A report said that hate crime in the EU was increasing, despite the 'best efforts' of member states to root it out. Verbal abuse, physical attacks, and murders motivated by prejudice affected a wide range of groups, including visible minorities to those with disabilities. A linked report examined victims' experiences.
Source: Making Hate Crime Visible in the European Union: Acknowledging victims rights, European Agency for Fundamental Rights | Minorities as Victims of Crime, European Agency for Fundamental Rights
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | FRA press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined the negotiation of ethnic difference within male prisons.
Source: Coretta Phillips, The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, masculinity, and social relations among prisoners, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined whether the confidence of immigrants in European countries in criminal justice institutions could be explained by two counteracting processes: expectations formed in the country of origin and discrimination experienced in the residence country. The data strongly supported the hypothesis that the high confidence of first-generation immigrants could be explained by frames of reference formed in the country of origin. Some, but limited, support was also found for the impact of discrimination.
Source: Antje Roder and Peter Muhlau, 'What determines the trust of immigrants in criminal justice institutions in Europe?', European Journal of Criminology, Volume 9 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
An article said that despite the conviction of two men for the racist murder (in 1993) of Stephen Lawrence, racial violence was still at very high levels and was becoming dispersed to new areas. The Macpherson Report might have brought in changes to police practices: but violent, popular racism, encouraged by wider government policies, such as the war on terror, was still a 'national scandal'.
Source: Jon Burnett, 'After Lawrence: racial violence and policing in the UK', Race and Class, Volume 54 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A watchdog paper examined how police forces in England were using stop-and-search powers. Some police forces stopped and searched a much higher proportion of black, Asian, and mixed-ethnicity people than others, and it was not always clear why this was so – leaving police officers exposed to discrimination claims.
Source: , Race Disproportionality in Stops and Searches Under S.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Briefing Paper 5, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Paper | EHRC press release | ACPO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
A new textbook examined the key topics in race and crime, including: representation and disproportionality, victimisation, human rights, terrorism, popular culture, and governance.
Source: Michael Rowe, Race & Crime, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A report examined hate crimes and hate incidents in the higher education sector. Asian or Asian British respondents were the group most worried about being subject to abuse because of racial prejudice, with 48 per cent saying that they were very or fairly worried.
Source: Robert Holland and Sarah Wayman, No Place for Hate: Hate crimes and incidents in further and higher education – Race and ethnicity, National Union of Students
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government published an action plan for tackling hate crime. It identified three key objectives: preventing hate crime – by challenging the attitudes that underpinned it, and intervening early to prevent it escalating; increasing reporting and access to support – by building victim confidence and supporting local partnerships; and improving the operational response to hate crimes – by better identifying and managing cases, and dealing effectively with offenders.
Source: Challenge it, Report it, Stop it: The government s plan to tackle hate crime, Home Office
Links: Action plan | Hansard | Home Office press release | ACPO press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that strained relationships between the police and the black and minority-ethnic community had been a 'significant factor' in the outbreak of public disorder in English cities in August 2011.
Source: Ojeaku Nwabuzo, The Riot Roundtables: Race and the riots of August 2011, Runnymede Trust
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that racist violence continued to be a serious problem, particularly among young people in London. A 'zero tolerance' approach to racism, such as teachers excluding pupils for such behaviour from school, had failed and could drive the problem underground. Instead, a more pro-active response was needed that drew out the problem and confronted it with the aim of prevention.
Source: Robin Oakley, Sarah Isal, and Aine Woods, Are You Saying I m Racist? An evaluation of work to tackle racist violence in three areas of London, Runnymede Trust/Trust for London
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined solutions to the over-representation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system. Although tackling institutional and individual racism should still be a priority, it was crucial that wider inequalities in employment, pay, education, and housing were tackled in order to reduce the numbers of black and minority-ethnic people in the criminal justice system.
Source: Kjartan Pall Sveinsson (ed.), Criminal Justice v. Racial Justice: Minority ethnic overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, Runnymede Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan