ABSTRACT
Available research evidence indicates that minority ethnic people in the UK are disproportionately represented in the crime figures and are more likely to be treated less favourably than their white counterparts in the criminal justice system. The evidence suggests that criminal justice decisions are sometimes influenced by racist stereotypes and prejudice (see Cook and Hudson 1993; Bowling and Phillips 2002). In addition, there is now a growing concern about discriminatory practice and unfair treatment of minority ethnic offenders post-sentence, for example in prisons, young offender institutions or while on community punishments (see, for example, Calverley et al. 2004).
