crime isn't rising, women are just becoming more criminalised/there is a net-widening on female deviance/moral panics are exaggerating female deviance
- Female crime started rising in the 50s before the women's liberation movement in late 60s
- Most female criminals are working class - therefore least likely to be influenced by liberation
- Women's branching out into male crime such as drugs is usually because of link with prostitution, not liberation
- Little evidence of opportunities for women in organised crime
What does it mean to be "on remand" and why are ethnic minority groups more likely than White people to be on remand?
a) In prison awaiting trial
b) Ethnic minorities less likely to be granted bail
How can the following explain ethnic differences in offending?
- Family structure
- Education
Right realism - Murray
Any valid education related explanation
Identify a problem with each of the following sources of statistics:
Official statistics
Victim surveys
Self report studies
OS:
Dark figure - unreported/unrecorded crimes - so less valid
Socially constructed according to interactionists/neo-Marxists - do not reflect actual rates of crime but criminalisation
VS:
- Rely on memory which is often faulty -so less valid
- only cover personal crimes (only 20% of all crime) so insights are less useful
SRS:
- People unlikely to be honest so less valid
Describe Winlow's study
Refer to:
Deindustrialisation
Night-time economy
Accomplishing/expressing masculinity
Bodily capital
›Winlow argues that globalisation had led to a decline in traditional manual jobs in which many working-class males could express their masculinity through
›However, there has been an increase in the night-time leisure economy (pubs and clubs) which has provided a combination of legal employment (as bouncers, doormen), criminal opportunities to make money and provide for their families (through smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and counterfeit designer goods)
›To maintain their reputation and employability, the men must have bodily capital (they must look strong and tough), which they seek to develop by bodybuilding
›These jobs also offer opportunities to express masculinity through violence – which are now supported by legal employment!
›Sunderland, which previously had a violent, conflict subculture, now had a newer form of Cloward and Ohlin’s criminal subculture
Give three pieces of evidence that suggest there is racism in the criminal justice system
MacPherson report (1999) - institutional racism in the police
Phillips and Bowling - oppressive policing since 1970s inc. police brutality, mass stop and searches etc.
Hood (1992) found that even when seriousness of offence and previous convictions were taken into account, Black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences on average 3 months longer (and Asian men 9 months longer) than White men
Hudson and Bramhall - unwitting discrimination in PSRs
Ethnic minority groups more likely to be held on remand
Ethnic minority groups more likely to have cases against them dropped
Give a criticism of each of the following explanations of ethnic differences in offending:
- Lea and Young - Left Realists
- Gilroy - Neo Marxist
- Hall et al. - Neo Marxist
Criticisms of Lea and Young - Left Realists:
- Claim that the difference in Black and Asian rates of offending cannot be explained by police racism would not be "selectively racist" towards Black people and not Asian people. However it is very possible that police have different stereotypes - Black people as dangerous, and Asian people as passive.
Criticisms of Gilroy - Neo Marxist:
- Lea and Young criticise him because:
->Most crime is intra ethnic so can't be an act of political resistance
->First gen immigrants were very law abiding so it is unlikely that they passed down an anti-colonial struggle
->Asian crime rates are much lower than Black crime rates (or even White crime rates) - if Gilroy is correct this suggests that the police are racist towards Asian people but not Black people - Left Realists think this is unlikely
Criticisms of Hall et al. - Neo Marxist:
- Downes and Rock argue that Hall et al are inconsistent to say that Black street crime is both rising and not rising
- Left realists would argue fears of rising street crime is not "panicky" but realistic.
-In any case, there was no evidence that the public were panicking about the Black mugger.
-No proof of link between capitalist crisis and moral panic - how did the capitalist crisis lead to the moral panic?