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Race, Crime and Criminal Justice in Italy

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Race, Crime and Criminal Justice

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Abstract

As a necessary premise to this contribution, it should be borne in mind that debates around ‘race’, in Italy, would be deemed racist. Likewise, ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’ are not important social categories in official crime statistics where crime and victimisation rates are generally classified, first, along the lines of two broad groups of Italian residents such as ‘Italian’ and ‘non-Italian’ and, secondly, by nationality. Even those who are indeed racist, therefore, prefer to adopt terms such as foreigners or immigrants, while most would designate the newcomers by their country of origin. This does not mean that stereotypes are avoided. On the contrary, naming people by nationality may become a shortcut leading to their faster labelling. Thus, ‘Rumanian’ may evoke notions of theft, ‘Albanian’ violence and ‘Nigerian’ prostitution (Monzini, 2005; Uba and Monzini, 2007). Nationalities, in brief, may become synonyms for specific illegal activities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesex University, London, UK

    Vincenzo Ruggiero

Authors
  1. Vincenzo Ruggiero
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texas Southern University, USA

    Anita Kalunta-Crumpton

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© 2010 Vincenzo Ruggiero

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Ruggiero, V. (2010). Race, Crime and Criminal Justice in Italy. In: Kalunta-Crumpton, A. (eds) Race, Crime and Criminal Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230283954_5

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