Unequal Before the Law: Immigrant and Racial Minority Perceptions of the Canadian Criminal Justice System

Abstract

This paper examines attitudes towards the criminal justice system among a large, diverse sample of residents from Toronto, Canada. The results indicate that while most residents positively evaluate the performance of the police and criminal courts, black and Chinese Canadians have less favorable views than whites. Compared to whites, racial minority respondents are also much more likely to perceive various forms of discrimination within the justice system. Perceptions of racial bias are particularly widespread among black respondents. Interestingly, these racial differences cannot be explained by immigration patterns. Indeed, regardless of race, attitudes towards the justice system are most positive among recent immigrants. However, attitudes become less favorable with time spent in Canada and are most negative among Canadian-born racial minorities. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of these findings.Résumé Cet article porte sur les attitudes face au système de justice pénale parmi un vaste et divers échantillon de résidents de Toronto, au Canada. Les résultats indiquent que si la majorité des résidents évaluent de façon positive la performance de la police et des tribunaux criminels, les Canadiens noirs et chinois ont un avis moins favorable que celui des Blancs. De plus, les répondants membres d'une minorité raciale étaient beaucoup plus portés que les Blancs à percevoir diverses formes de discrimination au sein du système de justice. Les perceptions de préjugé racial sont particulièrement répandues chez les Noirs. Fait intéressant, ces différences raciales ne s'expliquent pas par des modèles d'immigration. En fait, indépendam-ment de la race, les immigrants nouvellement arrivés démontrent les attitudes les plus positives face au système de justice. Toutefois, les attitudes deviennent moins positives avec le temps et sont les plus négatives chez les membres de minorités raciales nés au Canada. Une discussion des retombées de ces résultats sur la théorie et les politiques vient conclure l'article.

Race/Ethnicity and Perceptions of Police Bias: The Case of Chinese Immigrants

“…For example, a study in Toronto found that direct contact with police increased negative evaluations of police treatment of visible minorities (Chow, 2002). Among a general sample of White, Black, and Chinese Canadians, ever arrested by police, number of times stopped by police, and vicarious contact through family and friends were all associated with stronger perceptions of police bias (Wortley & Owusu-Bempah, 2009). Furthermore, communication barriers between police and immigrants, which may include or go beyond language problems, undermine public satisfaction with police.…”

“…In terms of immigrant-specific factors, length of time in Canada has been investigated in two studies, generating opposite results. Wortley and Owusu-Bempah (2009) found that perceptions of police bias increased significantly with the length of time an immigrant lived in Canada. In contrast, Chu and Song (2008) found that the longer Chinese immigrants resided in Canada, the less likely they were to perceive police prejudice, suggesting the possibility of curvilinear effects of length of stay on immigrants' perceptions.…”

“…Chinese Canadians were more likely than White Canadians to report that non-Englishspeaking, Blacks, and Chinese residents are treated differently from Englishspeaking and White residents (Wortley, 1996;Wortley & Owusu-Bempah, 2009). Chinese residents were also significantly more inclined than Whites to believe that the police treat Blacks worse than Whites.…”

“…Although violent victimization does not appear to be related to perceptions of police bias (Wortley & Owusu-Bempah, 2009), fear of crime at night is significantly linked to Chinese immigrants' perceptions of police prejudice against Asians (Chu & Song, Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 07:22 28 December 2014 2008). In terms of immigrant-specific factors, length of time in Canada has been investigated in two studies, generating opposite results.…”

Race/ethnicity and perceptions of the police: a comparison of White, Black, Asian and Hispanic Americans

“…Two studies conducted in Canada compare Black, White and Chinese Canadians in their perceptions of the police in Toronto area. They find that Chinese are more likely than Whites, but less likely than Blacks, to perceive police bias and discrimination (Wortley 1996, Wortley andOwusu-Bempah 2009).…”