Critically Exmaining Race Flashcards
Race and the American Criminal Justice System
In 2008, one in every one hundred American adults were incarcerated
Currently, one in thirty-four American adults is under correctional supervision
However, when disaggregated by race:
One in fifteen black males age eighteen and older were incarcerated
One in nine black males aged twenty to thirty-four were incarcerated
One in eleven black adults over eighteen compared to one in forty force white adults are under correctional supervision
Lifetime imprisonment risk for blacks was one in three, while it is less than 5 percent for whites
These statistics indicate a problem of concentrated incarceration
Imprisonment of young men from disadvantaged places is now a bedrock experience
Race in the Criminal Justice System
Why is there such a racial disparity
No racial differences in using or selling of drugs however, blacks are sent to prison more often and for longer prison terms
Tonry argues that the racial disparities in prison are a result of the war on drugs
Blacks are more involved in serious violent offence
Six times more likely to be murdered than whites
The firearm homicide rate for blacks is 14.6 per 100,000 compared to 1.9 per 100,000 for whites
Most homicide is interracial and intra-class
Race and the criminal justice system
Place matters as well
Violent crime is not evenly distributed across neighbourhoods
Disproportionately distributed in segregated black neighbourhoods marked with much property and surrounded by similar communities
Sampson and Bean call these areas killing fields
Race and Theory
Given the centrality of race to violent crime, one would assume race would be a concern in prevailing theories of crime
Most treat race as a control variable in microtheories
Argue for general as opposed to race-specific theories
More attention is paid to race in macro theories
Racial invariance thesis - race holds no credibility as a cause of violence
Reasons for the lack of attention to race can be traced to the view that the causes of crime are the same regardless of race
Argue that people engage in crime because of exposure to criminogenic social factors
Problem with the generality approach
This can lead to race being ignored
Gzottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime
Blacks and whites enter crime for the same reason
Argue that racial differences should focus on differential child-rearing practices, which is the courses of low self-control
Do not need to ascribe differences to culture and strain because of structural inequality
Their theory could be enhanced by bringing race into the picture and explaining why black parents may struggle more in parenting practices
Racial Animus and Crime
Du Bois, in The Philadelphia Negro, addressed the role of racial animus in crime in the early 20th century
Although subtle, still dangerous
Blacks are unfairly blocked from advancement, which breeds an atmosphere of rebellion and disconnect
Enduring effects of racial oppression seen in the persistence of racially segregated impoverished neighbourhoods
Still have discrimination today
Two-thirds of blacks believe discrimination is a big problem today and are more likely to see the criminal justice system as unjust than whites
Social disorganization within an ecological area
Poverty Ethnic Heterogeneity Residential Instability
Breakdown of norma and social control Cultural transmission of criminal behaviour
When you have poverty, ethnic heterogeneity and residential instability you get a breakdown of social norms that contribute to the cultural transmission of criminal behaviour
Social disharmony & Racial injustice
Legacies of slavery and failed reconstruction
Urbanization and migration of cities
The social environment of exclusion
Poor housing conditions Economic exclusion (school to prison pipeline) Racial prejudice
Structural strain & rebellion
Race in theory today
Some scholars today have been paying attention to race
Generally, they focus on three major factors:
Structural Theory
Cultural Theory - Quote of the streets (how gangs talk to each other, and it a code of the street. An expected behaviour for specific people)
Perceived discrimination Theory - looking at the implications of racial discrimination
Structural Theory
Judith and Peter Blau spearheaded the idea of structural explanations for racial differences
Theor 1982 article provided a theory linking racial differences in crime with between-race economic inequality
Two types of economic inequality:
Achieved - based on educational attainment, etc., and seen as just
Ascribed - based on race, gender, etc., and seen as unjust
Ascribed inequality leads to frustration, resentment, and higher rates of violence
Labelling Theory
Blau and Blau
Blau and Blau found support for the effect of economic inequality on overall violent crime rates in the U.S. standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs)
But recent research has found little evidence that the degree of economic inequality between races is related to black rates of violent crime
Thus, contemporary structural theory does not argue that between race economic inequality alone motivates high rates of black violence
William Julis Wilson
William Julis Wilson suggests that, beyond economic deprivation, the spatial arrangement of black communities in relation to white communities is critical
Details interrelated demographic, social, and economic changes in U.S. inner cities in the post-World War II era
These shifts along with discrimination policies create a structural milieu for many black communities
The shift from manufacturing jobs led to extensive loss of jobs in the urban core, which led to unemployment and elated marriage
Created predominately single-parent, impoverished households
Whites and middle-class blacks fled, leaving a concentration of economic disadvantage, with black communities being spatially and socially isolated
Increasing the gap between the rich and the poor
Sampson and Wilson provide an explanation of community-level racial differences in crime
Extreme disadvantage and social/spatial isolation of the inner city serve to alter its cultural landscape
Cognitive landscapes or norms of standards, expectations of conduct, and tolerance of behaviour are shaped in the inner city, where crime, disorder, and drug use are expected as part of everyday life
These are ecologically structured norms - norms that stem from a disadvantaged context rather than a monolithic subculture
Crime and disorder are not valued, but rather tolerated and accepted because mainstream behaviour in this environment is irrelevant, which leads to high rates of violent crime
If whites lived in these areas, the racial differences would disappear (racial invariance hypothesis)
Sampson and Wilson: A Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality
Thus, Sampson and Wilson argued that crime could be explained by:
Macrostructual focus
Deinstitutionalzation
—->
Outmigration
Segregation
Concentrated disadvanatge
Social Isolation —->
Structural disorganization
Weakened → culture(cultural disorganization)
Crime
Coercive Mobility
Todd clear points to the collateral consequences of mass incarceration in poor minority communities
Mass incarceration has not impacted all communities
Imprisonment has been concentrated among poor, minority males who live in impoverished neighbourhoods
Neighbourhoods consequently suffer from a host of problems as a result of high incarceration rates
