Journal Articles
Section I: Overview of Race, Ethnicity and Crime
- Wright, L. E. (2011). Alain Locke on race relations: Some political implications of his thought. Journal of Black Studies, 42(4), 665-689.
Although Alain Locke’s works are well known, they have rarely been assessed for their direct significance as political theory. In this article, the author undertakes such an assessment by exposing the political implications of Locke’s formulations on race in a number of lectures he conducted in 1916. Specifically, this article shows that although Locke’s works have been interpreted as advocating a critical pragmatism on race, they put forth a new kind of racialism that is neither critical nor conservative, although decidedly radical. Exposing this makes it easier to see the connection between Locke’s works and the earlier thinkers on race before the European Enlightenment aswell as ways in which they anticipate important trends in contemporary political thought. - What do you think about Alain Locke’s views on race relations?
- What are some political implications of Alain Locke’s views on race relations?
- Wilkinson, S. (2011). Constructing ethnicity statistics in talk-in-interaction: Producing the ‘White European’. Discourse & Society, 22(3), 343-361.
This article ‘looks behind’ official statistics, analyzing the social context of their production. It uses conversation analysis to examine how an organization’s ethnic monitoring statistics are constructed in and through interactions between callers and volunteers on its telephone helpline. In particular, it examines how the process of self-categorization is shaped by the response categories on the organization’s monitoring form and by the format in which the ethnic monitoring question is asked. These analyses contribute to developing understandings of the social construction of ‘race’/ethnicity and of organizationally generated statistics. - How do you think someone’s life experiences shape their self-categorization?
- Do you think it is important to study what influences respondents’ answer to questions such as their ethnicity? Why or Why not?
- Malesevic, S. (2011). Ethnicity in time and space: A conceptual analysis. Critical Sociology, 37(1), 67-82.
The study of ethnicity has largely developed in two different and for the most part incommensurable directions of research: the temporal and the spatial. The main aim of this paper is to critically engage with these two dominant paradigms of research in order to articulate a more coherent sociological concept of ethnicity. The author argues that the principal weaknesses of the temporal perspective are cultural reductionism and historical determinism whereas the spatial perspective suffers from analytical particularism and inflexible collectivism. To circumvent these epistemological problems it is necessary to articulate an alternative general understanding that conceptualizes ethnicity as a universal, interactive social situation. - Why is it important to understand temporal and spatial directions of research on ethnicity?
- After reading this article, what does the term “ethnicity” mean to you?
- Beaudoin, C. E. (2011). News effects on bonding and bridging social capital: An empirical study relevant to ethnicity in the United States. Communication Research, 38(2), 155-178.
In an effort to advance decades of mass communication research on social capital and related indicators of social ties and civic engagement, this study provides an empirical assessment of social capital’s often discussed, but rarely tested, bonding and bridging dimensions. It examines how usage patterns of traditional news media (i. e., newspaper and TV news) and online news media (i. e., Internet news) are associated with bonding and bridging neighborliness, as defined by ethnicity. Analysis of data from a 2007 national survey demonstrates that traditional news media use—but not online news media use—is significantly associated with bonding neighborliness and bridging neighborliness. In addition, the relationship between traditional news media use and bonding neighborliness, as well as that between online news media use and bonding neighborliness, is more positive for Whites and Asians than for Blacks and Latinos. Results are discussed in terms of bonding and bridging social capital, ethnic media portrayals, and journalism and ethnicity in the United States. - Why do you think race/ethnicity was a factor in how traditional news media affected the building of social cohesion?
- What are some implications of Beaudoin’s findings?
- Billinger, M. S. (2007). Another look at ethnicity as a biological concept: Moving anthropology beyond the race concept. Critique of Anthropology, 27(1), 5-35.
Montagu referred to race as ‘man’s most dangerous myth’, while Lévi-Strauss called it ‘the original sin of anthropology’. Although persuasive arguments against the concept of race were made throughout the 20th century, race remains a particular problem for anthropologists who deal in the classification of human populations. Racial terminology has been perpetuated within anthropology largely owing to the fact that, historically, race formed the very core of anthropological study. Despite the conceptual inadequacy of race, the anthropological enterprise has yet to move beyond it as an explanatory tool for understanding human biological variation because of the lack of a conceptual and/or methodological replacement. This article re-analyses historical anthropological literature on ethnicity and biocultural interaction as a replacement for the race concept, and recasts it in the context of modern philosophical and psychological perspectives on population variation. - Do you believe ethnicity is a biological concept? Why or why not?
- After reading this article, do you believe that ethnicity should be viewed as a biological or social construct?
- Fong, E. (2008). Reconstructing the “problem” of race. Political Research Quarterly, 61(4), 660-670
How should the “problem” of race be conceptualized? This essay attempts to widen our understanding of the problem of race in American political discourse by examining its productive function in grounding the meaning of American liberalism. By tracing this relationship in W. E. B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk, Woodrow Wilson's 1913 Gettysburg Reunion Speech, Louis Hartz's The Liberal Tradition in America, and Rogers M. Smith's Civic Ideals, the author argues that as long as race is conceived as the negative referent of American liberal identity, the problem of race will continue to obscure the possibilities for transformative change. - What are some steps that can be taken by Americans in order to ameliorate the negative stereotypes associated with racial/ethnic minorities in the United States?
- Do you think that “race” is plays a major role in politics? Why or why not?
- Franklin-Jackson, D., & Carter, R. T. (2007). The relationships between race-related stress, racial identity, and mental health for black Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 33(1), 5-26.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between race-related stress, racial identity, and mental health in a sample of 255 Black American adults. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that racial identity and race-related stress predicted mental health; however, racial identity accounted for more of the variance in mental health. These findings provide evidence that a person’s racial identity must be considered when understanding race-related stress and mental health. Implications for practice and research are discussed. - Name three possible ways to ameliorate the effects of race-related stress on one’s psychological health.
- What do you think explains the relationship between racial identity and psychological distress?
- Paolucci, P. (2006). Race and racism in Marx's camera obscura. Critical Sociology, 32(4), 617-648.
The charge that Marx's work leaves sociologists few tools with which to understand the phenomena of race and racism has been a common one. Against such claims, this essay attempts to mobilize several analytical devices in Marx's work that help us grasp race and racism as sociological realities. These include an understanding of the inversion process (referred to here as the “camera obscura”) Marx asserted was inherent to bourgeois ideology, his method of addressing the issue of tautology in the philosophy of science, and his approach to political-economic analysis. These aspects of Marx's work are essential for any study of race and racism in modern capitalist societies. - How does Marx’s work help understand race and racism?
- Does the author make a strong argument as to why reading the works of Marx is essential for the study of race and racism in modern capitalist societies? Why or why not?
- Lysne, M., & Levy, G. D. (1997). Differences in ethnic identity in Native American adolescents as a function of school context. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12(3), 372-388.
Examined were differences in ethnic identity in 101 Native American male and female 9th and 12th graders. Native American adolescents attending a high school with a predominantly Native American student body demonstrated significantly greater ethnic identity exploration and commitment than Native American adolescents from high schools with a predominantly White student body. The 12th grade Native American adolescents from a high school with a predominantly Native American student body had greater ethnic identity commitment than 9th grade Native American adolescents from the same school. Also, 12th grade Native American adolescents from a high school with a predominantly Native American student body had greater ethnic identity commitment than 9th and 12th grade Native American adolescents from a high school with a predominantly White student body. Exploration and commitment appear to be important aspects of ethnic identity to Native American adolescents. Results highlight the importance of school and community-based contexts on ethnic identity development in Native American adolescents. - How do you think schools play a role in the development of ethnic identity among Native Americans?
- What does the term "ethnic identity" mean to you?
- Skrentny, J. D. (2008). Culture and Race/Ethnicity: Bolder, deeper, and broader. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 619(1), 59-77.
The role of cultural analysis in the sociology of race, ethnicity, and immigration varies across subject matter. Primarily for political reasons, it has been marginalized in the study of ethnic/racial inequality, though new work is reclaiming culture in this important context. It has an unacknowledged presence in studies of discrimination and domination, but is explicit in macro and historical studies. This article surveys these subfields and makes a call for bolder, deeper, and broader cultural analysis in the field. More work is needed on cultural assimilation, how inequality and discrimination produce racial and ethnic meanings, how ethnic and racial cultures affect interests through variations in conceptions of the meaning of life, how sending state cultures affect immigrant and ethnic cultures in the United States, and how globalization is Americanizing immigrants before they even leave their homelands - Do the terms inequality and discrimination produce racial and ethnic meanings? Why or why not?
- How has globalization affected the lives of immigrants living in the United States?
