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RACIST CRIME AND VICTIMISATION IN SCOTLAND

1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter explains the aims of the research project, the background to it and the methods used to collect data. It also outlines the structure of this report and explains what is contained in each chapter.

Aims of the research project

The main aims of the project were to:

• Analyse the use made by the police and prosecution services in Scotland of the racist crime offences introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998
• Identify gaps in current knowledge of racist crime and racist victimisation
• Develop ideas for further research, especially focussing on ways of reaching black and minority ethnic victims of racist crime

The project, which was commissioned and funded by the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit, was not designed as a full evaluation of the new racist crime offences nor was it intended to cover all aspects of racist victimisation. It was not possible, for instance, to evaluate the use of racial aggravation in offences other than racially aggravated harassment and racially aggravated behaviour. ¹ We could not assess whether different ethnic groups experienced racist crime differently or monitor cases at the time when they were going through the criminal justice process. Nevertheless, the research findings do identify key issues concerning:

• The views of minority ethnic groups on racist victimisation and victims' experiences
• These groups' perceptions of official responses to racist victimisation
• These groups' attitudes towards support services for victims of racist crime
• Criminal justice agencies' monitoring of racist crime
• These agencies' policies on responding to minority ethnic victims of racist crime
• These agencies' practices and procedures on dealing with racist crime

Background to the project

The Scottish Executive Central Research Unit identified racially motivated crime ² as a priority in its 1998-2001 crime and criminal justice research programme. A number of important events were influential in demonstrating that research was needed including:

The Crime and Disorder Act provisions on racially aggravated crime (1998)

This Act (which came into force on 1 October 1998) introduced two offences of racially aggravated crime into Scots law and also gave courts the power to increase a sentence for any crime where racial aggravation was established. ³

The Chhokar case (1998-2001)

This case involved the death of a man where it is alleged that the police and the prosecution service in Scotland failed to acknowledge that the crime was racially motivated, did not keep the victim's family informed of case progress and did not pursue the case vigorously enough to obtain convictions for murder. Two reports of inquiries into this case are awaited.

The Lawrence Report (1999)⁴

This report concerned serious failures by the police in investigating the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a young black man, in London in 1993. It highlighted significant weaknesses in police management and concluded that the Metropolitan Police had shown institutional racism ⁵ in its handling of Stephen Lawrence's death.

The Lawrence Report: An Action Plan for Scotland (2000)

The Action Plan sought to apply the lessons learnt from the Lawrence Report to criminal justice agencies in Scotland. It adapted the 70 recommendations contained in the Lawrence Report and applied them to Scotland. ⁶ A Steering Group is monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan.

An additional factor in encouraging research on racist crime is the Scottish Parliament's commitment to equality which is to underpin all its work. One of the eight mandatory Committees of the Parliament, the Equal Opportunities Committee, has a remit to consider and report on equality issues. The Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy ⁷ was debated by the Parliament on 8 November 2000.

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

This Act imposes statutory duties on public authorities (including the police) "not to do any act which constitutes discrimination", and to have "due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups". When it comes into force in December 2001, authorities will have less than six months in which to put in place plans for meeting the new statutory duties. This will undoubtedly have an impact on the ways in which public authorities interact with minority ethnic communities in future, and may lead to an increase in consultation.

It should be noted that the area is a rapidly changing one. While the research was being carried out (between March 2000 and July 2001) some major developments took place, including the production of a manual for Scottish police forces on racial diversity ⁸ and the publication of an inspection report of police race relations in Scotland. ⁹ In addition, during the last few years various criminal justice agencies have been gradually linking up to the Integration of Scottish Criminal Justice Information Systems (ISCJIS) programme. ISCJIS enables agencies including the police, the Procurator Fiscal Service, Sheriff courts and the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) to transfer and modify data electronically.

These changes have created some difficulties for the project since it has been necessary to keep up to date with new developments and carry out fieldwork for the study in a systematic and coherent way at the same time. We recognise that a number of the statutory agencies have made progress in taking forward matters on which we, independently, make recommendations in this report. It is, however, impractical to constantly update the text to reflect such progress, and consequently this report includes information available to us as of 31 July 2001.

