Assess sociological explanations for the over-representation of some minority ethnic groups in criminal statistics.

Criminal statistics suggest that out of the 80,000 men in prison a total of 26% are of ethnic origin, whilst this may seem small in comparison to the 74% white offenders, contextually in terms of population this is a large statistic as only 9% of the British population is of ethnic origin making up over a quarter of prisoners. Whilst sociological explanations of crime have often looked at crime in a monochrome way explaining black and white crime, there are emerging trends of mixed race and Asian crime which contribute to the study of ethnicity and crime, in fact, mixed race individuals are the most likely victims of crime. Official statistics seem to report the facts of crime yet the causes of ethnic minority crime or the conduct of the police are not represented by official statistics and it has been argued that in fact criminal statistics are a reflection of the policing and racism rather than crime itself.  The very concept of “minority” suggests an aspect of marginalisation and alienation which could suggest why ethnic minorities do commit more crime however many sociologists believe it is external factors such as racist policing and failures in the criminal justice system which over-represent ethnic minorities in criminal statistics.

Sociologists such as Left Realists suggest policing is the main cause of over-representation. Ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched by police and more likely to be given prison sentences rather than community service. This means that statistics for ethnic offenders in prison will be higher as they are more likely to be prosecuted. Left Realists Lea and Young argue the police force are institutionally racist, whilst this may not be overtly racist in practice they suggest the procedures and culture of the police force are racist. This was supported by the Mcpherson report compiled after the Stephen Lawrence case in 1993, they concluded the mismanagement of the case came from racism within the Metropolitan police. Other sociologists suggest high statistics is a result of racist policing, the explanation of these are “Reflection of society” which suggests that the police have a few racist individuals and once these “bad apples” are rooted out the police force will no longer be racist. The police reflect wider society and therefore some elements of racism will be present. This racism within the police force suggests ethnic minorities are more likely to be targeted and stopped and eventually sentenced rather than White individuals leading to a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in prison. However the idea that the police forces racism causes over-representation could be criticised as actually the majority of crimes are reported by the public not by the police and Phillips and Brown found in their research of 10 police stations that whilst Afro-caribbeans accounted for a disproportionally high number of arrests they were not treated any differently, perhaps suggesting in fact ethnic minorities do commit more crime rather than it is purely police conduct that causes over-representation.

Whilst ethnic minorities are often thought of as the offenders in crime, the Home Office Statistics also have an over-representation of ethnic minorities as victims, which many sociologists such as Marxists neglect as they focus primarily on why ethnic minorities commit crime rather than why they may be victims. Crime statistics incorporate not just offenders but victims, people from a Mixed (7%) ethnic group were at higher risk of victimisation than people from all other ethnic groups (White 4%, Asian 3%, Black 4% and Chinese and Other 4%), overall, the Mixed ethnic group were generally at higher risk of victimisation, appearing to be the most at risk group. This over-representation in victim statistics could reflect not the racism of the police force but rather the racism of society, the majority of crimes committed against ethnic minorities were perceived to be racially motivated due to the language used in the incident. This could highlight the reason for over-representation in this section of crime statistics is due to the alienation and marginalisation of ethnic groups as proposed by Left Realists, they are not only targeted by police but targeted by their White counterparts as they are a minority, suggesting the reason for overall over-representation is the marginalisation of ethnic groups. However it could be argued that many crimes against ethnic individuals are committed by another of their ethnicity rather than White against Black, perhaps conveying that the reason for ethnic crime and victimisation is not simply due to racism or ethnicity.

Marxists suggest that ethnic minorities are more likely to offend and therefore be represented in crime statistics due to poverty and economic exclusion. Similarly to Left Realists, Marxists suggest an element of marginalisation that occurs in society. Ethnic minorities are more likely to have low skilled, poorly paid employment and experience material deprivation Ethnic minority groups such as Black and Asian tend to have a higher level of below £20,000 per year as their income and therefore they lack the funds to afford material goods, thus turning to criminal methods such as theft. Bourgois found exclusion from the economy by unemployment and a lack of opportunities can lead to an alternative economy. This included both legal and illegal activities including selling drugs and black market businesses. This could be linked to Mertons 5 responses of innovation, unable to achieve goals through the legal opportunity structure they turn to an illegal opportunity structure, they are more likely to commit crime because not only is this a norm for this ethnic minority culture but they have been discriminated against in wider society leading to deprivation and a lack of funds to attain socially accepted goals. This theory implies that ethnic minorities do in fact commit more crime due to their impoverished circumstances and alternative methods suggesting that over-representation in criminal statistics is borne from material deprivation and exclusion they experience in contrast to White communities.  

Neo-Marxists suggest that the ruling class uses ethnic crime through the media as a scapegoat for times of political unrest to disguise a breakdown of the ruling class. This would suggest the over-representation of ethnic minorities comes from a false and manipulative portrayal of ethnic minorities through the media which translates official statistics. Hall et al supports this theory suggesting in 1970 Britain was facing a crisis of hegemony. High unemployment and civil unrest had the potential to topple ruling class power and as such the ruling class needed a scapegoat, they did this by using the media to create a “black mugger” epidemic. This was used to draw attention away from this crisis by focusing on a negatively perceived group, afro-Caribbean. This moral panic justified large numbers of police on the streets using force and arresting an increased amount of ethnic individuals, therefore increasing their representation in crime statistics and in a way becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy as they were being targeted more lead to them being over-represented in statistics fuelling the moral panic. However, it must be noted the association between black and crime has continued in times of economic boom and success so cannot be merely blamed on capitalism crisis. It could also be argued that black muggings must have originated from a series of actual events in order for the media to develop a moral panic suggesting that whilst the media and ruling-class may have caused an over-representation, ethnic minorities did initially commit the crime.

Another reason for over-representation may be merely the demography and organisation of ethnic minority communities. For example, the most likely to offend and most likely to be stopped and search group is young males, the proportion of young males is highest in ethnic minority populations suggesting that there are more likely to be arrests and higher statistics due to the increased number of young males within ethnic minorities. Ethnic minority groups tend to have more people in the 16-25 bracket than the white population suggesting a reason for the over-representation of ethnic individuals in crime statistics. The family structure within Ethnic minorities, mainly Afro-Caribbean, may also lead to over-representation as they are more likely to be lone parent and matriarchal, lacking a father figure can cause a lack of discipline, support and income. This reinforces the Marxist view that income can affect the rate of crime  in ethnic minorities but also suggests that as young males are more likely to offend, this family structure may increase this likelihood and lead to a higher number of offences and therefore a higher number of ethnic minorities present in crime statistics.

Throughout history there has been tension between races, dating back from Britains colonial past racism has been present, therefore it is likely that racism plays a large part in crime statistics despite their supposedly objective nature. Statistics may be reflective of police conduct and culture or perhaps they represent the actuality of crime, perhaps ethnic minorities do commit more crime whether it be due to economic exclusion, marginalisation or simply demography. Ethnic minorities whilst making up a small percentage of the population are over-represented in prison numbers and offence statistics begging the question why? Perhaps in order to understand this trend sociologists must look at the history of conflict between races, the class struggle associated with ethnicity and the significance of racism that is still present in Britain today.