Section II: Extent of Crime and Victimization
- Delisi, M., Johnson, W. R., & Hochstetler, A. (2010). The aftermath of criminal victimization: race, self-esteem,
and self-efficacy. Crime and Delinquency, oi:10.1177/0011128709354036
Criminal victimization is associated with a cascade of negative effects on social development, but research has primarily focused on children and adolescents. Less is known about the effects of criminal victimization on psychosocial functioning of Americans age 50 and older. Relying on individual-level data from Waves 1 and 2 of a longitudinal panel study of older adults—the Americans’ Changing Lives study—the current study explored the effects of criminal victimization on self-esteem and self-efficacy separately for Whites and African Americans. Net of the effects of employment, income, depression, age, sex, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, criminal victimization reduced self-esteem and self-efficacy among African Americans but not Whites. However, Whites who had greater difficulty dealing with their victimization evinced lower subsequent self-esteem. Greater difficulty with their victimization was also modestly associated with subsequent self-efficacy for Whites and African Americans. Implications and directions for future research are provided. - What do you think explains the racial difference in the effect of victimization on self-esteem?
- Discuss some ways it may be possible to eliminate the racial differences in how victimization disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minorities.
- Ezell, M. E., & Tanner-Smith, E. E. (2009). Examining the role of lifestyle and criminal history variables on the risk of homicide victimization. Homicide Studies, 13(2), 144-173.
This study uses a lifestyle and routine activities (LSRA) approach to examine the offender—victim overlap in the case of lethal victimization. Longitudinal arrest and mortality data from three samples of individuals released from the California Youth Authority (CYA) are used to examine the lifestyle and criminal history factors that influence the risk of homicide victimization. Results from counting process Cox proportional hazards models indicate that gang membership, the period after release from incarceration, violent arrest history, ethnicity and race, county of release, and family criminality are all significantly related to the bivariate and multivariate risk of homicide victimization. However, other lifestyle and criminality factors such as alcohol and drug abuse and total offense history fail to predict the risk of homicide victimization. The article concludes with a discussion of the results in terms of their implications for theory, public policy, and future research needs. - What explains the authors’ findings that race and ethnicity increase a person’s risk of being a victim of homicide?
- Discuss your thoughts on the relationship between race/ethnicity and homicides.
- Like, T. Z. (2011). Urban inequality and racial differences in risk for violent victimization. Crime and Delinquency, 57(3), 432-457.
Past research has shown that racial inequality in urban areas—Black and White residential segregation and economic inequality—is associated with increased levels of homicide offending and that victimization among Blacks yet serves as a protection mechanism against such violence among Whites. However, few studies have considered alternative measures of violence, namely nonfatal violent victimization in the study of racial inequality in urban areas. This oversight is problematic, given that although some scholars suggest that homicide is a reliable indicator of all forms of violence in general, victimization reports often point to qualitative differences in lethal and nonlethal forms of violence. Consequently, this research examines the link between city-level White and Black residential segregation and economic inequality and individual risks for nonfatal violent victimization net of individual-level factors that have also been associated with such risks. The data are disaggregated by race, because White and Black residential segregation and economic inequality are believed to have disparate effects on non-Hispanic Whites’ and non-Hispanic Blacks’ risks. Overall, the findings indicate that both forms of racial inequality function to protect Whites from nonfatal violent victimization but concomitantly increase such risks among Blacks. The implications of these findings and areas of future research are also discussed. - Does the author make a convincing argument regarding the effects of racial-inequality on nonfatal violent victimization? Why or why not?
- How do you think racial and urban segregation affect differences in violent victimization rates?
- Taylor, T. J., Peterson, D., Esbensen, F. A., Freng, A. (2007). Gang membership as a risk factor for adolescent violent victimization. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44(4), 351-380.
Youth gangs and violence have received substantial scholarly and public attention during the past two decades. While most of the extant research on youth gang members has focused on their offending behaviors, few quantitative studies have been conducted to examine the link between gang membership and violent victimization. The current study uses data from a multi-site study of youth to explore potential factors related to this increased risk. These findings suggest that gang members are more likely to experience violent victimization, as well as greater frequency of victimization, than do non-gang members. Furthermore, gang membership remains a significant correlate of the annual prevalence of victimization net other individual, family, peer, school, and situational factors. The relationship, however, is complex and dependent upon the type of victimization examined. - How does race play a factor in gang membership and risk for adolescent violent victimization?
- If you were planning to conduct this research would you have done anything differently?
- Quillian, L., & Pager, D. (2010). Estimating risk: Stereotype amplification and the perceived risk of criminal victimization. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73(1), 79-104.
This paper considers the process by which individuals estimate the risk of adverse events, with particular attention to the social context in which risk estimates are formed. We compare subjective probability estimates of crime victimization to actual victimization experiences among respondents from the 1994 to 2002 waves of the Survey of Economic Expectations (Dominitz and Manski 2002). Using zip code identifiers, we then match these survey data to local area characteristics from the census. The results show that: (1) the risk of criminal victimization is significantly overestimated relative to actual rates of victimization or other negative events; (2) neighborhood racial composition is strongly associated with perceived risk of victimization, whereas actual victimization risk is driven by nonracial neighborhood characteristics; and (3) white respondents appear more strongly affected by racial composition than nonwhites in forming their estimates of risk. We argue these results support a model of stereotype amplification in the formation of risk estimates. Implications for persistent racial inequality are considered. - How do the authors define stereotype amplification?
- What do you think explains the finding that neighborhood racial composition is strongly associated with a person’s perceived risk of victimization?
- Piquero, A. R., & Brame, R. W. (2008). Assessing the race–crime and ethnicity–crime relationship in a sample of serious adolescent delinquents. Crime and Delinquency, 54(3), 390-422.
Official record studies consistently show that Blacks exhibit higher levels of involvement in criminal offending than Whites do. Although self-report studies suggest somewhat lower levels of Black overrepresentation in criminal offending activity (especially with less serious forms of crime), there appears to be considerable evidence that Blacks are disproportionately involved in serious crime. Yet most of this evidence is based on data from broad cross-sections of the general population. To date, there is little evidence on which to base inferences about the relationship between race and criminal involvement within serious offender populations. In this article, the authors use both official record and self-report data on samples of serious adolescent offenders in Philadelphia and Phoenix to reach a better understanding of the relationship between race and criminal activity. The analysis suggests that consistent race differences of the kind normally seen in the criminological literature are not evident in our sample of serious offenders. - Explain how race and ethnicity were related to criminal activity in this article.
- How do the findings from this article contribute to the understanding of the effects of race/ethnicity on crime among juveniles?
- Wright, B. R. E., & Younts, C. W.(2009). Reconsidering the relationship between race and crime: positive and negative predictors of crime among African American youth. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46(3), 327-352.
Studies of race and crime have emphasized the effects of social disadvantage and discrimination on increasing crime among African Americans. The authors extend this literature by examining various beliefs and institutions that have developed within African American communities that, in contrast, decrease criminal behavior. A model of cross-canceling, indirect effects between race and crime was developed and tested with data from the National Youth Survey. The results demonstrate that some factors, such as single-parent families, lowered educational attainment, and crime-ridden neighborhoods, increase criminal behavior among African American respondents relative to Whites. However, other factors, such as increased eligiosity, strong family ties, and lowered alcohol consumption, decrease crime. These findings highlight the complex effects of race on crime. - What do you believe was the most important finding from this study? Why?
- Why do you think religiosity decreased criminal behavior among African American youth in this study? What are the implications of this finding?
- Peterson, L.D., & Krivo, L. J. (2009). Segregated spatial locations, race-ethnic composition, and neighborhood violent crime. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 93-107.
How can we understand the dramatic linkages among race, ethnicity, place, and violence in the United States? One contention is that differences in violence across communities of varying race-ethnic compositions are rooted in highly differentiated social and economic circumstances of the segregated neighborhoods inhabited by whites, African Americans, Latinos, and other groups. Here, the authors draw upon and expand this perspective by exploring how inequality in the character of internal and nearby neighborhood conditions leads to patterned racial and ethnic differences in violence across areas. Using data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study to examine the racial-spatial dynamic of violence for neighborhoods in thirty-six U.S. cities, the authors demonstrate that along with the social and economic conditions that exist within neighborhoods, proximity to more disadvantaged and especially racially privileged (heavily white) areas is particularly critical in accounting for the large and visible differences in violence found across neighborhoods of different colors. - Discuss some possible policy implications based on this study’s finding.
- What was the most intriguing finding from this study?
- Brown, B. (2009). Assessing the anomalous research on Hispanic victimization: A methodological critique of a victimological enigma. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(12), 1931-1963.
This article provides an overview and critique of the research on Hispanic victimization. Analyses of data gathered prior to the mid- to late 1990s consistently show Hispanics were victimized at disproportionately high rates, but numerous recent studies indicate Hispanics were not victimized at disproportionately high rates. Given that research has consistently shown victimization rates are highest among the poor and that Hispanics are a disproportionately impoverished demographic, the findings that Hispanics were not victimized at disproportionately high rates are enigmatic. It is suggested that social changes in the United States—specifically, the increase in the portion of the Hispanic population composed of immigrants and the development of Latin American enclaves—have reduced the efficacy of conventional methodological tactics and that the recent findings on Hispanic victimization were affected by the inadequate representation of disadvantaged Hispanics (especially immigrants and migrants) in survey studies and the reluctance of Hispanic immigrants to report crimes to the police. Finally, it is argued that the practice of conducting analyses of ethnic variation in victimization wherein all non-Hispanics (Asians, Blacks, Native Americans, and Whites) are amalgamated into a single category and compared with Hispanics has generated misleading results. - Brown asserts that examining variation in ethnic victim trends (e.g., Hispanic, Non-Hispanic) produce misleading results. Why is this an issue?
