NCJ Number: 165173
Title: Ethnic Origins, Crime, and Criminal Justice in England and Wales (From Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration: Comparative and Cross-National Perspectives, P 101-182, 1997, Michael Tonry, ed. - See NCJ-165170)
Author(s): D J Smith
Date Published: 1997
Page Count: 82
Sponsoring Agency: University of Chicago Press
Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
Type: Literature Review
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Annotation: Research on the involvement of ethnic minorities in crime in England and Wales and on the response of the criminal justice system is reviewed.
Abstract: The main ethnic minorities in Britain come from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent. South Asians adopted survival strategies based on the family, religion, and ethnic community, whereas Afro-Caribbeans initially adopted more outgoing and integrative strategies. Both groups have experienced similar levels of racial discrimination in employment and housing. The rate of imprisonment of black people is currently seven times that of white people or South Asians. The theory that this disparity results mostly from cumulative bias at various stages of law enforcement and case processing is implausible considering the available data. The data suggest that law enforcement targets black people, that certain stages of criminal processing are biased against them, and that apparently neutral criteria used by the criminal justice system work to their disadvantage, but these effects are small compared with the disparity in rates of imprisonment. Despite conflicting data from a major self-report study, it is likely that the actual offending rate is substantially higher among black people than among other groups. Future research should focus on how to prevent criminal justice system bias against black people and whether the legalistic approach or the managerial approach is preferable. Figures, footnotes, and 83 references (Author abstract modified)
Main Term(s): Criminology
Index Term(s): Crime in foreign countries; England; Foreign criminal justice systems; Foreign offenders; Illegal Immigrants/Aliens; Immigrants/Aliens; Police-minority relations; Race-crime relationships; Racial discrimination; Victims in foreign countries; Wales
Note: U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics International Crime Statistics Program
To cite this abstract, use the following link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=165173
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