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Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd. Frankie

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Often called "volunteerland" or the "third sector," the humanitarian groups, charities and foundations that make up civil society have the power to steer governments and move mountains. So how do they work?

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Britons from black and ethnic minority backgrounds are among several groups facing disproportionately high living costs because of the likelihood of being hit by the "poverty premium", academics have said.

A study found that the risk of people on low incomes being charged more for banking and credit, among other things, was greater among those with protected characteristics - such as race, age and disability, as well as health, migration history, sex and religion - than in those without.

"It is a scandal that disabled people, black, Asian and ethnic minority and low-income families are being penalised and paying more for essential services," said the shadow equalities minister, Marsha de Cordova.

"The same groups are already being unequally impacted by this pandemic, facing higher death rates, higher unemployment rates and higher levels of poverty. Now we see creditors and corporations profiting from their precarity.

"The government is failing to uphold their duties set out in the Equality Act and to protect consumers from this kind of discrimination."

The research, carried out by Bristol University academics and published on Tuesday by the campaign group Fair by Design, highlights the burden society places on some of those least equipped to shoulder it.

While all people on low incomes face being hit with the poverty premium, the study found the risk was greater among those with protected characteristics.

For example, the academics said, people of colour, single parents and others were over-represented in lower paid, less secure work - as well as in poorer neighbourhoods and the private rental sector. Consequently, they were less likely to be able to save money and more likely to face either restricted or more expensive access to banking, credit and insurance.

In practice, that means they were likely to be forced to pay more for their fuel because they were less likely to be able to pay by direct debit, which was usually cheaper, or because they were more likely to have to use a prepaid meter.

Moreover, such people were at greater risk of needing to resort to high-cost credit and were likely to be charged high premiums on their insurance. Consequently, they were more likely to go without cover, meaning they were at greater risk of being hit with one-off costs they could not afford when things go wrong.

And the researchers highlighted the significance of intersectionality - the interaction of several protected characteristics - saying they tended to compound the risk a person faced of being hit by the poverty premium.

Past research has shown that the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the deep-running inequalities in British society - and exacerbated them.

Martin Coppack, Fair by Design's director, said: "Covid-19 has thrown a light on links between insecure work, low incomes, and protected characteristics. But, even before the pandemic, some people were paying more for life's essentials because of who they are, where they can afford to live, and the options they have when they have to pay for things.

"To level up our communities, regulators and policymakers should work together to make sure people on low incomes can access the products and services they need at a price they can afford."

In respect of race, the researchers behind the latest work acknowledged huge disparities between the many groups collected under the BAME banner - as well as within the communities themselves. They used the term, they said, to be consistent with previous research in the area.

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BAME Britons more likely to face higher living costs, study finds

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Britons from black and ethnic minority backgrounds are among several groups facing disproportionately high living costs because of the likelihood of being hit by the "poverty premium", academics have said.

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Ethnicity in Crime and Deviance theorist list

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Interactionists question the reliability and validity of official crime statistics. They argue that official statistics vastly underestimate crime and therefore only represent 'the tip of the ice berg'. Interactionists argue that the statistics are socially constructed - that is artefacts (artificial facts) that are the product of a complex process of decision making by victims, the police and the courts.

There are various reasons why crime statistics underestimate crime and hence why they are socially constructed:

1. Underreporting of known crimes
The British Crime Survey (BCS) shows that the public do not always report crimes they have been victims of. In 2005 only 42% of crimes were reported by victims. The BCS estimates that the most common reasons for not reporting crimes are: too trivial and a belief that the police would or could do nothing. Such underreporting lowers the total volume of measured crime.

2. Invisibility of white collar crime & cybercrime
Official statistics underestimate white collar crime & cybercrime. Such crimes often go unreported or prove difficult for agencies of social control to detect. White collar crimes are generally committed by middle class people whilst at work.

There are two main types of white collar crime. Firstly, corporate crime which is committed on behalf of an organisation. For example, Nick Leeson's fraudulent trading which lead to the collapse of Barings bank. Secondly occupational crime which is committed at the expense of an organisation. For example, George Graham who received illegal payments to sign players for Arsenal. The relative invisibility of white collar crime is a significant problem as it means that official statistics significantly underestimate middle class crime (crimes of the powerful).
Cybercrime refers to criminal acts committed with the help of information technology (committed by working class and middle class people). For example, Internet-based fraud, illegal downloads and cyberbullying.

Langan (1996) suggests the following reasons why white collar crimes and cybercrimes are difficult to detect:

Victims may be unaware a crime has been committed.

Their global nature makes them very difficult to detect and police.

dealt with internally to avoid possible embarrassment for the company.

The crimes are often very complex. This makes them difficult and expensive to detect.

3. The police do not record all known crime
The 2005 BCS estimated that the police only record 75% of reported crime. Such levels of underrecording clearly create a large a dark figure of hidden crime. A number of reasons exist for such underrecording, for example the police may not accept that a crime has been committed.