- What do you think causes Hispanics to have lower victimization rates than other racial/ethnic minorities?
Section III: Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Crime
- Piquero, N. L., & Sealock, M. D. (2010). Race, crime, and general strain theory. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 8(3), 170-186.
A key criminological observation is the overrepresentation of minorities—especially African Americans—in the criminal justice system. Whether this difference is due to differential enforcement by the criminal justice system, differential participation by individuals, or some combination of these two perspectives is a source of much debate and controversy. Unfortunately, few theories have been developed and/or extended to understand race differences in crime. This article applies Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) as one potentially useful framework. Results indicate that GST variables operated as expected across the different models and that significant differences did emerge across racial groups. Theoretical implications and future research directions are highlighted. - Discuss some of the theoretical implications regarding Piquero and Sealock’s findings.
- Do you believe that general strain theory is able to explain variations in juvenile crime by race? Why or why not?
- Parker, K. F., & Maggard, S. R. (2005). Structural theories and race-specific drug arrests: What structural factors account for the rise in race-specific drug arrests over time? Crime & Delinquency, 51(4), 521-547.
Studies examining the structural correlates of urban crime have generated a large body of research; however, few studies have linked the structural conditions to race-specific drug arrests. In this study, the authors examine the impact of urban disadvantage, social disorganization, and racial threat indicators on the rise in race-specific drug arrests from 1980 to 1990. They find these theoretical perspectives contribute to an understanding of the change in race-specific drug arrests. Findings indicate that shifts in the urban economy significantly affected Black drug arrests, while having no effect on the change in White drug arrests. In addition, the shift away from manufacturing jobs significantly affected Black arrests for drug possession. Consistent with the theory, social disorganization measures proved equally significant for Whites and Blacks, whereas mixed support was found for racial threat arguments. The importance of a theoretically grounded exploration into the rise in racial disparities in drug arrests is highlighted. - How do structural theories (e.g., social disorganization theory) help explain the rise in race-specific drug arrests?
- In your opinion, which of the theories tested best explain the rise in race-specific drug arrests? Explain.
- Morris, R. G., Gerber, J., & Menard, S.(2011). Social bonds, self-control, and adult criminality: A nationally representative assessment of Hirschi’s revised self-control theory. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(6), 584-599.
Recent modifications to self-control theory suggest that influential factors (bonds) equate to self-control in the calculation of whether or not to engage in deviant behavior. Hirschi argued that self-control should fare better as a theory when it is operationalized as the number and salience of an individual’s social bonds, rather than as a cognitive scale, or count of previous acts, as suggested by the original theory. This study extends the control theory literature by assessing the impact of redefined self-control, as well as attitudinal self-control, on adult criminal behavior. Data analyzed were from Waves 10 and 11 of the National Youth Survey Family Study. Findings suggest that both forms of self-control (new and old) are equivalently predictive of adult crime, yet it is unlikely that they are capturing the same phenomenon during adulthood. Implications for control theory are discussed. - Do you believe that Hirschi’s revised self-control theory will be able to better account for racial/ethnic difference in offending? Why or why not?
- How big of a factor do you think self-control plays in explaining crime? Explain.
- Peguero, A., Popp, A. M., Latimore, T. L., Shakarkhar, Z.,& Koo, D. J. (2010). Social control theory and school misbehavior: Examining the role of race and ethnicity. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. doi:10.1177/1541204010389197
Social control theory has been successfully utilized to investigate and explain school misbehavior; however, only a few studies have focused on the complex role of race and ethnicity. With a diverse and growing racial and ethnic minority population, exploring whether race and ethnicity moderate the relationship between social control theory and school misbehavior is warranted. This study utilizes data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, a nationally representative sample of 10th-grade students, to examine whether the relationship between social control theory and school misbehavior varies by race and ethnicity. The findings suggest that the relationship between elements of the social bond and school misbehavior varies across racial and ethnic groups. This study discusses the importance of focusing on race and ethnicity in criminological research as the United States becomes increasingly diverse. - What are some possible ways to help children improve their self-control?
- Why do you believe the relationship between social bond and school misbehavior varied across racial and ethnic groups? Explain.
- Mack, K. Y., & Leiber, M. J.(2005). Race, gender, single-mother households, and delinquency: A further test of power-control theory. Youth & Society, 37(2), 115-144.
Using power-control theory as the theoretical framework, the present study examines the gender gap in delinquency for White and African American youth from single-mother households. The research is driven by the need to focus more attention on understanding how delinquency theories apply across different racial groups. Results from both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that, with few exceptions, there are significant gender gaps in delinquency for both White and African American youth. Therefore, it appears that gender, more than race, influences nonserious delinquency among youth from single-mother families. These findings suggest that further development of power-control theory may lie in rethinking the classification of single-mother households as inherently balanced, or egalitarian, in nature. - Do you think that power-control theory helps people understand racial gaps in juvenile delinquency?
- Why is it important to examine the effects of single-mother households on delinquency?
- Hagan, J., Shedd, C., & Payne, M. R. (2005). Race, ethnicity, and youth perceptions of criminal injustice. American Sociological Review, 70(3), 381-407.
This paper advances a comparative conflict theory of racial and ethnic similarities and differences in youth perceptions of criminal injustice. We use HLM models to test six conflict hypotheses with data from more than 18,000 Chicago public school students. At the micro-level African American youth are more vulnerable to police contacts than are Latinos, who are more at risk than whites, and there is a corresponding gradient in minority group perceptions of injustice. When structural sources of variation in adolescents’ experiences are taken into account, however, minority youth perceptions of criminal injustice appear more similar to one another, while remaining distinct from those of white youth. At the micro-level, Latino youth respond more strongly and negatively to police contacts, even though they experience fewer of them. At the macrolevel, as white students in schools increase cross-sectionally, perceptions of injustice among both African American and Latino youth at first intensify and then ultimately abate. Although there are again signs of a gradient, African American and Latino responses to school integration also are as notable in their similarities as in their differences. Reduced police contacts and meaningful school integration are promising mechanisms for diminishing both adolescent African American and Latino perceptions of criminal injustice. - Hagan and colleagues stress that racial/ethnic perceptions of injustice begin in adolescence as a result of disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system. What are some policy implications of this assertion?
- Why is it important to study public perceptions of the criminal justice system? Explain.
- Holmes, M. D., Smith, B. W., & Freng, A. B. (2008). Minority threat, crime control, and police resource allocation in the southwestern United States. Crime and Delinquency, 54(1), 128-152.
Numerous studies have examined political influences on communities' allocations of fiscal and personnel resources to policing. Rational choice theory maintains that these resources are distributed in accordance with the need for crime control, whereas conflict theory argues that they are allocated with the aim of controlling racial and ethnic minorities. Existing research more consistently supports the conflict argument, but important issues remain unaddressed. The authors tested that approach by examining allocations of police resources in large cities in the Southwest, the yet-to-be-studied region in which the majority of Hispanics reside. The analyses included the key variables from the rational choice and conflict perspectives, as well as proximity to the border between the United States and Mexico. Minimal effects existed for percent Hispanic, an important conflict theory variable. However, Anglo-Hispanic income inequality and proximity to the border had effects consistent with that perspective. Class divisions within the Hispanic community may explain this pattern of findings. - Do you believe that rational choice or conflict theory is best suited to explain racial/ethnic disparities in police resource allocation?
- Conflict theorists assert that coercive crime control policies are enacted in order to regulate the interests of the dominant group. How would this apply to police deployment?
- Burgess-Proctor, A. (2006). Intersections of race, class, gender, and crime: Future directions for feminist criminology. Feminist Criminology, 1(1), 27-47.
More than 30 years after the first scholarship of its kind was produced, feminist studies of crime are more commonplace than ever before. Two recent milestone events—the 20th anniversary of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime and the creation of this journal, the official publication of the division—provide the perfect opportunity to reflect on what lies ahead for feminist criminology. In this article, the author argues that the future of feminist criminology lies in our willingness to embrace a theoretical framework that recognizes multiple, intersecting inequalities. Specifically, the author maintains that to advance an understanding of gender, crime, and justice that achieves universal relevance and is free from the shortcomings of past ways of thinking, feminist criminologists must examine linkages between inequality and crime using an intersectional theoretical framework that is informed by multiracial feminism. - How does feminist criminology view the effects of race on crime?
- What are some examples of how feminist criminological theory could be used to explain racial disparities in crime?
- Church II, W. T., Wharton, T., & Taylor, J. K. (2009). An examination of differential association and social control theory: Family systems and delinquency. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 7(1), 3-15.
