10.2.1

Ethnicity

Test yourself

Institutional Racism 

Lord MacPherson’s report into the Stephen Lawrence murder and police failings used the phrase ‘institutional racism’.

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Lord MacPherson

  • Lord MacPherson’s report into the Stephen Lawrence murder and police failings used the phrase ‘institutional racism’ when describing the actions of the police in that specific case.
  • Macpherson accused the police of incompetency by not following up on important leads.
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Canteen culture

  • Holdaway claimed that there was a ‘canteen culture’ that existed within the police force.
  • He claimed that many officers held prejudicial thoughts about members of the African Caribbean community and therefore told negative stories and shared derogatory jokes at their expense.
  • Holdaway argued that many new recruits felt under pressure to conform to this ‘canteen culture’.

Theoretical Approaches to Ethnicity and Crime

Realist and neo-marxist views of ethnicity and crime.

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Left realists 

  • Lea and Young believe that crime is caused by relative deprivation, subcultures and marginalisation.
  • When it comes to ethnic minority crime, they believe that the racism of our society leads to the ‘economic exclusion’ of ethnic minority communities.
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Right realists

  • Right realists view cultural deprivation as one of the main reasons for crime occurring. 
  • Moynihan claims that the main cause behind ethnic minority crime is poor socialisation caused by ineffective family structures.
  • Moynihan suggests that cultural deprivation can become a cycle in single parent families as the children are likely to fail in education.
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Neo-marxists 

  • Hall suggests that the ruling class use racism as a tool to divide the proletariat and prevent a revolution.
  • He refers to this as divide and rule.
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Hall

  • Hall claims that, through the media, the bourgeoisie have used ‘moral panics’ about ethnic minority groups that have led to clear divisions due to racial tensions.
  • He talks specifically about the 1970’s portrayal of the ‘black mugger’; a media representation of young black men that demonised them in the eyes of the public.

Jump to other topics

1Theory & Methods

2Education with Methods in Context

3Option 1: Culture & Identity

4Option 1: Families & Households

5Option 1: Health

6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare

7Option 2: Beliefs in Society

8Option 2: Global Development

9Option 2: The Media

10Crime & Deviance

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