Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration

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Abstract
This article defines various groups associated with the notion of ethnicity: racial groups, ethnic groups, immigrants, and Aboriginal. These groups being disproportionably represented among the clientship of criminal justice, the explanations for this fact are reviewed. First, the various sources of data bearing on this question are assessed for their reliability and their systematic character. Only the US government and to a lesser extent the UK collect such statistics. Second, basic distinctions are drawn. Ethnicity, which refers to cultural traits and is a factor for defining the identity of a group, is distinguished from race, which only refers to outward physical appearance. Disparity, which signifies a difference in the number of persons connected with criminal justice, is seen as distinct from discrimination, which explains disparity through prejudice against various groups. Finally, different explanations for the disproportionate representation on minority groups among those who are caught in the net of criminal justice are discussed. Discrimination and neutral factors, such as broken families and strategies of integration, are said to play a part, but it is the differential implication of certain minorities in the perpetration of certain crimes which seems at the present time to provide the most encompassing explanation. Finally, the problems raised by illegal immigration are briefly discussed.

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