4. Selective law enforcement
A number of sociologists have argued that the police are more likely to concentrate on offenders from the least powerful sections of society (e.g. working class). Sampson (1986) found that the police tend to concentrate their patrols in poorer areas because of the belief that more crime takes place in such areas. Such police bias leads to the over-representation of powerless groups in official crime statistics.

5. Artificial fluctuations in crime rates
One further reason why official crime statistics can be said to be socially constructed is because crime rates can rise or fall for reasons other than more or less law breaking taking place in society. Fattah (1997) identifies a number of 'artificial' factors that can affect crime rates, including:

Willingness of the public to report crime.

Changes in the law.

New crimes and opportunities.

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Limitations of Official Crime Statistics

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Interactionists question the reliability and validity of official crime statistics. They argue that official statistics vastly underestimate crime and therefore only represent 'the tip of the ice berg'. Interactionists argue that the statistics are socially constructed - that is artefacts (artificial facts) that are the product of a complex process of decision making by victims, the police and the courts.

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Year: 2014

What she was doing: At home.

How she was killed: Rosser's boyfriend, Victor Stephens, called 911 to ask the police to escort her out of the house because of an altercation. The official report says that when the officers entered the home, Rosser was holding a knife and refused to drop it. Officer Mark Raab used his taser. Officer David Ried fired a single shot that killed her.

Action taken: Ried did not face any charges over Rosser's death. The police department and city implemented reforms, including equipping officers with body cameras.

Correction - 3/3/2021: A previous version of this profile showed an incorrect image for Aura Rosser. That illustration has been replaced with a new sketch.
These are just a few of the Black Americans killed by police. There are many, many more. Produced by:
Alia Chughtai
Illustrations by:
Christian Mugarura Mafigiri
For @AJLabs
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Know their names: Black people killed by the police in the US

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Between 2014 and 2020, police in the United States killed at least 7,680 people. Twenty-five percent of those killed were Black, although Black Americans make up just 13 percent of the population. In most cases, little or no action was taken against the officers involved.

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Sociological Theory - Feminism (Sociology Theory & Methods)

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A* Sociology- What is a modern V postmodern society?

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Of course, states generally create the laws of their countries and while governments may break their own laws, it is more likely the case that they are breaking international law; or their actions should be seen in terms of transgressive criminology (causing harm rather than breaking the law). A wide range of state crimes may be considered.

This can include corruption, e.g. kleptocratic regimes robbing their populations, or human rights abuses, including very extreme acts such as the Rwandan genocide or ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia.

State crimes include (but are not restricted to):

Corruption

Discrimination

Funding terrorism

Funding organised crime

War crimes

Torture

Assassination

Genocide

Eugene McLaughlin (2001) divided these into four types of state crime:

crimes by the security and police forces

economic crimes

social and cultural crimes (like institutional racism) and

practical crimes (like corruption)

Spiral of Denial

Stan Cohen (1996) identified a spiral of denial that states use when accused of human rights abuses.
"IT DIDN'T HAPPEN"
The first reaction is often to deny that anything occurred at all. This lasts until international bodies produce evidence that it did occur.
"IT'S NOT HOW IT LOOKS"
Once such evidence is provided, the next stage is often to question a particular version of events, instead claiming that others carried out the atrocity or the evidence pointed to something rather different occurring.
"IT HAD TO BE THIS WAY"
The final stage of the spiral of denial is to admit that the abuse occurred but to justify it. To suggest that it was the fault of the victims, or that there was no other way.

There is some similarity to Matza's techniques of neutralisation as referred to in functionalist explanations of crime, deviance, social order and social control. This can also be applied to state crimes.

Evaluating the Sociology of State Crimes

While Marxists look at all manner of harmful activity as being state crime, some question what the parameters are. This is the same issue raised elsewhere in relation to transgressive approaches to crime. For all the problems of limiting considerations of crime to transgressions of specific laws, opening it up to all harm becomes very unwieldy. While everyone would agree that torture or genocide are state crimes, some might question whether the absence of health and safety and equality legislation could be considered as such; yet Marxists and feminists might describe such measures as states causing harm.

Some worry that discourses of human rights can be ethnocentric, seeking to apply western norms to all societies. While the argument is often used to oppose international intervention in countries (such as Iraq, for example) it would be difficult to justify the argument when presented with specific examples: it does not seem acceptable to argue that women should have fewer rights in Saudi Arabia than in the UK just because those happen to be the local norms and values. The whole point of a discourse of human rights is to challenge and change such values.

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Of course, states generally create the laws of their countries and while governments may break their own laws, it is more likely the case that they are breaking international law; or their actions should be seen in terms of transgressive criminology (causing harm rather than breaking the law).

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CHAMBLISS 1975 Toward a political economy of crime

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CHAMBLISS 1975 Toward a political economy of crime

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Marxist Theories of Crime & Deviance - Criminogenic Capitalism | A Level Sociology

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Wilson and Kelling 1982,, Broken Windows