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Ethnic groups and crime

Ethnic groups are linked by a shared identity or by factors such as a long common history, a cultural tradition, a common geographic origin, language, religion or literature. Australia has a long history of immigration from many parts of the world and today more than three million Australians speak a language other than English in the home. It has been found that the most recent arrivals may suffer socioeconomic disadvantage and have communities that are disorganised, factors that have been shown to contribute to neighbourhood crime problems. The biggest issue facing police who are dealing with culturally and linguistically diverse groups is the language barrier. The AIC website includes links to AIC research on this issue together with recent national and international studies on ethnic groups and crime.

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Australia

• 'I lived in fear because I knew nothing' : barriers to the justice system faced by CALD women experiencing family violence
  inTouch, inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence. 2010
• Supporting women from CALD backgrounds who are victim
  survivors of sexual violence : challenges and opportunities for practitioners , Australian Institute of Family Studies. 2011
• Don't Go There: Young People, Community Safety and Policing, Victoria University, 2010
  A/Prof. Michele Grossman and A/Prof. Jenny Sharples, Victoria University, 2010
• Good starts for recently arrived youth with refugee backgrounds : promoting wellbeing in the first three years of settlement in Melbourne, Australia
  La Trobe Refugee Research Centre, LaTrobe Refugee Research Centre. 2010
• Racism and the tertiary student experience in Australia
  Adam Graycar, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. 2010
• Welfare of international students
  Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. 2009
• A conversation on trust : community policing and refugee settlement in regional Australia (PDF 443kB)
  Danielle Campbell and Roberta Julian, Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies. 2009
• Rights of passage : the experiences of Australian-Sudanese young people
  Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. 2008
• Investigation into African humanitarian settlement in NSW
  Community Relations Commission, Sydney : Community Relations Commission. 2006
• Counter-terrorism policing and culturally diverse communities : final report 2007 (PDF 1.4MB)
  Sharon Pickering, Monash University. 2007
• Immigration and crime : do Asian immigrants bring more crimes to Australia? (PDF 135kB)
  Nguyen To Tran. Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government, Australian National University, 2005
• Immigrant crime in Europe and Australia : rational or racialised responses? (PDF 162kB)
  Jock Collins. National Europe Centre Paper No. 80, 2003  
• Attitudes to domestic and family violence in the diverse Australian community : cultural perspectives (PDF 849kB)
  Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, 2000
• Multicultural perspectives of crime and safety
  Report for the Victorian Multicultural Commission, 2000

Other countries and international

• A practical reference to religious and spiritual diversity for operational police
  Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency, Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency. 2010
• Crime and immigration : evidence from large immigrant waves
  Brian Bell, Stephen Machin and Francesco Fasani, Centre for Economic Performance. 2010
• Minority ethnic groups and crime : findings from the offending, crime and justice survey 2003 (PDF 598kB)
  Clare Sharp and Tracey Budd. Home Office (UK), 2005
• No turning back : promising approaches to reducing racial and ethnic disparities affecting youth of colour in the justice system (PDF 5.95MB)
  Building Blocks for Youth initiative (US), 2005

Recent publications

• Police interviews with vulnerable adult suspects
  13 July 2011
• Crime prevention programs for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia
  15 June 2011
• Non-disclosure of violence in Australian Indigenous communities
  19 January 2011
• Trafficking in persons monitoring report July 2007 – December 2008
  23 October 2009
• Counter-terrorism policing and culturally and linguistically diverse communities 1: the challenges
  05 June 2008
• Ethnicity and crime
  04 May 1999
• Regulating racial hatred
  04 February 1998

Recent events

• The criminal justice system in a multicultural society
  04 May 1993