Disproportionate Treatment of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Prisoners

• In Event: Applying Criminal Career Thinking

Abstract

The finding that there is bias against individuals of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) in the operation of the criminal justice in the UK is not new (NOMS, 2012; 2015). Official statistics from England and Wales suggests that BAME individuals are disproportionately likely to be stopped and searched by the police, arrested, convicted and sent to prison compared to those of White ethnicity. There is emerging evidence however, that this bias continues in prison (NOMS, 2013), with BAME prisoners being more likely to experience a use of force, more likely to be held in segregation, and less likely to being in education, training or employment while in prison. While the experience of prison by BAME individuals has been the subject of limited academic investigation (e.g. Cheliotis & Liebling, 2005), this has tended to focus on the perceptions of BAME offenders about their treatment while in prison. This research, conducted in two London local prisons in England, explored the perceptions of BAME prisoners of their treatment in prison and their self-reports of experiences of negative outcomes (segregation, use of force, privileges, and education/employment) using a mixed-methods approach. Questionnaires, including questions about negative outcomes, perceptions of treatment in prison and key demographics were administered and prisoners and prison staff were interviewed. The results suggested that BAME prisoners had a higher prevalence and frequency of negative outcomes with some prisoners having ‘chronic’ negative outcomes. The interviews suggested that covert discrimination was regarded as the underlying factor in the perceived differential treatment for all BAME prisoners involved in the study. The findings provide opportunities and challenges for both prison policy makers and practitioners.

Authors

• Sarah Adamson, University of Greenwich

• Darrick Jolliffe, University of Greenwich

• Keiran Manners, Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality

• Zubaida Haque, The Runnymede Trust

• Debbie Weekes-Bernard, The Runnymede Trust