This study applies differential association and social control theories to juvenile delinquency. Using a path analysis model, relationships between family, self-image, and behavior are explored. Analyses suggest that positive self-image leads to decreased delinquency, and association with delinquent peers is the greatest predictor of delinquent behavior, regardless of race. - Church and colleagues found no racial/ethnic differences in the effect of delinquent peer association on delinquency. What are the implications of this finding?
- What type of programs could be implemented in order to foster positive self-images among youth?
- Coker, D. (2006). Restorative justice, Navajo Peacemaking and domestic violence. Theoretical Criminology, 10(1), 67-85.
I argue that RJ processes may be beneficial for some women who experience domestic violence, but only if those processes meet five criteria: prioritize victim safety over batterer rehabilitation; offer material as well as social supports for victims; work as part of a coordinated community response; engage normative judgments that oppose gendered domination as well as violence; and do not make forgiveness a goal of the process. I review my earlier study of Navajo Peacemaking in light of these criteria. I also explore the significant differences between Peacemaking and other processes that are said to be derived from Indigenous justice models, noting in particular that the process is completely controlled by the Navajo Nation. - What do you believe is the most distinct difference between restorative justice and Navajo Peacemaking? Explain.
- Do you believe the Navajo Peacemaking model is effective in dealing with domestic violence? Why or why not?
Section IV: Juvenile Justice
- Leiber, M. J., Brubaker, S. J., & Fox, K. C. (2009). A Closer Look at the Individual and Joint Effects of Gender and Race on Juvenile Justice Decision Making, Feminist Criminology, 4(4), 333-358.
Using the intersectional perspective and results from prior research, the individual and combination relationships of gender and race with juvenile justice decision making are examined in one jurisdiction in a Midwestern state. Results reveal that both gender and race, individually and jointly, influence case outcomes net relevant legal and extralegal considerations. These relationships involve receiving both more severe and more lenient outcomes and point to the variable effects of gender and race in juvenile justice proceedings. - Do you believe the way disproportionate minority contact is accurately measured by justice officials?
- How does this article contribute to the existing literature on disproportionate minority contact?
- Do you believe that race or gender has a bigger effect on juvenile justice decision making? Explain.
- How does using data from justice a single county limit the generalizability of the current study’s findings?
- Bishop, D. M., Lebier, M., & Johnson, J. (2010). Contexts of Decision Making in the Juvenile Justice System: An Organizational Approach to Understanding Minority Overrepresentation, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 8(3), 213-233.
Significant advances have been made in our understanding of the origins and dynamics of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. Nevertheless, much remains to be learned. In this article, the authors explore the impact of race on juvenile justice processing by examining the organizational contexts in which decisions are made. They offer a theoretical framework that combines insights from organizational theory and the focal concerns perspective and that focuses on the organizational players (action sets) involved in decision making from intake to final disposition. Based on the composition of action sets, and their corresponding value orientations, the authors make predictions regarding the influence of sociodemographic, legal, and extralegal variables at each processing juncture. The empirical test provides a reasonably good fit with the data. Implications for further research are discussed. - Why is it important to understand how criminal justice organizations affect disproportionate minority contact?
- Do you believe the focal concerns perspective, commonly used to explain unequal treatment (e.g., race, gender) in the adult criminal justice system, is appropriate to use to explain juvenile disparities? Explain.
- Moore, L. D., & Padavic, I. (2010). Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Girls’ Sentencing in the Juvenile Justice System, Feminist Criminology, 5(3), 263-285.
This article examines how gender-role ideology may affect racial/ethnic disparities, using data on the population of Black, White and Hispanic female juvenile offenders in Florida. As expected, Black girls received harsher dispositions than White girls, but contrary to predictions, Hispanic girls’ dispositions were no harsher than White girls’. Interaction models revealed that the effects of race/ethnicity depend on legal variables; up to a certain threshold, White girls appear to be granted leniency. As their offending severity and prior records increase, however, the juvenile justice system becomes increasingly intolerant, and sentencing decisions become harsher for White girls than for Black girls. - What do you think explains the finding that White girls who commit a severe crime or have a criminal record receive harsher sentences than Black or Hispanic girls?
- Provide two policy implications based this study’s findings.
- Rios, V. M. (2009). The Consequences of the Criminal Justice Pipeline on Black and Latino Masculinity, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 150-162.
Analyses of the criminal justice system have revealed the racialized nature of crime and punishment in the United States. We know little, however, about how race, crime, and punishment are also experienced as gendered phenomena by marginalized adolescent males. Drawing from ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews, the author proposes that important insights about crime, race, and gender are gained by analyzing the experiences of adolescent males as they navigate through the criminal justice pipeline. Thus, the author examines how policing, incarceration, and probation offer masculinity-making resources that young men use to develop a sense of manhood. This study shows that one of the consequences of enhanced policing, surveillance, and punitive treatment of youth of color is the development of a specific set of gendered practices. One outcome of pervasive criminal justice contact for young black and Latino men is the production of a hypermasculinity that obstructs desistance and social mobility - Name three negative effects mass incarceration has had on Black and Hispanic males.
- What are some differences between masculinity and criminalization?
- Vincent, G. M., Chapman, J., & Cook, N. E. (2011). Risk-Needs Assessment in Juvenile Justice: Predictive Validity of the SAVRY, Racial Differences, and the Contribution of Needs Factors. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(1), 42-62.
The authors conducted a prospective study of the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) using a 5-year follow-up period and a sample of 480 male adolescents assessed by juvenile detention personnel. Analyses were conducted to examine differential validity by race-ethnicity, the relative contribution of structured professional judgments of risk level, and the incremental validity of dynamic to static risk factors. Overall, the SAVRY total scores were significantly predictive of any type of reoffending with some variability across racial-ethnic groups. Youths rated as moderate to high risk by evaluators using structured professional judgment had greater odds of rearrest, but these risk ratings did not have incremental validity over numeric scores. Static factors were most strongly predictive of nonviolent rearrest, but dynamic factors (social-contextual) were the most predictive of violent rearrest. Implications for use of risk-needs assessment tools in juvenile justice programs and areas in need of further investigation are discussed. - Do you support the use of risk reoffending assessment tools with juveniles? Why or why not?
- Discuss how the findings of this study shaped your view on risk reoffending assessment tools
- Nellis, A., & Richardson, B. (2010). Getting Beyond Failure: Promising Approaches for Reducing DMC, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 8(3), 266-276.
States that wish to receive federal financial support through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act for their juvenile justice systems are mandated to address disproportionate minority contact (DMC). A vast number of studies now exist that try to explain the presence, cause, and severity of DMC in states and local jurisdictions, but most work does not move past this point. A newer set of works explores reasons why DMC-reduction efforts fail. In recent years, generous investments from private foundations have led to a renewed sense of hope for success in the seemingly intractable problem of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. This article presents promising approaches that have resulted from these investments and suggests steps that should be taken from here. - If you were a criminal justice administrator charged with reducing DMC, which of the promising approaches discussed would you implement first? Explain
- What are some ways to improve the implementation of DMC initiatives in criminal justice agencies?
- Kempf-Leonard, K. (2007). Minority Youths and Juvenile Justice: Disproportionate Minority Contact After Nearly 20 Years of Reform Efforts, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(1), 71-87.
This article describes the current status of minority youths in juvenile justice systems. With nearly 20 years of federal support, there has been considerable research attention to identifying, explaining, and reducing the disproportionate minority contact with juvenile justice systems. Although progress is evident, the achievements of the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) initiative have made it clear that the questions are more complicated than initially appeared. The answers do not appear in simple comparisons of youths by race but require “similarly situated” youths who differ only by minority status. Assuring that youths are similarly situated requires knowing their status on many complex and interrelated factors that exist across multiple levels of individuals, families, communities, and juvenile justice systems. The ways in which DMC can be reduced also require addressing parity in opportunities and expectations, both in the community and throughout juvenile justice systems - Name two ways that DMC reduction initiatives over simplify the complexities associated with DMC.
- What are some ways that racial/ethnic lack of opportunities could be addressed?
Section V: Policing
- Schuck, A. M., Rosenbaum, D. P., & Hawkins, D. F. (2008). The Influence of Race/Ethnicity, Social Class, and Neighborhood Context on Residents' Attitudes Toward the Police. Police Quarterly, 11(4), 496-519.
The purpose of this study is to extend our understanding of attitudes toward the police by examining how race/ethnicity, social class, and neighborhood context interact to influence four different dimensions of attitudes: neighborhood, global, police services, and fear of the police. The results showed significant racial/ethnic variation in perceptions of the police, with African-Americans reporting the most negative attitudes. The magnitude of the racial/ethnic gap, however, varied across the different attitude dimensions with the largest difference between African-Americans and Whites in terms of fear of the police. The findings also suggested that African-Americans’ and Hispanics’ perceptions of the police are moderated by the interaction of social class and neighborhood socioeconomic composition. Middle-class African-Americans and Hispanics who resided in disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more negative attitudes toward the police than those who resided in more advantaged areas. Overall the study findings highlight the complex interplay between experiences, community context, social class, and type of attitudinal assessment in understanding within and across racial and ethnic variation in residents' perceptions of the police. - What do you think about the distinct racial difference in public attitudes regarding the police?