The researchers tried to be as inclusive as possible when accessing the experiences of minority ethnic victims. This depended on:

• The existence of organisations run by or for specific minority ethnic groups
• Their willingness to participate in the first phase of our research, by completing a questionnaire

We recognise the diversity that exists between and within minority ethnic communities in Scotland, but time and resource limitations constrained us to look at the general picture, rather than try to differentiate between ethnic groups and the particular problems they each face. We were also limited in the extent to which we could collect data on different kinds of racist crime and particular types of racist incident. For instance, there was a widely held perception (discussed in later chapters) that most racist crime cases that reach court involve shopkeepers as victims. However, in the absence of information on unreported racist crime it would be wrong to assume that such incidents represent the majority of racist incidents.

In addition, we had no cases in our samples which concerned racist harassment of asylum seekers. Nevertheless we know that this is, at the time of writing this report, a current and apparently growing problem, especially in certain areas where asylum seekers are housed. Few cases involving asylum seekers as victims will have been prosecuted during 1999 and 2000 and therefore we can say little about the nature of these racist incidents. ¹⁰

A representative from a travellers' organisation attended one of our group interviews, but found little in common with other participants in terms of the issues raised. We were told that many travellers:

• Do not regard themselves as being of minority ethnic origin
• Find it easier to ignore harassment than report it
• Mistrust statutory authorities
• Rarely access services
• Are intimidated when they try to report incidents

As a consequence this research may be of limited value to travellers and the organisations that represent them.

The researchers were also aware of the sensitive nature of this research area. We sought to acknowledge and reflect the concerns of minority ethnic communities and to draw extensively on their experience and expertise.

Previous research on racist crime

One important concern which was identified early in the life of the project was the possibility that we might be duplicating earlier studies. However, we identified only four research studies based in Scotland and published over the last ten years which looked at racist crime specifically, although some studies of other areas noted its existence and significance. The first study ¹¹ arose out of a much wider analysis of ethnic minority housing problems in Glasgow; the second ¹² evaluated responses to racist harassment in Edinburgh; the third dealt with the victimisation of young people in Glasgow; ¹³ and the fourth focused on deviance among young Pakistani males in Edinburgh. ¹⁴ All the studies were geographically limited and pre-date the 1998 legislation. Our initial background work also confirmed the findings of a seminar on researching ethnic minorities in Scotland held in the spring of 2000. ¹⁵ This showed that there was little systematic data on ethnic minority communities in Scotland and their experiences. The most reliable data came from the last Census which took place in 1991 and collected very limited information on ethnic minorities. However, the seminar also revealed that there was a wealth of local and individual knowledge on racial inequality and harassment, which could usefully be tapped in future research. ¹⁶

In our initial background work, therefore, we had to look outside Scotland. Some very useful work has been done in England and Wales by Hesse, ¹⁷ Virdee ¹⁸ and most recently by Bowling ¹⁹ on racist crime and there has also been a great deal of research on the impact of crimes on victims generally. A study on racist offenders was carried out in two London boroughs by Sibbitt. ²⁰ These studies identify some key features of racist crime:

1. The idea of race is complex, covering notions of nation, community and national identity. There are dangers in using race as a method of identifying people since it may not provide an accurate picture and can lead to stereotyping and discrimination.

2. Racist crime has a damaging effect not only on individual victims and the groups to which they belong but also on the development of a multi-cultural society. If it is tolerated and if government and law enforcement agencies do not respond appropriately victims' vulnerability is increased and mistrust grows.

3. Racist crime is widespread and versatile. For instance in terms of location it can take place at work, in school, in public places and where people live.

4. Victims of racist crime in general suffer more serious effects than victims who are not targeted because of their colour or ethnicity. However, focussing on race alone when considering the impact of victimisation may ignore the importance of other factors, such as age, gender and class.

5. Racist crime is often repetitive and, while some racist incidents taken individually may appear fairly minor when they are repeated over time, the impact can be severe. ²¹

6. There is a high rate of non-reporting of racist crime and, where racist incidents are reported to the police, a lack of standard and adequate recording of such incidents.

7. There is a danger that the monitoring of racist incidents will offer a snapshot only of criminal victimisation instead of relating racist incidents to the everyday life of victims. Victims do not usually make distinctions between crimes and other wrongs, and their understanding and experience will also be affected by fear and rumour.

8. The development of a consistent comprehensive approach to racist crime has been hampered by the variety of agencies involved in responding to victims and an absence of national guidelines which are signed up to and implemented by all agencies.

9. There are a variety of ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom and this diversity must be recognised if appropriate responses are to be given to ethnic minority victims of racist crime.

10. Individual victims of racist crime have different needs and, while recognising the particular problems caused by racist conduct, agencies should acknowledge this.

These research findings provided a useful backdrop to our research project.

