Research Proposal: BME Experiences and Race Hate Crime in Wrexham

This research proposal delves into the complex issue of race hate crime, focusing on the experiences and perceptions of Black Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in Wrexham. The proposal outlines a comprehensive study, beginning with an abstract and introduction that sets the context for the research. A detailed literature review explores key issues and theoretical frameworks surrounding racism, discrimination, and the historical context of race relations in the UK, referencing significant works such as the Macpherson Report and the writings of Bhavani, Shah, and others. The methodology section describes the research design, sample selection, recruitment strategies, data collection tools, and data analysis techniques to be employed. The proposal also addresses ethical considerations. The findings section will present the results of the research, supported by evidence. Finally, the discussion and conclusion will highlight key findings, discuss limitations, connect the findings to existing literature, and explore implications for practice, along with suggestions for future research. The proposal includes a declaration, acknowledgements, and references, and it adheres to the specific requirements outlined in the assignment brief including word counts for each section.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
BLACK MINORITY ETHNIC EXPERIENCES AND
PERCEPTIONS OF RACE HATE CRIME in
Wrexham
Contents Page
Title
Acknowledgements (not included in word count)
Abstract (approx. 200 words)
Concise summary of project
Background literature (approx. 2,000 words)
Key issues (substantial and theoretical) to be covered in the review, with
references
Methods (Approx. 1800 words)
Research design
Sample and recruitment
Research tools
Data analysis
Ethics

Findings (negotiable in quantitative studies but otherwise approx. 2000 words)
Set out findings – with evidence from the data
Discussion and conclusion (approximately 2000 words)
Highlight your key findings
Discuss limitations of the research
Discus how findings resonate with the literature
Discuss any implications for practice
Ideas for future research
References (not included in word count)
Appendices (not included in the word count)
As usual you should submit your work with the required mark sheet which in this
module is amended so you can evidence attendance at supervision sessions:
All work must be submitted through turnitin
BA C&CJ Assessment Front Sheet – 2015/2016 Year 3 Research project
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completed by student -----
Student Number:
Project Deadline

Module Title & Code Dissertation Soc663
Word Count
Supervision meetings
I attended
Meeting Date
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5
6
IMPORTANT Declaration
In submitting this project I
confirm that this is the
product of my own work
and I am aware of and
agree to abide by the
University's regulations
concerning plagiarism.
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First marker
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Agreed mark
1. PRESENTATION
I) Layout, Word Count, Page Numbering, Type set, Spacing,
ii) Referencing, Quotations, Bibliography,
iii) Sentence construction, Paragraphs, Writing style, Spelling, Punctuation
Commentary
2. SELECTION OF MATERIAL
i) Extent and use of sources
ii) Acknowledgement of sources (referencing)

Commentary
3. PLANNING & STRUCTURE
i) Intro, and conclusion
ii) overall organisation of material
Commentary
4. CONTENT
I) Knowledge and understanding
ii) Critical analysis/discussion
Commentary
Summative Comments
Declaration
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology

Findings
Discussion
Conclusions
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Bibliography
Declaration
I Lydia Munawa hereby certify that:
• This project is my own work
• I have referenced and credited all sources
• No part of this piece of work has been submitted towards a previous
assessment task
Signature: Date:

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my Dissertation supervisor, Dr, Caroline Hughes for support and
academic guidance in the production of this research…………………………

Abstract (200 words)

Introduction

Literature Review (2000 words)
Bhavani et al., (2006) argue that historically and currently individuals were and are
still being discriminated against on the grounds of skin colour, bodily features or
cultural practices. It is only relatively recently that the idea of ‘race’ has emerged as a
revealing device justifying such differentiation (Bhavani et al., 2006). Shah (2010)
suggests that racism may be defined as the belief that abilities and characteristics of
people can be recognized simply from their membership of a certain social or ethnic
group. However, Chakraborti (1990) defines racism as, a set of beliefs or a way of
thinking within which groups are identified on the basis of real or imagined biological
characteristics, for example, skin colour, and are subsequently viewed in negative
ways. It is therefore claimed that, certain groups, identified as ‘races’, ‘ethnic
minorities’ or by some more abusive labels, share characteristics, attitudes, abilities
and a propensity to certain behaviour (Chakraborti, 1990).
The Macpherson Report (1999) supported the contention that the emergence of the
term ‘racism’ reflects the changing nature of relationships between ethnic and
cultural groups. At the end of the 19th Century, Lambrosso (1876, p.??) forwarded a
scientific theory in his book Criminal Man which asserts that, savages and coloured
races share most characteristics found in habitual delinquents and these were
identified by their physical features such as low cranial capacity, receding foreheads,
darker skins, curly hair and large ears. These so called ‘inferior’ traits were then (and
subsequently) ascribed to racially ‘other whites’, for example, those of Irish or Jewish
extraction in an attempt to relate such groups with negative stereo-typical behaviours
associated with Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) groups as well. In general terms,
racism tends to assume that some groups are superior to others and Katz (1978)
argues that racism may be simply defined as ‘Prejudice + Power’. If this relationship
is accepted then there is an inherent suggestion that to be a racist, a person must
occupy or have access to a position of power and knowledge (Fucault date,)
Conflicts over interpretation are often complex and nuanced and Macpherson (1999
[a]) argues that people can be unintentionally racist, as stereotypes can become
embedded in society and that as a consequence, racism can be damaging in a more