- Why do you believe someone’s class (e.g., low, middle) affects their view of the police?
- Warren, P. Y. (2011). Perceptions of Police Disrespect During Vehicle Stops: A Race-Based Analysis, Crime and Delinquency, 57(3), 356-376.
Blacks and Whites perceive American social institutions in very different terms, and views of the police are no exception. Prior research has consistently demonstrated that race is one of the most salient predictors of attitudes toward the police, with African Americans expressing more dissatisfaction than Whites. The purpose of this research is to evaluate this issue by examining the relative influence of vicarious experience and more general trust in social institutions on Black-White differences in perceptions of disrespect by the police. Using survey data from the North Carolina Highway Traffic Study, the results suggest that vicarious experience and more long-standing trust in social institutions influence the likelihood that respondents will perceive police as disrespectful. - Why is it important to study public perceptions of disrespect during vehicle stops?
- Discuss two policy implications based off the study’s findings.
- Barnum, C., & Perfetti, R. L. (2010). Race-Sensitive Choices by Police Officers in Traffic Stop Encounters. Police Quarterly, 13(2), 180-208.
This study introduces a statistical estimator that can be used to examine disproportionate traffic stop behavior of police officers. This estimator can be employed in concert with internal benchmark data and a tree diagram algorithm to identify and classify disproportionate behavior. These methodologies are multilevel and can be used (a) at the macrolevel to examine disproportionality of a police department as an organization and (b) at the microlevel to draw inferences about reasons for individual officers’ disproportionate behavior. These statistical routines were tested using data from a medium-sized mid-western community. Results suggest that the models are effective in detecting disproportionality in both a police organization and an individual officers’ traffic stop activity. Moreover, the methods may serve as an initial step in pointing toward the sources of the officers’ behavior. - How can statistics be used to assist police departments in detecting disproportionate traffic stop behaviors?
- What are some disadvantages to using statistics to help identify disproportionate traffic stop behaviors?
- Zhao, J. S., Lai, Y. L., Ren, L., & Lawton, B.(2011). The Impact of Race/Ethnicity and Quality-of-Life Policing on Public Attitudes Toward Racially Biased Policing and Traffic Stops. Crime and Delinquency, doi: 0011128711398028
This article examines the impact of race/ethnicity and quality-of-life (QOL) policing on citizens’ perceptions of racial bias and traffic stops. Using data obtained from a random-sample telephone survey of Houston citizens, respondents were asked whether they felt that the police treated citizens “equally” based on the race/ethnicity of the citizen as well as the race/ethnicity of the officer. These variables were then recoded to construct a nominal measure ranging from racially biased policing to absence of racially biased policing, with a middle category of “semiracially” biased policing. Results indicated that race/ethnicity was a significant predictor. In addition, the results strongly suggested that QOL policing was significantly associated with a decrease in respondents’ perceptions of racially biased policing. Finally, there was a significant relationship between racially biased policing and expected treatment of traffic stops made by the police. - Discuss two factors that may contribute to the racial/ethnic divide regarding citizens’ perceptions of racially biased policing.
- What would explain the association between quality of life and opinions regarding racially biased policing?
- Loimo, R., Tears, R. S., Meadows, L. A., Becton, J. B.. & Charles, M. T. (2007). The Police View of Bias-Based Policing, Police Quarterly, 10(3), 270-287.
Bias-based policing is an issue that police departments all across the country are addressing. Considering that bias-based policing undermines relationships between the police and the public, a considerable amount of research has been conducted to uncover and prevent the occurrence of bias-based policing. Past research has primarily focused on traffic stops to assess the level of bias-based policing. However, traffic stops are only one of the many ways police interact with the public. As a result, this research project sought to broaden the approach to assessing bias-based policing beyond traffic stop data by surveying police officers to determine if they are aware of bias-based policing practices occurring in police departments, either theirs or others. This research found that 21% of survey respondents believed that bias-based policing is presently practiced by officers in their department, and 25.9% believed that bias-based policing is practiced by officers in other Virginia police departments. - What is your reaction to this article?
- Did the police officers’ responses to whether they believed racial profiling is practiced in their department surprise you? Why or why not?
- Gabbidon, S. L., & Higgins, G. E. (2009). The role of race/ethnicity and race relations on public opinion related to the treatment of Blacks by police. Police Quarterly, 12(1), 102-115.
Previous research has identified strong effects of race on the evaluations of police performance. This research expands on past research by investigating public opinion related to Black treatment by the police. Recent Gallup poll data were examined to determine whether race and ethnicity influenced citizens’ views on the treatment of Blacks in comparison to Whites by the police. In addition, the authors examined whether race relations affected citizens’ views on the treatment of Blacks by the police. On both fronts, support was found for the influence of these factors. Demographic variables such as age, gender, education, employment status, region, and political ideology were also significantly related to public opinion regarding the perceived treatment of Blacks by the police. After contextualizing these results, the authors discuss the implication of the findings. - What demographic variable (e.g., class, gender) do you believe best explains public attitudes toward the treatment of Blacks by police?
- What, in your opinion, was the most surprising finding in this study? Explain.
- Smith, M. R., & Alpert, G. P. (2007). Explaining Police Bias: A Theory of Social Conditioning and Illusory Correlation, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(10), 1262-1283.
Although recent empirical research has shown that Blacks and Hispanics are consistently overrepresented among police stops, searches, and arrests, few criminologists have attempted to provide a theoretical explanation for the disparities reported in the research literature. This article proposes a theory of individual police behavior that is grounded in social— psychological research on stereotype formation and that assumes a nonmotivational but biased response to minority citizens by the police. Accordingly, stereotype formation and its consequences are largely unintentional and are driven by social conditioning and the illusory correlation phenomenon, which results in the overestimation of negative behaviors associated with minority group members. After specifying the theory, the article presents a research agenda for empirically testing and verifying its propositions. - If you were to conduct a study similar to this article would you have done anything differently? Why or why not?
- What are your reactions to the theory proffered by Smith and Alpert?
- Tomaskovic-Devey, D., & Warren, P. (2009). Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling. Contexts, 8(2), 34-39.
The emancipation of slaves is a century-and-a-half in America's past. Many would consider it ancient history. Even the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which challenged the de facto racial apartheid of the post-Civil War period, are now well over 40 years old. But even in the face of such well-established laws, racial inequalities in education, housing, employment, and law enforcement remain widespread in the United States. - Why do you think racial profiling still exists even after studies have shown that racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to be stopped with contraband compared to whites?
- Discuss the ways Tomaskovic and Warren suggest be implemented in order to eliminate unconscious bias.
- Wilkins, V. M., & Williams, B. N. (2009). Representing Blue: Representative Bureaucracy and Racial Profiling in the Latino Community. Administration & Society, 40(8), 775-798.
This study examines whether the presence of Latino police officers reduces the racial disparity in traffic stops in divisions in which they work. Specifically, the link between passive and active representation for ethnicity in the context of racial profiling is tested. This context allows one to examine this link within an organization that relies heavily on socialization. It is found that the presence of Latino police officers increases the racial disparity within the division in which they work. This finding seems to suggest that the pressure to “represent blue” weighs heavily on Latino officers and may affect their professional attitudes and behaviors. - What are two policy implications based on the researchers findings?
- Why do you believe that the presence of Latino officers increases the racial disparity within the division in which the officers work?
Section VI: Courts and Sentencing
- Feldmeyer, B., & Ulmer, J. T. (2011). Racial/Ethnic Threat and Federal Sentencing, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48(2), 238-270.
This study examines whether federal sentencing decisions are influenced by the racial/ethnic composition of federal court districts. Multilevel models of individual cases within federal judicial districts show that Black defendants receive moderately longer sentences than Whites, and that Hispanics and Whites receive similar sentences. These race/ethnicity effects on sentence length are found to vary across federal districts but not as predicted by racial threat theory. In contrast to racial threat predictions, Black sentence lengths are not significantly conditioned by the district Black population. Contrary to racial threat predictions, Hispanic defendants receive the harshest sentences when they account for the smallest share of the population (1 to 3 percent) and the most lenient sentences when they make up more sizable shares of district populations (more than 27 percent). Our results indicate that racial threat theory provides an inadequate explanation of how social contexts influence the federal sentencing of Blacks and Hispanics. - What are your reactions to the findings of this article?
- Do you agree with Feldmeyer and Ulmer’s assertion that racial threat does not explain how social context influences the federal sentencing of Blacks and Hispanics? Why or why not?
- Brennan, P. K., & Spohn, C. (2008). Race/Ethnicity and Sentencing Outcomes Among Drug Offenders in North Carolina. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 24(4), 371-398.
