Differential treatment in the youth justice system - Equality and ...

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DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN THE YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEM1. IntroductionHow the police treat people from ethnic minority groups is a good indicator of theoverall quality of policing. For complex reasons many ethnic minority groups tend tobe among the most socially disadvantaged, and if these groups are treated well, it islikely that others are also treated well. Assessing whether different groups are treatedproperly and fairly is complicated, however. The extent to which different groups areinvolved in crime differs, and different groups have different ‘policing histories’,which may affect their involvement in crime (Clancy et al., 2001; Bowling, B. andPhillips, C., 2003). Disentangling these relationships is hard.What is clear is that different ethnic groups are unequally represented within thecriminal justice system (CJS). 2 Some ethnic minority groups are over-represented atevery stage of the criminal justice system. According to a recent government reportcalled Race and the Criminal Justice System, ‘members of our black communitiesare seven times more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped andsearched, three and a half times more likely to be arrested, and five times morelikely to be in prison’ (Jones and Singer, 2008:viii). While black groups are overrepresentedin the criminal justice system, there is a pattern of under-representationfor some Asian groups.Such patterns of over- and under-representation are mirrored in the youth justicesystem (Feilzer and Hood, 2004; Audit Commission, 2004; House of CommonsHome Affairs Committee, 2007). Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) dealt with justunder 300,000 offences in England and Wales in 2007/08. In 85% of these cases,offenders were white; 6% were black, 3% Asian and 4% mixed race (YouthJustice Board, 2009a, 2009b). As with the justice system as a whole, Asianswere under-represented, whereas those from black and mixed race groups wereover-represented (May et al., forthcoming:6).Disproportionality is also evident when one looks at the types of crimes that youngpeople are charged with and their eventual sentence. Black teenagers tend to be2Statistics on race in the criminal justice system are collected annually under the Criminal Justice Act 1991Section 95, while there also exists an increasing body of research evidencing disproportionality – forexample, May et al. (forthcoming), Feilzer and Hood (2004), and Bowling and Phillips (2002).1
INTRODUCTIONover-represented in robbery and drug offences, while Asian teenagers tend to beunder-represented in all types of crime. Asians are more likely than others to receivea referral order and, among those convicted, black offenders are more likely toreceive a sentence of youth custody (Jones and Singer, 2008).1.1 Defining direct or indirect discriminationCultural change, supported by legislation, has done much over the last half-centuryto make overt racism less socially acceptable. This may have actually discouragedracism, but it may also have transformed overt expressions of racism into covertones (Foster et al., 2005). A survey commissioned by the Greater London Authority(2003) suggests that most people from ethnic minority groups will have had somedirect experience of racism at least once in their lives. Of central importance for anyunderstanding of differential treatment are ways in which organisations, rather thanindividuals, can operate in ways that are discriminatory. Race relations legislationdistinguishes between direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination ariseswhere one person treats another less favourably on grounds of their ‘race’, ethnicity,culture, religion or language. Indirect discrimination refers to treatment that might bedescribed as equal in a formal sense, but is discriminatory in its actual effect on aparticular group.It is, however, too simplistic to equate disproportionate outcomes with directdiscrimination (for fuller discussion, see Bowling and Phillips, 2002; Phillips andBowling, 2003; Bowling, 2007). Assessing whether observed disproportionality in thecriminal process amounts to direct or indirect discrimination can involve complex andultimately political and legal judgements. Ethnic minority groups each have distinctivehistories of integration into British society. For example, the relationships that existtoday between black youths in inner cities and the police have been inevitablyshaped by several historical factors, such as:• the overt discrimination to which previous generations were exposed(Fryer, 1984)• the resultant tensions and mutual suspicion between police and black people(Keith, 1993)• the few social and economic opportunities open to these previous generations(Nazroo, 1997), and2
Page 1 and 2: Equality and Human Rights Commissio
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Page 5 and 6: Appendix A: Area profiles 97Appendi
Page 7 and 8: Tables and figuresPageTables3.1 Pop
Page 9 and 10: GlossaryBCUBasic Command UnitCJSCri
Page 11: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAssessing the reas
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Page 19 and 20: INTRODUCTIONthe increase in prosecu
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTIONIn contrast, a MORI sel
Page 23 and 24: INTRODUCTIONexplanation is that you
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UNDERSTANDING THE POLICING OF YOUNG
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PASSING THROUGH THE YOUTH JUSTICE S
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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS6. Discus
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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSdefendant
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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSdifficult
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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSFurther r
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APPENDICES10- to 17-year-old popula
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APPENDICES16s making up 23% of the
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APPENDICESAppendix B:Tables of offe
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APPENDICESCustody record dataTable
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APPENDICESTable B7Area C custody re
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APPENDICESAppendix C:YOT data sampl
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APPENDICESTable C3ONS estimated 10-
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APPENDICESTable C5Profile of crimes
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APPENDICESTable C6 Profile of crime
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APPENDICESTable C7aCase profile% Ma
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APPENDICESTable C8Proportion of off
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Table C10Proportion of disposals gi
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Table C12Proportion of sentenced di
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Appendix D:Multivariate logistic re
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APPENDICESTable D3Model of prosecut
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APPENDICESTable D6Model of dismissa
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APPENDICESTable D8: Model of Remand
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APPENDICESTable D10Asset sample, mo
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APPENDICESTable D11Asset sample, mo
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Table D13Model of community sentenc
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APPENDICESTable D15 Model of custod
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APPENDICESTable D17Length of custod
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REFERENCESReferencesAudit Commissio
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REFERENCESMirrlees-Black, C., Budd,
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ContactsEnglandEquality and Human R
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