Race and crime

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Race is one of the correlates of crime receiving attention in academic studies, government surveys, media coverage, and public concern. Research into the relationship between race and crime has grown exponentially in recent years. More specifically, the research delves into the potential cause and effects of racial disparities in crime. This includes but is not limited to, disadvantages and inequality (racially, socially and economically), disparities in education, employment/unemployment, poverty, social status, and social/familial structure. Also of notable interest, is the role of exposure in childhood to violent behavior, another potential cause and effects of racial disparities in crime. Research conducted in Europe and the United States on the matter has been widely published, particularly in relation to discrimination by criminal justice systems. However, there is also a wide variety of research that branches off from this topic of discrimination by the criminal justice system. In fact, it has been argued that evidence for discrimination by the criminal justice system (and racial disparities occurring as a result) are potentially over interpreted and lacking supportive evidence. [1] Therefore, it is important to consider other potential aspects of race as a correlate of crime and the multitude of potential causes and effects incorporated.

Contents

Criminal Adjudication: Discrimination by the Criminal Justice System

There is a common assumption and belief that criminal adjudication within the criminal justice system is biased, whereupon ethnicity, race and class not only predict but foreshadows criminal adjudication outcomes. More specifically, this prediction is attributed to the concern that racial minorities (African American, Latinos, Etc.) and impoverished or poverty-stricken defendants tend to receive harsher adjudication sentences compared to Whites, Asians and wealthier or more affluent defendants. However, while results have varied, the overall conclusion suggests that biases in the criminal justice system based off race and class cannot reliably be detected. One aspect to consider when examining research about potential biases and discrimination within the Criminal Justice System is the researcher’s possible expectancy effects, citation bias, negativity bias and an over interpretation of statistical noise. [2]

Discrimination by the criminal justice system in Europe

Research suggests that police practices, such as racial profiling, over-policing in areas populated by minorities and in-group bias may result in disproportionately high numbers of racial minorities among crime suspects in Sweden, Italy, and England and Wales. According to the Racial Disparity Audit conducted by the United Kingdom Prime Minister, in 2017 minorities living in Wales and England were more than 3.5 times more likely to be arrested than whites. Likewise, this same group was far more likely to be the victims of crime with their white counterparts only having 15 percent likelihood. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [ excessive citations ] Research also suggests that there may be possible discrimination by the judicial system, which contributes to a higher number of convictions for racial minorities in Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Denmark and France. [4] [6] [7] [9] [10] [11] [12] [ excessive citations ]

Discrimination by the criminal justice system in the United States

Research suggests that police practices, such as racial profiling, over-policing in areas populated by minorities and in-group bias may result in disproportionately high numbers of racial minorities among crime suspects. [13] [14] [15] [16] [ excessive citations ] Research also suggests that there may be possible discrimination by the judicial system, which contributes to a higher number of convictions for racial minorities. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [ excessive citations ] On average, white offenders are less likely to be arrested for their crime than non-white offenders. [25]

Racial Disparities: Relationship between Inequality and Crime

Racial disparities and/or racial inequality, resulting in increased disadvantages and imbalances that not only affect but overshadow the treatment of racial groups (such as racial minorities), has often been theorized to be a factor in the manifestation and explanation of crime. [26] More specifically, the aspect that economic deprivation and economic hardships influenced the disparity in crime rates between Whites, Blacks and other racial minorities. [26] Overall, a wide variety of explanations and research have focused on the effects of inequality (socially, economically, educationally), poverty and unemployment, structural disadvantages, insufficient and/or inadequate economic resources, and social segregation and isolation. [27]

Theoretical Perspectives: Theories, Theses and Dissertations

Early research into the effects of interracial economic inequality, economic hardships, economic deprivation and factors such as poverty and unemployment have contributed to a variety of theories, theses and dissertations. This includes, but is not limited to, the deprivation thesis, macrostructural theory of intergroup relations, interracial economic inequality thesis and the macrosocial theory of social structure. [26]

Research & Studies

When considering the research and studies that have been focused on the statistical rates and notable differences between races and crime, it is important to understand possible underlying issues, assumptions and/or biases that may occur. For example, previous studies have attempted to obtain statistical rates by disaggregating crime rates and/or employing rate specific crime rates. [26] However, this was shown to result in an overrepresentation of specific racial groups such as blacks and other racial minorities (including both delinquents and adults). [26] [28] Other prior (and even current) studies have also utilized data such as victimization data, homicide data and violent crimes. [26] However, some of these approaches had limitations, resulting in overrepresentation or incorrect assumptions. Possible limitations to consider are the utilization of only one measurement of discrimination and/or race-crime statistics, the omission of information or facts, and relying on and/or examining subsets and overtly broad information and data sets. [29]

Currently, one of the tools utilized is the NIBRS database which has assisted with obtaining a more accurate analysis. This was due to an increase in variety and improved measure off crime. [26] However, conflicting research and findings have bought to light a multitude of potential limitations to the available documentation, records and data that is available for use in race-crime specific data. Interpretation of these studies and research conducted have resulted in a variety of narratives and/or outcomes due to mixed results, a lack of studies for racial groups such as Asians, and even aspects such as expectancy effects and biases (such as negativity bias). [1]