Findings from previous studies suggest that Blacks and Hispanics are likely to receive more punitive sentences than Whites, but overall results are far from conclusive and few examinations contain analyses of Black versus Hispanic differences. In the current study, sentencing outcomes were examined for a random sample of felony drug offenders convicted during calendar year 2000 in a large urban jurisdiction in North Carolina. The analysis focused on Black—White, Hispanic—White, and Hispanic—Black differences. White offenders received less severe punishments than either Blacks or Hispanics; Hispanic offenders were particularly disadvantaged because they received harsher punishments relative to both Blacks and Whites. - What do you think accounts for Hispanics receiving the harshest sentences for drug crimes?
- Discuss why it is important to study the effect of race/ethnicity on drug sentencing.
- Crow, M. S., & Johnson, K. A. (2008). Race, Ethnicity, and Habitual-Offender Sentencing: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual and Contextual Threat. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(1), 63-83.
Although sentencing research has expanded over the past decade, very little has been published in the area of habitual-offender statutes. The current research revisits and updates two of the few studies that focused on these sentencing enhancements. Crawford, Chiricos, and Kleck (1998), and later Crawford (2000), examined the application of the habitual-offender sentence enhancement for offenders in Florida in 1992 and 1993. Consistent with the prior research, this study includes individual-level as well as county-level variables and also updates the analysis by examining more recent data, including a measure of ethnicity, and using hierarchical general linear modeling to simultaneously model individual-level data nested within counties. The racial threat perspective serves as the backdrop to explain racial and ethnic disparity in punishment decisions based on contextual as well as individual threat. The findings indicate that racial and ethnic sentence disparity exists when habitual-offender status is invoked in Florida. - Do you believe that individual or community variables best explain the racial/ethnic disparity in habitual offender sentencing?
- Did the findings of this study surprise you? Why or why not?
- Jordan, K. L., & Freiburger, T. L. (2010). Examining the Impact of Race and Ethnicity on the Sentencing of Juveniles in the Adult Court. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21(2), 185-201.
Several studies have examined the effects of race and ethnicity on the sentences of adult offenders in the criminal court. The findings of these studies often show that race and ethnicity influence defendants’ sentencing outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined how race and ethnicity influence juvenile defendants sentenced in the adult criminal justice system. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine how race and ethnicity affect the sentences of juveniles, utilizing a national dataset of youth convicted of a felony in adult court. The findings suggest that race and ethnicity do impact the sentencing outcomes of convicted youthful offenders. In addition, the results suggest that the combination of race and other factors (i.e., interactions) has an effect on sentencing. Implications for subsequent research also are discussed. - Do you believe transferring juveniles to adult court is an effective deterrent?
- Discuss two policy implications based on the researchers’ findings.
- Spohn, C., & Sample, L. L. (2008). The Dangerous Drug Offender in Federal Court: Intersections of Race, Ethnicity,
and Culpability. Crime &Delinquency, doi: 10.1177/0011128708319928.
This study examines the complex relationships among stereotypes about crime, the offender’s race/ethnicity, and sentencing decisions. Using data on White, Black, and Hispanic male drug offenders sentenced in three U.S. district courts and a definition of the dangerous drug offender appropriate to the federal sentence system, the authors explore the degree to which stereotypes about dangerous drug offenders influence sentence length. The results reveal that fitting the stereotype of a dangerous federal drug offender (i.e., a male drug trafficker with a prior trafficking conviction who used a weapon to commit the current offense) affected the length of the prison sentence for Black offenders but not for White or Hispanic offenders. Further analysis revealed that this effect was confined to Black offenders convicted of drug offenses involving crack cocaine. The results provide further evidence that the focal concerns guiding judicial decision making may vary depending on the offender’s race or ethnicity. - Why do you believe the “dangerous drug offender” stereotype affects Blacks more than Hispanics?
- What explains the finding that Blacks charged with crack cocaine offenses receive harsh sentences?
- Feldmeyer, B., & Ulmer, J. T. (2011). Racial/Ethnic Threat and Federal Sentencing, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48(2), 238-270.
This study examines whether federal sentencing decisions are influenced by the racial/ethnic composition of federal court districts. Multilevel models of individual cases within federal judicial districts show that Black defendants receive moderately longer sentences than Whites, and that Hispanics and Whites receive similar sentences. These race/ethnicity effects on sentence length are found to vary across federal districts but not as predicted by racial threat theory. In contrast to racial threat predictions, Black sentence lengths are not significantly conditioned by the district Black population. Contrary to racial threat predictions, Hispanic defendants receive the harshest sentences when they account for the smallest share of the population (1 to 3 percent) and the most lenient sentences when they make up more sizable shares of district populations (more than 27 percent). Our results indicate that racial threat theory provides an inadequate explanation of how social contexts influence the federal sentencing of Blacks and Hispanics. - Why would Hispanics receive more harsh sentences in districts with small Hispanic populations?
- What is your reaction to the findings of this study?
- Schlesinger, T. (2011). The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration, Crime & Delinquency, 57(1), 56-81.
This study examines the effects of mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements on Black and White men’s state-level prison admission rates. Four major findings emerge from the analysis. First, both mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements increase prison admission rates for Black and White men. Second, these policies disproportionately increase Black men’s admissions. Third, the effects of these policies—on both scale and disparity—are strongest and most consistent on admissions for violent offenses. Finally, although sentencing enhancements increase admission rates more consistently than mandatory terms, mandatory terms have larger effects on admission rates for the categories—for example, violent admissions for Black men—where they do increase admission rates. The findings are consistent with theories of modern racism, which argue that, in the post-civil rights era, racial disparities are primarily produced and maintained by colorblind policies and practices. - Discuss some policy implications based on the findings of this study.
- What do the findings of this study say about how crime policy is developed in the U.S.?
- Schlesinger, T. (2011). The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration, Crime & Delinquency, 57(1), 56-81.
This study examines the effects of mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements on Black and White men’s state-level prison admission rates. Four major findings emerge from the analysis. First, both mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements increase prison admission rates for Black and White men. Second, these policies disproportionately increase Black men’s admissions. Third, the effects of these policies—on both scale and disparity—are strongest and most consistent on admissions for violent offenses. Finally, although sentencing enhancements increase admission rates more consistently than mandatory terms, mandatory terms have larger effects on admission rates for the categories—for example, violent admissions for Black men—where they do increase admission rates. The findings are consistent with theories of modern racism, which argue that, in the post-civil rights era, racial disparities are primarily produced and maintained by colorblind policies and practices. - Discuss some policy implications based on the findings of this study
- What do the findings of this study say about how crime policy is developed in the U.S.?
- Freiburger, T. L., & Hillinski, C. M. (2010). The Impact of Race, Gender, and Age on the Pretrial Decision. Criminal Justice Review, 35(3), 318-334.
There is an abundance of studies that examine judicial discretion in the final sentencing stages; however, few have examined discretion in the early stages of court decisions. Pretrial release is especially concerning as it has been strongly correlated with a final sentence of incarceration and deprives defendants of their freedom. This study examined whether race, gender, and age influence judges’ decisions to detain or release a defendant prior to trial. The results indicate that females and younger defendants were less likely to be detained. Race was not significant after economic variables were included. When examining males and females separately, race was significant for females, with Black females being the least likely to be detained. For White females, White males, and Black males, offenders aged 30—39 were more likely to be detained than their younger counterparts. Younger and older White females were not significantly more likely to be detained than their Black female counterparts. - Did the findings of this study surprise you? Why or why not?
- Do you support limiting judicial discretion? Explain.
- Haynes, S. H., Ruback, B., Cusick.(2010). Courtroom Workgroups and Sentencing: The Effects of Similarity, Proximity, and Stability. Crime & Delinquency, 56(1), 126-161.
Sentencing decisions are the product of a group of courtroom actors, primarily judges and district attorneys. Although the structure of the courtroom workgroup and the interdependencies among members are assumed to be important determinants of sentencing decisions, the degree of this importance and the specific mechanisms through which workgroups affect these decisions have not been investigated. This study used data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (PCS) for the years 1990 to 2000 to examine how three social psychological aspects of courtroom workgroups (similarity, proximity, and stability) affect sentencing decisions. Results indicated (a) that workgroups generally had very high levels of similarity in terms of race, gender, and political party but lower levels of similarity in terms of age, college education, and law school education and (b) that proximity and stability were generally high. Controlling for individual, case, and distal contextual factors, workgroup factors affected the decision to incarcerate, the decision to impose fines, and the decision to impose restitution. In particular, proximity increased the use of economic sanctions relative to incarceration and stability was associated with a decrease in the imposition of economic sanctions. Similarity had inconsistent effects. - How do the findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on the effects of race on sentencing?
- What effect do courtroom work groups have on race and sentencing?
Section VII: The Death Penalty
- Unnever, J. D., & Cullen, F. T. (2007). Reassessing the Racial Divide in Support for Capital Punishment: The Continuing Significance of Race. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44(1). 124-158.
