NCJ Number
217158
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 61-79
Date Published
January 2007
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the time before the First World War (1880-1914) and the Jewish immigration to England in order to provide an understanding of terminology, racialization of crime, the blending of racial identity and criminality.
Abstract
“Jewish criminality” became a political and popular issue during the Age of Empire (1880-1914). Thousands of Jews found their way into London’s East End in the decades before the First World War. Journalists, politicians, and anti-alien agitators made the most of whatever fear and concern it had aroused among British workers. The debate over the need for restrictionist legislation invoked crime as a rationale for discriminating against immigrants. This established the social framework for making criminal justice an important site for the production of racial identity. The concern over “Jewish criminality” contributed to a social vocabulary blending racial identity and criminality. This would be used in reference to subsequent waves of Commonwealth immigrants, such as “black mugging” and “Asian gangs” after 1948. This paper considers the response of British Jews to the construction of “Jewish criminality” during the Age of Empire, between 1880 and 1914. The author’s account is derived from records of the London-based Jewish Association for the Protection of Girls and Women (JAPGW). References