Race Factor in Offending & Victimization Rates

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An analysis of racial/ethnic differences in offending and victimization rates

A lot of attention has always been paid to the issue of race and crime. Statistics in the United States show that the rate of incarceration among the minority communities is higher than in the White communities. Statistics show that homicide is the leading cause of death among males in the African American community. The probability that a young African American male will die due to homicide is very high. It stands at 1 in every group of 21 young African Americans while it is much lower in the Whites where the probability is 1 in every group of 131 White males (Sampson and Wilson, 126).

Although the homicide rates have been increasing from the 1950s both in the White and African American communities, the rate of increase in the African American community has been at higher levels. The rate of death through firearms among the African Americans doubled in the period from 1984 to 1988 compared to the rates among the Whites which were relatively stable. The rate of African American robbery is ten times higher than the White rates.

Although African Americans account for only 12% of the overall population, they are imprisoned or sentenced for more than 50% of the homicide and robbery arrests in the country (Shihadeh and Steffensmeier 729).

There are scholars who have refused to focus on the causes of these differentials instead of carrying out studies to show that there is racism against minority communities by the law enforcement agencies. Weitzer in 2000, interviewed residents from the White middle-class community and African American middle, as well as lower-class communities to find out their perception of racialized policing. All the respondents agreed that African Americans were treated more harshly than Whites by the police. The White respondents indicated that the reason for the harsher treatment was the exceptionally high crime rates in the African American communities. The police were therefore to a certain extent justified in their behavior (Weitzer 151). Residents from the African American middle-class neighborhood felt that they received, to a certain extent, the same kind of treatment as the Whites. The African Americans from poor neighborhoods reported inferior treatment.

These perceptions are due to the kind of policing both neighborhoods receive. The African Americans in the poor neighborhood have seen police engaging in proactive methods where they keep patrolling and asking the people what they are doing. The houses are congested with poor infrastructure, and the crime rates are high. The African Americans in middle-class neighborhoods live under good conditions; the neighborhoods display well-maintained houses and compounds with hardly any sign of disorderly behavior.

Unnever (2008) agreed with Weitzer’s findings. In his research study on the perception of race among African Americans and Whites, he found out that African Americans believed that there was a racial bias against them in the courts and among the police (Unnever 530). They felt that these biases contributed to the higher sentencing and incarceration rates among African Americans. The courts were more likely to convict African Americans than Whites. The researchers, however, point out that those African Americans, who had gone through experiences where they had faced racial discrimination, were more likely to point out racial bias in the courts and in the law enforcement agencies. The African Americans felt that the high crime rates in their community were due to structural differences such as lack of jobs, failing schools and poor parenting.

Steffensmeier, Ulmer and Kramer (1998) carried out research on incarceration data in Pennsylvania for the years 1989-1992 to find out the impact age, gender and race had on sentencing outcomes. In their finding on sentencing statistics, the researchers discovered that apart from factors such as prior records and the gravity of the offense, African American male offenders in their 20’s and 30’s were sentenced more harshly than their female, white and elderly offenders (Steffensmeier, Ulmer and Kramer 788). The researchers suggest that judges consider factors such as age, gender, and race which contribute to young African American offenders getting severe sentences.

Causes of the Disparities in the Offending and Victimization Rates

There are different scholars who have put forward the reasons for the discrepancies in the offending rates between the different races. Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) wrote about the subculture of violence theory. They explained that the African Americans valued violence. The individuals in the African American community, who did not exhibit any violence, ended up being looked down and despised. On the other hand, the ones who had learned to be violent did not feel odd, neither did they experience any feelings of shame or guilt (Wolfgang and Ferracuti 155). The culture in the African American community influences young males to engage in violence at higher rates leading to higher incarceration rates.

Blau and Blau (1982) contested the view of a subculture of violence by Wolfgang and Ferracuti. In a research study, they ascertained that high rates of crime in the minority races stemmed from differences in socioeconomic conditions. In the ghettos and other low-income neighborhoods, the proportion of the minority races was higher than the Whites (Blau and Blau 125).

The minority races resorted to crime in order to get what they needed for their daily life. The crime was caused by their materialist needs due to what they lacked. If poverty was reduced in the ghettos, the rate of crime would go down.

