25 January 2001 Edition
Scottish prison figures highlight discrimination
BY FERN LANE
The ongoing debate in Scotland about anti-Catholic sectarianism, initiated by the composer James McMillan in 1999 when he stated that the country is institutionally sectarian, has been fuelled in recent days by a doctoral student, Michael Rosie. He has discovered that although only 15% of the general population of Scotland is Catholic, Catholics represent almost 30% of the prison population, a figure that has not fallen significantly since the 1920s. The largest proportion of prisoners, 44%, is Church of Scotland.
Scotland's Justice minister, Jim Wallace, has promised an investigation into the disparity, saying he was ``puzzled'' at the revelations, but denying that anti-Catholic discrimination was the cause. Rosie, who has just submitted his doctoral thesis on religion and sectarianism in Scotland said his own view was that class differences were the more likely explanation, adding that he did not believe Catholics to be victims of a harsh judiciary, despite the fact that only three of Scotland's 32 judges are Catholics. ``There must be something in the social structure of where Catholics are located. Are there larger concentrations of Catholic households in declining urban areas, either with low status jobs or no employment at all?'' Although claiming that he does not think Catholics to be predisposed to criminality, Rosie did comment: ``It's nothing to do with Catholicism or Catholics, but it can have its roots in where a family's culture has been rooted for the last 75 years. If there is a culture of crime within a family, it's more likely that its younger members will grow up to offend.''
The notoriously and unashamedly anti-Irish, anti-Catholic former Rangers chair, defence lawyer Donald Findlay - who was filmed singing sectarian songs at a Rangers party - was typically, less circumspect in his comment on the matter. ``I would guess any distortion has less to do with religion than with the strong presence in the west of Scotland of people with Irish roots,'' he said.
In other words, Catholics per se may not be predisposed to crime, but the Irish are.
The ongoing debate in Scotland about anti-Catholic sectarianism, initiated by the composer James McMillan in 1999 when he stated that the country is institutionally sectarian, has been fuelled in recent days by a doctoral student, Michael Rosie. He has discovered that although only 15% of the general population of Scotland is Catholic, Catholics represent almost 30% of the prison population, a figure that has not fallen significantly since the 1920s. The largest proportion of prisoners, 44%, is Church of Scotland.
Scotland's Justice minister, Jim Wallace, has promised an investigation into the disparity, saying he was ``puzzled'' at the revelations, but denying that anti-Catholic discrimination was the cause. Rosie, who has just submitted his doctoral thesis on religion and sectarianism in Scotland said his own view was that class differences were the more likely explanation, adding that he did not believe Catholics to be victims of a harsh judiciary, despite the fact that only three of Scotland's 32 judges are Catholics. ``There must be something in the social structure of where Catholics are located. Are there larger concentrations of Catholic households in declining urban areas, either with low status jobs or no employment at all?'' Although claiming that he does not think Catholics to be predisposed to criminality, Rosie did comment: ``It's nothing to do with Catholicism or Catholics, but it can have its roots in where a family's culture has been rooted for the last 75 years. If there is a culture of crime within a family, it's more likely that its younger members will grow up to offend.''
The notoriously and unashamedly anti-Irish, anti-Catholic former Rangers chair, defence lawyer Donald Findlay - who was filmed singing sectarian songs at a Rangers party - was typically, less circumspect in his comment on the matter. ``I would guess any distortion has less to do with religion than with the strong presence in the west of Scotland of people with Irish roots,'' he said.
In other words, Catholics per se may not be predisposed to crime, but the Irish are.