elusive form rather than any random individual exhibiting specific immediately
identifiable characteristics of racism. Nevertheless, in its overt form, racism
incorporates issues of conduct, the use of language or practices which disadvantage
people based purely on their colour, culture, nationality or ethnic origin (Macpherson,
1999 [b]). However, Mason (2012) suggests that although the terms racism and
racist can be used as subjective instruments to challenge and resist forms of
inequality, injustice and violence, such practices are almost exclusively used by
those in power. The United Kingdom (UK) is amongst the leading first world nations,
which espouses a dynamic multicultural approach to its social policies, although it
may be claimed by Malik (1998) for example, that this is as a consequence of its
historical colonial past. The term multicultural society often refers to one which
incorporates many different racial and ethnic groups (Constantine, et al., 2007) and
when compared to other nations, the UK has undergone a significant transformation
and growth of its ethnic population, which has subsequently flavoured many of its
communities. This transformation has presented wide-ranging responses from
appreciation and celebration of diversity to voiced prejudice which has (and
continues to) point out differences in and between communities.
Bowling and Phillips (2002) explored the concepts proffered by the philosophers of
the European Enlightenment, the ascendancy of science and reason within the work
of writers such as Hume, Kant and Hegel. They have suggested that race was seen
as a way of distinguishing the cultural superiority of white Europeans from the
barbarism associated with non-whites outside Europe, a view that became
entrenched during the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade over the course of
the seventeenth and eighteenth Centuries (Bhavani et al., 2006). Between the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries this theory was mirrored by that of the Eugenics
movements which sought powerful control predicated upon the concept of the ‘purity
of races’ and enforcement of racial segregation was further propagated through laws
which distinguished between groups not rooted in morals or ethical considerations or
even notions of justice but by a simple belief in the superiority of certain social and
biological groups.
However, it is the development of the post-Second World war context of the
contemporary race agenda which has developed the most significant implications

(Baylis, Smith and Owens, 2017). Hiro (2002) states that the 1960’s doubling of
incursions of migrants from Asia and the Caribbean changed the demographic profile
of the United Kingdom (UK). However, Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue that it is the
migration of former Commonwealth countries that appeared to have brought about
the race relations issues. On the one hand Gadd (DATE) suggests that the Home
Office publication of racial attacks was the trigger in the history of criminological
research on racially motivated crime. However, Iganski (1999) argues that the
consistent rise in the number of racist incidents reported to the police across
England and Wales in the 1990’s called for changes in legislation. Bowling and
Phillips (2002) argue that it was after the 1958 Nottingham and Noting Hill
disturbances that triggered the association of race politicisation with crime resulting
in impetus legislation that shamelessly highlighted differences between white rights
and non-white settlers.
Many issues pertaining to race and ethnicity and a potential correlation to criminal
tendency have been researched by Wade (2017), Andrews and Bonta (2014) and
Hurley, Jensen, Weaver and Dixon (2015). For example, Dorfman and Schirald,
(2001) state that there are two main difficulties in interpreting statistics to establish
whether BME groups are discriminated against or racist incidents under reported in
the UK CJS. Firstly, the area remains under-researched and second, consistent
misrepresentations of BME groups exist within the CJS (Bowling and Phillips, 2002a,
2002b; Home Office, 2003). This causes a continuing challenge for the UK and many
other countries facing diversity-related issues, particularly where the violation of
Human Rights allows racism to flourish. Hall et al. (1998) argue that there is
persistency in racial stereotyping, which impacts on law enforcement expectations
and behaviours. Racial discrimination in the CJS exists when the proportion of a
racial or ethnic group within the control of the system is greater than the proportion of
such groups in the general population (Leinfelt, 2006). The reasons behind such
inequalities are wide-ranging. For example, police may focus on certain groups, and
legislative guidelines may favour the majority rather than minority groups. Unlawful
or unauthorized racial inequality in law enforcement approaches are often caused by
the disparate management of similar situations depending on ethnicity (Race
Relations Act 1976) Racism has therefore become an increasing interest to
politicians, journalists, law enforcement and researchers resulting in it

overshadowing alternative strands of hate crime.
However, it is only relatively recently that the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has
begun to focus upon the experiences of victims of race crime (Lowe and et. al.,
2015). Racist victimisation, regardless of the massive levels of hate crime, has been
directed towards minority ethnic communities from the Second World War 2 (Bowling
and Philips, 2002). By the late 1970’s this was becoming more fully acknowledged
but legal actions at the time were restricted. Bowling and Philips (2002) argue that
improvements have been made over the passage of time however, retrospective
criminal cases are unlikely. Both Bowling and Phillips (2002) and Hall et al., (1978)
have described this era as among the most viciously racist periods in British
domestic history due to BME groups being viewed as threat to the majority. They
discuss depictions of minority communities as exhibiting disorderly
characteristics with little attention given to the experiences of victims of racist
hate. Even when the fractious relationship between the police and black
communities collapsed with the outbreaks of public disorder, such as rioting
during 1981 in St Paul’s, Brixton, Toxteth, explanations for this disorder gave
relatively little consideration to black experiences of oppressive policing and of
social and economic exclusion REF- Hall et al?.
The public inquiry into the Brixton riots chaired by Lord Scarman (1981)
acknowledged problems of minority ethnic deprivation and disadvantage.
However, Scarman (1981) stopped short of explicitly detailing black community
grievances, and did not highlight their experiences of racist stereotyping and
oppression. The inquiry also failed to prevent the potential recurrences of riots,
which occurred in areas such as Handsworth in Birmingham and the Broadwater
Farm Estate in London during 1985. Crucially, the Scarman Report did not
accuse the Police Service of being institutionally racist, instead relating police
failings to a small group of ‘bad apples’ choosing to explain the problem of racism
as a minor issue involving only a small and isolated number of low-ranking
prejudiced officers.