Crime, Culture and Ethnicity

Abstract

Links between ethnicity and crime are part of the wider field of cultural influences on crime. Despite a dubious past and associations with the eugenicist movement, it remains important, partly to enable ethnic monitoring of the criminal justice system. There are many methodological problems, including the d t f f ulty of measuring ethnicity, a euphemism for skin colour in some studies. Such a crudely measured variable may produce spurious associations, due to less obvious, confounding variables. Offending rates differ between ethnic groups and cannot be explained by discrimination in the criminal justice system. DiLferences between cultures are both qualitative and quantitative; they change rapidly over time, favouring cultural or economic explanations. Crude statistical associations are merely the starting point for study and the challenge is to identify the mediating variables. For black-white d$erences in the United States and Britain, discrimination, unemployment and poverty are important but other factors may be more difJicult to identify. Black patients are statistically over-represented in most populations of mentally disordered offenders. Existing studies do not confirm a tendency to discriminate against black patients by detaining them unnecessarily and black people may also be overrepresented among mentally disordered prisoners. Monitoring the ethnic origin of referrals and admissions to secure psychiatric facilities should be a basic part of clinical audit. Int Rev Psychiatry Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Washington University Library on 12/26/14 For personal use only. London: the PSI reporr (London, Policy Studies Institute).

The Essential Elements of Culturally Sensitive Psychiatric Services

“…Not surprisingly mentally ill black people are overrepresented amongst remand prisoners transferred to hospitals from prison (Banerjee et al 1995). This is in accord with population surveys finding a higher rate of psychotic illness amongst black people whilst in prison and that those in special hospitals are detained because of an identified psychotic illness (Maden, 1993). Furthermore, Taylor (1986) showed that of all her sample of life sentenced prisoners being supervised in the community, 10% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and of these 41 % were born in the West Indies.…”

“…Two hypotheses are commonly cited to account for these findings (Maden, 1993). It is suggested that mental illness is over-diagnosed amongst Black offenders (of African and Caribbean origin) explaining higher rates amongst forensic psychiatric populations.…”

“…1991;Perera et al 1991). However, reports of links between ethnicity and crime do not always comprehensively contextualise the presented data and wider cultural influences on crime may be neglected (Maden, 1993). Furthermore, although there are errors in reporting and recording of official statistics pertaining to crime, culture, skin colour and mental disorders, rates of particular offences cannot be reduced to an index of criminality and then generalised to others of the same skin colour or culture (Maden, 1993).…”

The effect of religiosity and ethnic origin on direct and indirect aggression among males and females: Some Israeli findings

“…Economic, historic, and other factors have also been shown to contribute to ethnic variation in aggression. For example, discrimination, unemployment, and poverty are considered to be important factors in the overrepresentation of US blacks in crimes of violence, as well as in other crimes [Andrews and Bonta, 1998, p 67;Maden, 1993]. It has been argued that racial inequality leads to frustration, which, in turn, leads to aggression and violence [Russell, 1994].…”

Cross Cultural Psychiatry And Probation Practice: A Discourse On Issues, Context And Practice

“…Criminal behaviour, so dependent on societal norms, is another. A discussion of crime and sociological analysis is beyond the scope of this paper as are the problems associated with measuring crime (Maden, 1993). Where race, ethnic and cultural status as well as other signifiers of difference, such as religion, are invoked to classify persons according to 'norms', historical experience shows black and ethnic minorities, religious minorities, and linguistically isolated groups 'generally' suffer more adverse conditions of living.…”