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What do you understand by the term ‘institutional racism’? Discuss this in relation to the British criminal justice system Institutional racism is defined by the Macpherson Report 1999 as “The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people”(Dennis et al 2000). The concept of institutional racism in the criminal justice system has been used to describe the way that people from ethnic minorities are discriminated against at various stages in the criminal justice process. The issues of racism as they affect the position of ethnic minorities within the criminal justice system have been given increased attention. The death of Stephen Lawrence 10 years ago and the report into his murder brought to light the widespread failings in the criminal justice system and validated what people from ethnic minorities had been saying for years, “we live in a two tier society, one rule for whites and another for