This project investigates the racial divide in support for capital punishment. The authors examine whether race has a direct effect on support for capital punishment and test whether the influence of race varies across class, being a native southerner, confidence in government officials, political orientation, and religious affiliation. Using data drawn from the General Social Survey, they find a substantial racial divide, with African Americans much less likely to support the death penalty. Furthermore, the analysis revealed little support for the “spurious/social convergence” hypothesis; shared factors that might be expected to bring African Americans and Whites together—class, confidence in government, conservative politics, regional location, and religious fundamentalism—either did not narrow African American-White punishment attitudes or, at best, had only modest effects. The Results suggest that the racial divide in support for capital punishment is likely to remain a point of symbolic contention in African American-White conceptions of criminal injustice in the United States. - Discuss why you believe race has had a lasting influence on support for capital punishment.
- Were you surprised by the findings discussed in this study? Why or why not?
- Lambert, E. G., Camp, S. D., Clarke, A., & Jiang, S. (2008). The Impact of Information on Death Penalty Support, Revisited. Crime & Delinquency, doi: 10.1177/0011128707312147.
In 1972, former Supreme Court Justice Marshall postulated that the public was uninformed about the death penalty and information would change their support for it. There is some indication that information about the death penalty may change people’s level of support. This study re-examines data used by Lambert and Clarke (2001). Using multivariate analyses, the impact that information has on death penalty support is tested, along with level of prior knowledge about the death penalty, personal characteristics (gender, age, political affiliation, race, being a criminal justice major, academic level), and religious factors. The results suggest that information on both deterrence and innocence leads to a reduction in death penalty support and views on the death penalty. Furthermore, the results suggest that the information presented may have varying effects among different subgroups of people. - What are two policy implications based on this study’s findings?
- Why do you believe the general public is uniformed regarding the effectiveness of the death penalty on deterring crime?
- Messing, J. T., & Heeren, J. W. (2009). Gendered Justice: Domestic Homicide and the Death Penalty. Feminist Criminology, 4(2), 170-188.
This research examines a newspaper sample of men and women who killed multiple people in a single domestic altercation during the years 1993 to 2002. As all these perpetrators of multiple domestic homicide are eligible to be capitally tried, differences in capital sentencing are examined using bivariate statistics and descriptive, case-oriented analyses. Women who kill their children using a knife or firearm are disproportionately sentenced to death, whereas men who kill in the context of a separation are granted leniency in regard to the death penalty. The interaction between the gender of the offender and the crime committed is discussed. - Why do you think the race/ethnicity of the victim was not a significant predictor in this study?
- How does this study contribute to the literature on the effects of race/ethnicity on the death penalty?
- Brown, K. L., & Benningfield, M. (2008). Death Row Correctional Officers: Experiences, Perspectives, and Attitudes. Criminal Justice Review, 33(4), 524-540.
Capital punishment has received much scholarly attention; however, very little is known about correctional officers who work on death row. This research attempts to fill this gap in our knowledge by exploring the experiences, perspectives, and attitudes of correctional officers who have worked on death row. The findings reveal that working on death row is a paradoxical experience. The results suggest that correctional officers who work on death row experience both strain and pressure while at the same time, they find death row work is easier and has fewer problems than other assignments in the prison. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed. - Why do you believe race was the only significant predictor of support for the death penalty?
- What do you think explains why Whites are more likely than Blacks to support the death penalty in the current study?
- Fisher, P., & Pratt. T. (2006). Political Culture and the Death Penalty, Criminal Justice Policy Review, 17(1), 48-60.
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that the death penalty was not inherently unconstitutional, most states have adopted capital punishment statutes. Yet execution rates vary considerably from state to state. The objective of this work is to analyze the degree by which political culture is a determinant of states’ implementation of capital punishment. This article finds that political culture, as measured by Daniel Elazar's prototype classifications of American political subcultures, is an important determinant of the adoption of death penalty statutes and the frequency of executions. Specifically, states that are characterized by a more traditionalistic political culture are more likely to have adopted a death penalty statute and to execute inmates more frequently. The link between political culture and the death penalty remains strong and stable even when controlling for a host of other factors that have been linked to the death penalty in prior research. - Discuss two ways how race/ethnicity might be related to political culture and the death penalty.
- Did the findings of this study surprise you? Why or why not?
- Unnever, J. (2010). Global support for the death penalty. Punishment & Society, 12(4), 463-484.
The recently released Gallup International 2000 Millennium Survey Poll collected data from individuals residing in 59 countries. The focus of this research was to analyze these data to examine whether the abolition movement has ushered in a new ‘collective sensibility’ about the death penalty or whether global attitudes toward capital punishment are characterized by deep divisions. The research assumes that the long-term stability of abolition will be assured when the vast majority of the citizens of the world oppose the use of the death penalty. The findings reveal that there are deep cleavages in worldwide support for capital punishment. The article highlights five divides in support for capital punishment and then separately discusses the results from the human rights and minority group threat analyses. - Why is it important to understand global opinions on the use of the death penalty?
- Do the findings of this study have any implication regarding the effect of race on death penalty support?
- Younglove, J. A., Nelligan, P. J., & Reisner, R. L. (2009). Victim Character Evidence in Death Penalty Cases: How Many Songs Is Too Many? Criminal Justice Review, 34(4), 536-552.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Payne decision opening the door to victim impact testimony in capital cases generally, and to victim character evidence particularly, has been controversial. The issue is whether a murder victim’s character is relevant to the moral blameworthiness of the defendant. Several mock jury simulation studies have shown that such evidence does influence jury decisions imposing the death penalty. The current study took a different direction and examined the nature and extent of actual victim character testimony in samples of death penalty cases in three states. Data were derived from 14 transcripts of the penalty phase of trials in each of three states: California, New Jersey, and Texas, states with different political and legal climates. Content analysis revealed that there were numerous references to victims’ character in the form of positive personality traits, in addition to descriptions of the impact the crime had on the victims’ families and friends. Qualitative analysis revealed that many witnesses were allowed to use photos, videotapes, and other personal items to portray the victim’s life. What emerges from this inside view of practices in courtrooms is disturbing in that the evidence allowed seems to exceed Payne’s already meager limitations. - How does this study relate to the study of race and the death penalty?
- Do you support the use of victim character evidence? Why or why not?
- Baker, D. V. (2008). Black Female Executions in Historical Context. Criminal Justice Review, 33(1), 64-88.
This article examines the systemic oppression of executed Black women from the earliest periods of American history. The most consistent factor in Black female executions throughout U.S. history is criminal justice authorities’ executions of Black women largely for challenging gendered and racist exploitation. Colonial and antebellum slavery institutionalized the persecution of slave women, who often retaliated against oppressive brutality by killing White masters. White lynch mobs effectively augmented the legal killing of Black women in postbellum society and lowered Black female execution rates. Reduced to a peonage state in the apartheid of Jim Crow, Black women's crimes of resistance against White brutality paralleled those of slave women decades earlier. And despite the delusional expansion of civil rights and the sovereignty of Black people over the confines of segregation in the modern era, the racialized sexism of American criminal justice has rendered Black women ever more vulnerable to the death penalty. - How has Black female executions changed over time?
- Explain how racialized sexism affects the use of the death penalty.
- Baker, D. N., Lamber, E. G., & Jenkins, M. (2005). Racial Differences in Death Penalty Support and Opposition: A Preliminary Study of White and Black College Students, Journal of Black Studies, 35(4), 201-224.
Although the death penalty has a long history, it is not without debate and differing views. There appears to be a gap between Whites and Blacks in terms of their support of capital punishment. Students at a Midwestern university were surveyed to determine whether there were differences between the two groups of students in reasons to support or oppose the death penalty. In bivariate tests, there were significant differences between White and Black students on 15 of 16 measures for reasons for supporting or opposing capital punishment. These differences continued for 10 of the 16 measures even after multivariate analysis controlled for the effects of gender, age, and academic level. The results are discussed. - Do you think college students views toward the death penalty vary by race more than those adults who do not attend college? Why or why not?
- What are your reactions to the findings of this study?
- Betancourt, B., Dolmage, K., Johnson, C., Leach, T., Menchaca, J., Montero, K., & Wood, T. (2006). Social workers’ roles in the criminal justice system: Adapting to the USA’s changing attitudes towards the death penalty, 1953-2001, International Social Work, 49(5), 615-627.
This article examines trends in American public opinion on capital punishment between 1953 and 2002. It seems that Americans believe that the government spends too little on crime deterrence, that courts are not harsh enough with criminals, and that the death penalty is appropriate for murderers. Implications for social workers are suggested. - How does this study contribute to the knowledge of race and the death penalty?
- Discuss ways to bridge the racial divide in support for the death penalty.
Section VIII: Corrections
- Foster, H., & Hagan, J. (2009) The Mass Incarceration of Parents in America: Issues of Race/ Ethnicity, Collateral Damage to Children, and Prisoner Reentry. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 179-194.
