Ethnicity
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 10.2.1
Institutional Racism
Lord MacPherson’s report into the Stephen Lawrence murder and police failings used the phrase ‘institutional racism’.
Stop and search
- Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched by a police officer in the UK.
- However, a very small amount of stop and searches lead to an arrest.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Ethnicity
Who claimed that there was a ‘canteen culture’ that existed within the police force?
Which sociological approach is Hall associated with?