On
30 June 1999, 12,120 people in Prison Service
establishments in England and Wales belonged
to ethnic minority groups. This was little
changed from the 12,030 held in June 1998.
Over the same period the prison population
as a whole reduced by 2 per cent.
Ethnic
minority groups made up 18 per cent of the
male and 25 per cent of the female prison
populations at the end of June 1999.
Greater
proportions of male white prisoners were in
prison for violent or sexual offences (32
per cent) or for burglary (19 per cent) than
black prisoners (27 per cent and 11 per cent
respectively). Black male sentenced prisoners
were more likely than white males to be held
for robbery (23 per cent compared with 11
per cent) or drug offences (24 per cent compared
with 13 per cent).
In
mid-1999 65 per cent of the black sentenced
adult male population were serving sentences
of 4 years and over. This compares with 50
per cent of white sentenced adult males, 57
per cent of sentenced adult South Asian males,
and 62 per cent of sentenced adult males from
Chinese and other ethnic groups.
Nationality
In
mid-1999, 8 per cent (5,400) of the prison
population were foreign nationals. This proportion
has not changed since 1993.
The
proportion of sentenced female British nationals
held for drug offences was 28 per cent. Amongst
women who were foreign nationals the proportion
serving sentences for drug offences was more
than 75 per cent.
Religion
The
religions with the greatest numbers of members
were Anglican (42 per cent) and Roman Catholic
(18 per cent). Seven per cent of prisoners
were Muslim. Among South Asians and ‘Chinese
and other’ groups, the majority with
a recorded religion were Muslim.
