Ethnicity & Criminal Behaviour (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

Statistics on ethnicity & crime

• Some minority ethnic groups are over-represented at key stages of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) compared with their share of the population

  • This pattern is most visible in stop & search, arrests, custodial remand, and the prison population (Ministry of Justice, 2024)

• Victim data from the CSEW shows variation by ethnicity

  • People with mixed ethnicity report higher victimisation than average

• Arrests

  • In 2022/23, black people were 2.2× as likely to be arrested as white people

    • 20.4 vs 9.4 per 1,000 (Ethnicity facts and figures, GOV.UK, 2024)

• Stop and search

  • Year ending March 2023, Black people were over 4x as likely to be stopped and searched as White people (Ethnicity facts and figures, GOV.UK, 2024)

    • 24.5 stop & searches per 1,000 black people

    • 5.9 stop & searches per 1,000 white people

• Sentencing

  • Black prisoners served a greater share of their original determinate sentence in custody (68%) than white (59%) or Asian (58%) prisoners in 2022 (Ministry of Justice, 2024)

• Prison

  • On 30 Jun 2023, prisoners (where ethnicity known) were majority white (Ministry of Justice, 2024)

    • 73% white

    • 27% ethnic minority groups (12% Black, 8% Asian, 5% Mixed, 2% Other)

  • On 31 Mar 2023, black prisoners were 14% of the remand population and 12% of the sentenced population (HMPPS Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022–23)

• These trends suggest a combination of both structural inequality (over-policing, harsher sentencing) and social disadvantage may explain the disparities

Ethnicity, racism and the Criminal Justice System (CJS)

• There are significant ethnic differences at every stage of the criminal justice process

  • Research highlights both institutional discrimination and social factors that shape these patterns

• Policing

  • Since the 1970s, the police have faced accusations of institutional racism (Phillips & Bowling, 2012)

  • Black and Asian groups are more likely to be over-policed and subjected to stop and search

• Stop and search

  • Police are more likely to stop and search Black and Asian individuals, especially under Section 60 (public order) and the Terrorism Act 2000

  • Under the Terrorism Act, Asian people are more likely than others to be stopped

  • Black people are 7× more likely to be stopped than white people

  • Only a small proportion of stop and searches result in arrest

  • Minority groups are less likely to believe stops are based on 'reasonable suspicion'

  • Phillips & Bowling (2007) argue that minorities often feel 'over-policed and under-protected', leading to limited trust in the police

• Tasers

  • Hoyle (2015) found that the use of tasers was 6 in 10,000 for white people vs 18 in 10,000 for black people

  • The IOPC review of 101 taser cases from 2015-20 found that 60% of Black people tasered endured discharges over 5 seconds vs 29% of White people (The Guardian, 2021) (opens in a new tab)

Prosecution, trial, & sentencing

• The processes of prosecution, trial, and sentencing reveal clear patterns of inequality in how different ethnic groups are treated within the criminal justice system

• Research shows that Black and Asian individuals often face disadvantages at multiple stages, from arrest and cautioning through to imprisonment

• These disparities are linked to factors such as:

  • mistrust of the police

  • decisions made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

  • stereotypes influencing sentencing

• Arrests and cautions

  • Black and Asian people are less likely to receive a caution, making them more likely to face court

  • One reason is a higher likelihood of denying the offence and requesting legal advice, often due to mistrust of the police

• Prosecution and trial

  • The CPS is more likely to drop cases against minority defendants, suggesting weaker evidence or police bias (Phillips & Bowling, 2002)

  • Minority ethnic defendants show less trust in magistrates, often opting for trial by jury at the Crown Court

  • But Crown Court convictions carry the risk of harsher sentences

• Convictions and sentencing

  • Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty than white defendants

    • This may reflect weak or unfounded cases being pursued

  • Black offenders have imprisonment rates 3% higher than white offenders

    • This may be due to differences in the seriousness of the offences or due to defendants' previous convictions

  • Asian offenders are more likely to receive longer custodial sentences

• Pre-sentence reports (PSRs)

  • PSRs, written by probation officers, influence Magistrates' sentencing decisions

  • They can reinforce stereotypes (Hudson & Bramhall, 2005)

    • Black offenders tend to be viewed as higher risk

    • Asian offenders are seen as less remorseful

• Prison

  • Black offenders are

    • more likely to be in custody

    • less likely to be granted bail

    • more likely to serve longer sentences

  • Similar ethnic patterns exist in the USA

Explaining the patterns

Institutional racism (The Macpherson Report, 1999)

• The Macpherson Report (1999), after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, concluded that the CJS is institutionally racist, from policing to sentencing

• Phillips & Bowling (2012) found that many officers hold negative stereotypes of ethnic minorities as 'criminals', leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search

Ethnic differences in offending

• Some argue disproportionality reflects real differences in offending

  • Low-discretion stops are based on intelligence (e.g., offender description)

  • High-discretion stops are based on officer judgement, where bias and stereotypes can drive disproportionality

Demographic explanations

• Ethnic minority groups in the UK have a higher proportion of

  • young people

  • urban dwellers

  • unemployed individuals

• These groups are statistically more likely to be stopped regardless of ethnicity

• Since minorities are over-represented in these categories, they appear more likely to offend, creating the illusion of higher offending rates