Research methods used in the project

The research project was designed to place the experience of the victim at the centre of the research and to enable the perceptions of minority ethnic communities to inform our analysis of official responses. The project was fortunate to have the assistance of Naira Dar ²² as consultant and was also able to draw on the combined expertise of members of an advisory group. ²³

Survey of research and policy documents

We began by considering the findings of research elsewhere and analysing the variety of publications designed to assist criminal justice agencies in Scotland in dealing with racist crime. A list of the key publications is given in Appendix C.

Statistical information on agencies' responses to racist incidents

A detailed analysis of different statistics about racist crime and racist incidents in Scotland was carried out. The figures included:

• data on racist incidents and crimes summarised or referred to in Chief Constables' annual reports for most of the Forces in Scotland and in recent annual and thematic reports by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)
• Statutory racist crimes recorded by the police
• SCRO records giving details of the outcome of court cases

The Commission for Racial Equality also collects figures from local Racial Equality Councils but these statistics were not used by us in any systematic way. Local authority Education Departments collect data on violence against school staff, and although this has been extended to include racist incidents it does not appear to include incidents against school students. ²⁴

These statistics helped to provide useful background information to our study and also to reveal problems in monitoring and record-keeping.

Questionnaires to minority ethnic organisations

A short focussed questionnaire was sent to a sample of 301 black and minority ethnic organisations in Scotland in November 2000 ²⁵ to collect information about their experience of and practice in relation to racist incidents. The sample was selected so as to reflect diversity in terms of:

• the minority ethnic group or groups involved
• the services provided
• the geographical area served
• the structure of the organisation

Agencies which give advice or work in areas of particular relevance, such as housing, were targeted.

A third (102) of the questionnaires were completed and returned to us, representing a wide variety of black and minority ethnic organisations in Scotland.

Group interviews on the experience of racist victimisation and agencies' responses

The questionnaire responses were used to access groups with a particular interest and expertise in working with victims of racist crime. These groups were invited to take part in four group interviews, held in different parts of the country, involving 8-10 people in each. Participants in these interviews drew up their own checklist of key issues for discussion and gave us feedback on the experience of victimisation and on how agencies, such as the police, responded to racist incidents. The group interviews were also used to assist us in finding ways of accessing victims of racist crime directly and the problems which may arise in so doing.

Area studies of racist incident management by Scottish criminal justice agencies

The final aspect of the research was designed to find out the views and practices of relevant agencies in responding to victims of racist crime in different parts of Scotland.

These agencies included the police, the Procurator Fiscal Service, represented by Regional Procurators Fiscal (RPFs), ²⁶ court staff and Sheriffs. ²⁷ Other agencies that assist victims, such as Racial Equality Councils (RECs) and Victim Support Services, were also included. This part of the research was carried out through short structured interviews, usually over the phone, in each of the eight police force areas (see Table 1.1). In addition samples of case records from the police, from the prosecutor and from the court were obtained. These were analysed to find out how such cases were processed through the system. Finally, the police provided us with copies of force policy and guidance and with the pro-formas they used to record racist incidents and racist crimes.

Table 1.1 - Summary of case study components

Notes: ¹ The 6 Procurator Fiscal Service Regions are not coterminous with the 8 police force areas in Scotland.

² Not all forces were able to provide information in the same format. For example, two forces summarised details from police reports which had insufficient data on them for comparative analysis. One force's racist incident monitoring forms are processed electronically so no hard copies were available, whilst another was seeking agreement with multi-agency partners on the most appropriate format for racist incident monitoring forms.

Structure of the Report

Each of the chapters which follow in this report deals with one stage in the management of racist crime and racist incidents by the criminal justice process. We look first of all (in Chapter 2) at different ways of identifying and defining racist crime, particularly the Crime and Disorder Act offences. We then deal with the police response to racist incidents and racist crime, considering reporting and recording issues in Chapter 3 and the investigation of racist crime in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 focuses on the prosecution of racist offences by the Procurator Fiscal Service (the Scottish prosecution service). Racist crime cases which go to court are considered in Chapter 6, which looks at the characteristics of the accused, the outcomes of trials and sentencing. In Chapter 7 we deal with ways in which racist crime victims are supported, by criminal justice agencies and other organisations such as Victim Support. We also consider the most effective methods for reaching victims of racist crime. Chapter 8 contains our conclusions. Each chapter includes a summary of our findings and a checklist of key issues. Recommendations arising from the key issues appear in rectangular boxes.

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