Minorities, Crime, and Criminal Justice in Europe and the United States: More Similar Than Different! (From Minorities, Migrants, and Crime: Diversity and Similarity Across Europe and the United States, P 224-241, 1997, Ineke Haen Marshall, ed. - See NCJ-171072)

• NCJ Number: 171082
• Author(s): I H Marshall
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This discussion of nine articles on race, ethnicity, migrants, and crime in the United States and Europe notes that the political and public debate on the relationship between crime and minorities is often highly politicized and volatile, sensitive, and emotionally charged, and that a new theoretical framework should guide research.

Abstract

Questions of ethnicity, migration, and crime have also polarized intellectuals in both Europe and the United States. A crucial issue is the criminal involvement of minorities and immigrants relative to the larger society; the statistics indicate criminal justice activities rather than the criminal involvement of individuals. The data reveal a serious overrepresentation of minorities and foreigners in arrest statistics, convictions, and prisons in both Europe and the United States. However, the authors emphasize the importance of recognizing the multifaceted and complex nature of phenomena included under the general terms of minorities and immigrants. They also note that the categories in formal statistics ignore the differences between and within each group. However, the current knowledge suggests that the extent and nature of criminality of migrants and ethnic minority groups is shaped by the interaction between characteristics of the migrants and those of the host country, placed in a global context. Most immigrants seek to better themselves through legal ways, although professional international criminals exist. Research and theory also distinguishes between first-generation and second-and-later-generation immigrants. Overall, ethnicity, race, citizenship, or national origin are of only secondary importance in understanding newly evolved patterns of criminality. Instead, a broader theoretical framework is needed that focuses on macrolevel economic, political, and social processes that shape newly emerging crime forms such as transnational drug production and distribution, international terrorism, transnational organized crime, electronic international fraud, and trafficking in people. Notes and 21 references