Poorer Outlook on Race Relations in Some British Prisons Rather
than Others
by insideprison.com, May 2006
A recent study at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology
found that among a sample of prisoners in England and Wales, several
prisons, within the same security level to control for risk, stood out
as being more oppressive and less conducive to healthy race relations
in prisons. As expected, minority prisoners rated their quality of relationships
with prisoners of different races as more "problematic" than
their White counterparts, including experiencing more unfair treatment.
Also somewhat expectedly, female prisoners tended to rate their quality
of relationships with different races better than their male counterparts,
reflecting the inherent discrepancy in attitudes between male and female
inmates.
In explaining the disparity across different prisons, the authors cited
Hudson (2002), in saying that punishment in certain jurisdictions is
largely linked to "the political climate," and level of "solidarity."
Certain strategies for dealing with crime in certain areas reflect the
unique "technological and cultural possibilities" available
to those in a position of power, and determine approximately how hostile
or how welcome the particular prison system will be in receiving inmates
of minority ethnic descent.
In the study, only 14.5% of White prisoners "strongly" believed
that "Race complaints are not taken seriously in this prison,"
while more than 33% of Black prisoners "strongly" believed
the same. Perhaps more explicit is the fact that only 8.8% of White
prisoners believed "Black and Asian prisoners are treated unfairly
in this prison by comparison to White prisoners" while over 42%
of Black prisoners believed they were treated more unfairly. In addition,
findings that there was little difference in opinions among all types
of Black prisoners dispels the notion that there was any "racial
hierarchy" in the prisons, where some Black inmates are treated
less poorly than others by virtue of their relative position of power.
The authors suggest that racism in prison should be combated by deconstructing
the linguistic categories through which inmates position themselves
in the hierarchy, categories that are predetermined before even entering
prison, and simply magnified when inside. In finding the solutions to
institutional racism in prisons, they also suggest examining the attitudes
and perceptions of both correctional staff and inmates before
entering prison, and comparing those to the effects inherent in the
actual structure of the prison itself.
In Great Britain, about 15% of the male inmate population and 24% of
the female inmate population is Black, almost four and a half times
higher than the rate of White prisoners per 1,000 people, not surprising
given the fact that Blacks are 3 times more likely to be arrested than
Whites.
For free, online information on racism and ethnicity in prison, visit:
the
ESRC programme on Identities and Social Action, and the article
on Race
Relations at HMP Brixton
references
Leonidas K. Cheliotis and Alison Liebling. (2006). Race Matters in
British Prisons: Towards a Research Agenda. British Journal of Criminology,
46(2):286-317
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