The authors discuss social selection, stigmatization, and socialization/strain theoretical explanations for the intergenerational influences of parental incarceration on their children. Results with national survey data reveal that net of selection factors, paternal imprisonment decreases the educational attainment of children in emerging adulthood. While this pattern is found across race/ethnicity, the results in combination with disproportionate minority confinement suggest that parental incarceration is a mechanism of social exclusion of these groups. With data on Texas prisoners, the authors further find that about two-thirds of Hispanic fathers and about half of African American and Anglo fathers expect to live with their children and families when they return to their communities. This last finding suggests a broad foundation across racial/ethnic groups for the investment of resources in supporting the rehabilitation and reunification of these prospective families, for the welfare of the children, their parents, and the communities in which they live. - Did you realize that mass incarceration affects the entire family?
- What was your reaction to this study?
- Schlesinger, T. (2011). The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration. Crime & Delinquency, 57(1), 56-81.
This study examines the effects of mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements on Black and White men’s state-level prison admission rates. Four major findings emerge from the analysis. First, both mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements increase prison admission rates for Black and White men. Second, these policies disproportionately increase Black men’s admissions. Third, the effects of these policies—on both scale and disparity—are strongest and most consistent on admissions for violent offenses. Finally, although sentencing enhancements increase admission rates more consistently than mandatory terms, mandatory terms have larger effects on admission rates for the categories—for example, violent admissions for Black men—where they do increase admission rates. The findings are consistent with theories of modern racism, which argue that, in the post-civil rights era, racial disparities are primarily produced and maintained by colorblind policies and practices. - How does this study contribute to the literature on the effects of race and corrections?
- Discuss why you think that race “neutral” policies have contributed to the mass incarceration of racial minorities.
- Steiner, B., & Wooldredge, J. (2009). The relevance of inmate race/ethnicity versus population composition for understanding prison rule violations. Punishment & Society, 11(4), 459-489.
The importance of order maintenance in prisons has generated numerous studies of the correlates to inmate misconduct. Very few of these studies, however, have focused specifically on the correlations between inmates’ race/ethnicity and prison rule breaking. Race and ethnicity could be relevant to an understanding of prison rule breaking if inmates bring their ecologically structured beliefs regarding legal authority, crime and deviance into the institutional environment. Using data from two nationally representative samples of males incarcerated in state facilities, we examined the individual-level effects of an inmate’s race and ethnicity on his likelihood of engaging in various forms of misconduct during incarceration, as well as the contextual effects of the racial/ethnic composition of inmate and correctional staff populations on levels of rule breaking. Findings reveal that the effects of an inmate’s race and ethnicity differ by offense type, and the racial/ethnic composition of inmates and correctional staff have both main and conditioning effects on levels of misconduct. Implications of these results are discussed within a social control framework. - What are some possible policy implications based on the findings of this study?
- How does race/ethnicity affect the understanding of prison rule violations?
- Sung, H. E. (2011). From Diversion to Reentry: Recidivism Risks Among Graduates of an Alternative to Incarceration Program. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 22(2), 219-234.
Reentry usually refers to the transition from incarceration to community living. However, offenders diverted from prison to community-based restrictive sanctions also face the challenge of social reintegration. This study uses a postmatching case—control design to identify risk and protective factors for 1-year recidivism among completers of the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program in Brooklyn, New York. DTAP is a deferred-sentencing program targeting repeat drug-abusing felons arrested for drug sales. Participants are required to plead to a felony charge and spend 18 to 24 months in residential treatment. Forty-seven DTAP completers who had been re-arrested within a year of their dismissal are compared to 47 matched nonrecidivists. Results suggest that weak treatment engagement and social isolation considerably increase the risk of recidivism. Certain health conditions and/or medical needs also significantly correlate to reoffending. Implications for reentry policy making and research are discussed. - How does this study contribute to the literature on the effects of race and corrections?
- What was your reaction to this study?
- Leiber, M, Reitzel, J., & Mack, K. (2010). Probation Officer Recommendations for Sentencing Relative to Judicial Practice: The Implications for African Americans, Criminal Justice Policy Review, doi:10.1177/0887403410374230.
A number of studies have been conducted that assess the role of the prosecutor on judicial decision making in regard to the differential treatment African Americans may receive relative to Whites. Missing from this inquiry has been consideration of the influence that probation officers may have on this process. In the present study, the focal concerns perspective and prior research are used as background to understand the concordance between probation officer sentencing recommendations and decision making by judges and the extent to which this relationship may be tempered by the race of the offender. - How were probation officers’ sentencing decisions affected by the race of the defendant?
- Why is it important to explore the effect of the defendant’s race on probation officer’s sentencing decisions?
- London, A. S., & Myers, N. A., (2006). Race Incarceration, and Health: A Life-Course Approach, Research on Aging, 28(3), 409-422.
Significant racial disparities in health outcomes have been consistently documented in the United States. Life-course and population-health models are often used to explain these disparities, but they generally do not take incarceration effects into account. Incarceration may have direct effects on health, but it is more likely to indirectly affect health by shaping employment, income, and marital trajectories. The authors contend that the failure of health researchers to take incarceration effects into account is problematic given the large increase in the incarceration of Black men over the past few decades. Moreover, because large numbers of incarcerated Black men are not present in research samples, racial disparities in health outcomes may be underestimated. Incarceration effects should be included in life-course and population-health models, study designs, and policy development processes. - How does the mass incarceration of Blacks affect their health?
- How does this study contribute to the literature on the effects of race and corrections?
- Crutchfield, R. D., & Pettinicchio, D.(2009). Cultures of Inequality”: Ethnicity, Immigration, Social Welfare, and Imprisonment, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 134-147.
The authors discuss the shift from classic culture of poverty arguments to more contemporary uses of cultural variables in explaining criminal justice practices in Western industrialized countries. The authors use “cultures of inequality” to refer to the increasing taste or tolerance for inequality in the general population across nations. They also elaborate a potential link between perceived threat of others and growing tastes for inequality, thereby extending the classic threat hypothesis. Using country-level data and data from the World Values Survey, the authors find that countries with higher than average tastes for inequality also have higher income inequality, more population heterogeneity, and higher percentages of others in prison. However, people in these countries do not necessarily have more hostile attitudes toward others. The United States shares several characteristics with other Western countries but appears to be driving the difference in the mean taste for inequality between countries with low and high imprisonment of others. - Does mass incarceration affect ethnic minorities differently than racial minorities?
- Discuss how immigration issues affect the imprisonment of ethnic minorities?
- Swisher, R. R., & Waller, M. R. (2008). Confining Fatherhood: Incarceration and Paternal Involvement Among Nonresident White, African American, and Latino Fathers, Journal of Family Issues, 29(8), 1067-1088.
The authors examine the consequences of incarceration for nonresident White, Latino, and African American fathers' contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, they found that fathers’ current incarceration presented serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children and interfered with the establishment of informal financial support agreements with mothers. Recent and past incarceration were strongly and negatively associated with how often non-Latino White fathers saw their children but had a considerably smaller effect for African American and Latino fathers. A similar pattern of racial and ethnic differences was observed with respect to mothers’ trust of fathers to take care of their children. Findings suggest the continued need for fathering programs in prisons and for reentry programs for fathers in communities following their release. - Does mass incarceration affect ethnic minorities different than racial minorities?
- Discuss how immigration issues affect the imprisonment of ethnic minorities?
- Lichtenstein, B. (2009). Drugs, Incarceration, and HIV/AIDS Among African American Men: A Critical Literature Review and Call to Action, American Journal of Men’s Health, 3(3), 252-264.
Incarceration and HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect African American men compared to the U.S. population as a whole. Disparities in relation to crime and HIV/AIDS for Black men suggest that these phenomena have elements in common, particularly given the mediating role of illicit drug use or drug activities in both cases. A socioecological exploration of how and why these twin epidemics intersect (and the role of drug-related activities as mediating variables) is needed illicit drug use or to address the impact of these epidemics on the health and well-being of communities of color. This article critically reviews relevant articles, research reports, and official statistics, as well as conceptual frames of reference for information on the socioecological synergies between crime, drugs, and HIV/AIDS. The article recommends five calls for action for policies to mitigate the cumulative negative effects of these epidemics and for interventions to enhance the life chances of at-risk Black men. - Discuss some possible policy implications based on the findings of this study.
- How does mass incarceration contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS among African American men? What can be done to stem this problem?
- Sykes, B. L., & Piquero, A. L. (2009). Structuring and Re-Creating Inequality: Health Testing Policies, Race, and the Criminal Justice System, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 214-227.
Research shows that prison inmates have a higher risk of contracting HIV than the general population, which prompts measures aimed at diagnosis, quarantine, and treatment. Research has also linked released inmates to an increase in the HIV incidence rate of communities. The authors explore the disjuncture between institutional policies and potential community outcomes by evaluating health assessments of inmates before and during prison admission. The authors argue that the penal institution is an active agent in structuring and re-creating health inequalities within prisons, thereby exacerbating existing community health inequities when inmates are released. Using data from the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails and the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Prisons, the authors find significant racial, educational, and marital inequalities in health testing and test results. These inequalities vary across types of institutional testing policies and inmate cohorts, with later admission cohorts being less likely to receive HIV tests and future release cohorts having a higher likelihood of being HIV-positive. - What was your reaction to this study?
- How do institutional health testing policies create further racial inequalities?