Shaw and Mckay (1942) proposed that the cause of the discrepancies in criminal behavior was due to weak controls and organizations in society. These scholars said that criminal behavior was not rooted in individual causes, rather it was a reaction of law-abiding citizens to abnormal conditions in the society. If the society was not policed adequately and there were other forms of control, it resulted in criminal behavior, as people sought freedom in expressing their views.

They explained that rich people moved to a better neighborhood to escape the disorganization and inadequate policing (Shaw and McKay 112).

McNulty and Bellair conducted a research on five ethnic communities, the African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Whites and Native Americans to find out the individual and family risk factors that heightened criminal tendencies in adolescents. The researches carried out the research in high schools and interviewed parents and teachers to answer questions on the sample adolescents observed tendencies of deviant behavior, such as fighting, stabbing, and shooting someone. They found out that there were several risk factors that increased the probability of deviant behavior. These were lack of family resources, the presence of gangs in the locale area, and lack of mainstream attachment in the context of lack of fathers or positive male role models (McNulty and Bellair 734). The study supported Blau and Blau’s findings on the effect of living in areas that are economically disadvantaged to individuals.

Policy recommendations aimed at reduction of the racial disparities in offending and victimization

The high crime rates in the African American communities should be addressed as it is a critical issue. The high rate of homicide in this community shows that the life expectancy of these men is lower compared to their peers in other ethnic communities. There are scholars who have suggested that poor families can be relocated to better neighborhoods in order to reduce the offending and victimization rates among the adolescents. This does not provide solution to the problem at all. There should be government and non-governmental programs instituted to deal with the structural problems of these communities. First of all, the business communities can work closely with the business initiatives in the region to empower them and educate them on how to run successful ventures. The infrastructure in the areas should be improved to support businesses. This will create more job opportunities raising the standards of living. The young people can also be linked with jobs in the wider community.

There should also be policies to deal with those adolescents who are already in gangs or have started exhibiting criminal behavior. There should be efforts to counsel them and engage them in recreational and artistic activities, such as sports, for example, in order to show them alternate lifestyles. For the children that come from single families, the government should link them up with father figures and mentors to create bonds that are aimed at influencing their behaviors and mind-sets concerning life positively. There should also be government efforts to prevent the flow of guns among the youths in the locations where the minority communities are concentrated. There should not be a high emphasis in the courts and among the judges on the incarceration for the offenders (Butler 722). There should be attempts at rehabilitation. Statistics have shown that longer prison sentences do not necessarily reduce the crime rates among the minorities.

Works Cited

Blau Judith and Peter Blau. “The Costs of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime”. American Sociological Review, 47(1982): 114-129. Print.

Butler, Paul. “Racially Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice System”. Yale Law Journal, 105(1995): 677-725. Print.

McNulty, Thomas and Paul Bellair. “Explaining Racial and Ethnic Differences in Serious Adolescent Violent Behavior” Criminology, 41(2003): 709-748. Print.

Sampson, Robert and William Wilson.“Toward a Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality.” Crime Readings. Eds. R. D. Crutchfield, G. S. Bridges, J. G. Weis, and C. Kubrin. CA: Pine Forge Press, 2000. Print.

Shaw, Clifford R. and Henry McKay. Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942. Print.

Shihadeh, Edward and Steffensmeier Darell. “Economic Inequality, Family Disruption, and Urban Black Violence: Cities as Units of Stratification and Social Control”. Social Forces, 73.1 (1994): 729-751. Print.

Steffensmeier, Darrel, Ulmer, Jeffrey and John Kramer. “The Interaction of Race, Gender, and Age in Criminal Sentencing: The Punishment Cost of Being Young, Black, and Male”. Criminology, 36 (1998): 763-797. Print.

Unnever, James. “Two Worlds far Apart: Black-White Differences in Beliefs about Why African-American Men Are Disproportionately Imprisoned”. Criminology, 46 (2008): 511-538. Print.

Weitzer, Ronald. “Racialized Policing: Residents’ Perceptions in Three Neighborhoods” Law & Society Review, 34 (2000): 129-155. Print.

Wolfgang, Marvin and Franco Ferracuti. The Subculture of Siolence: Towards an Integrated Theory in Criminology. London: Tavistock Publications, 1967. Print.

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Race Factor in Offending & Victimization Rates

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