See also

References

  1. 1 2 Ferguson, Christopher J.; Smith, Sven (2024-03-01). "Race, class, and criminal adjudication: Is the US criminal justice system as biased as is often assumed? A meta-analytic review" . Aggression and Violent Behavior. 75: 101905. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2023.101905. ISSN   1359-1789.
  2. ↑ Ferguson, Christopher J.; Smith, Sven (2024-03-01). "Race, class, and criminal adjudication: Is the US criminal justice system as biased as is often assumed? A meta-analytic review" . Aggression and Violent Behavior. 75: 101905. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2023.101905. ISSN   1359-1789.
  3. ↑ Bulman, May (October 11, 2017). "Ethnic minorities most likely to be both victims and suspects of crime, UK race report finds". The Independent. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Diskriminering i rättsprocessen - Brå". www.bra.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  5. ↑ Hällsten, Martin; Szulkin, Ryszard; Sarnecki, Jerzy (2013-05-01). "Crime as a Price of Inequality? The Gap in Registered Crime between Childhood Immigrants, Children of Immigrants and Children of Native Swedes". British Journal of Criminology. 53 (3): 456–481. doi:10.1093/bjc/azt005.
  6. 1 2 Crocitti, Stefania (2014). Immigration, Crime, and Criminalization in Italy - Oxford Handbooks. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859016.013.029.
  7. 1 2 Colombo, Asher (2013-11-01). "Foreigners and immigrants in Italy's penal and administrative detention systems". European Journal of Criminology. 10 (6): 746–759. doi:10.1177/1477370813495128. S2CID   145099179.
  8. ↑ Parmar, Alpa (2014). Ethnicities, Racism, and Crime in England and Wales - Oxford Handbooks. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859016.013.014.
  9. ↑ Holmberg, Lars; Kyvsgaard, Britta (2003). "Are Immigrants and Their Descendants Discriminated against in the Danish Criminal Justice System?". Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. 4 (2): 125–142. doi:10.1080/14043850310020027. S2CID   143646955.
  10. ↑ Roché, Sebastian; Gordon, Mirta B.; Depuiset, Marie-Aude (2014). Case Study - Oxford Handbooks. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859016.013.030.
  11. ↑ Light, Michael T. (2016-03-01). "The Punishment Consequences of Lacking National Membership in Germany, 1998–2010". Social Forces. 94 (3): 1385–1408. doi:10.1093/sf/sov084. S2CID   155814847.
  12. ↑ Wermink, Hilde; Johnson, Brian D.; Nieuwbeerta, Paul; Keijser, Jan W. de (2015-11-01). "Expanding the scope of sentencing research: Determinants of juvenile and adult punishment in the Netherlands". European Journal of Criminology. 12 (6): 739–768. doi:10.1177/1477370815597253. S2CID   143366742.
  13. ↑ Warren, Patricia Y.; Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald (2009-05-01). "Racial profiling and searches: Did the politics of racial profiling change police behavior?". Criminology & Public Policy. 8 (2): 343–369. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2009.00556.x.
  14. ↑ Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2008/09 , p. 8., 22
  15. ↑ West, Jeremy (February 2018). "Racial Bias in Police Investigations" (PDF). Working Paper.
  16. ↑ Donohue III, John J.; Levitt, Steven D. (2001-01-01). "The Impact of Race on Policing and Arrests". The Journal of Law & Economics. 44 (2): 367–394. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.381.8047 . doi:10.1086/322810. JSTOR   10.1086/322810. S2CID   1547854.
  17. ↑ Abrams, David S.; Bertrand, Marianne; Mullainathan, Sendhil (2012-06-01). "Do Judges Vary in Their Treatment of Race?". The Journal of Legal Studies. 41 (2): 347–383. doi:10.1086/666006. S2CID   2338687.
  18. ↑ Mustard, David B. (2001). "Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts". The Journal of Law and Economics. 44 (1): 285–314. doi:10.1086/320276. S2CID   154533225.
  19. ↑ Anwar, Shamena; Bayer, Patrick; Hjalmarsson, Randi (2012-05-01). "The Impact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 127 (2): 1017–1055. doi: 10.1093/qje/qjs014 .
  20. ↑ Daudistel, Howard C.; Hosch, Harmon M.; Holmes, Malcolm D.; Graves, Joseph B. (1999-02-01). "Effects of Defendant Ethnicity on Juries' Dispositions of Felony Cases". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 29 (2): 317–336. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01389.x.
  21. ↑ Depew, Briggs; Eren, Ozkan; Mocan, Naci (2017). "Judges, Juveniles, and In-Group Bias" (PDF). Journal of Law and Economics . 60 (2): 209–239. doi:10.1086/693822. S2CID   147631237.
  22. ↑ David, Arnold; Will, Dobbie; Yang, Crystal S. (May 2017). "Racial Bias in Bail Decisions". NBER Working Paper No. 23421. doi: 10.3386/w23421 .
  23. ↑ Rehavi, M. Marit; Starr, Sonja B. (2014). "Racial Disparity in Federal Criminal Sentences". Journal of Political Economy. 122 (6): 1320–1354. doi:10.1086/677255. ISSN   0022-3808. S2CID   3348344.
  24. ↑ Yang, Crystal S.; Cohen, Alma (2019). "Judicial Politics and Sentencing Decisions". American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 11 (1): 160–91. doi: 10.1257/pol.20170329 . ISSN   1945-7731.
  25. ↑ Beck, Allen J. (September 2021). "Race and Ethnicity of Violent Crime Offenders and Arrestees, 2018" (PDF). Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Eitle, David; D’Alessio, Stewart; Stolzenberg, Lisa (2006-01-01). "Race, economic inequality, and violent crime". J Crim Justice.
  27. ↑ Ulmer, Jeffery T.; Harris, Casey T.; Steffensmeier, Darrell (2012-09-01). "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Structural Disadvantage and Crime: White, Black, and Hispanic Comparisons". Social Science Quarterly. 93 (3): 799–819. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00868.x. ISSN   0038-4941. PMC   4097310 . PMID   25035523.
  28. ↑ Piquero, Alex R.; Brame, Robert W. (2008-07-01). "Assessing the Race-Crime and Ethnicity-Crime Relationship in a Sample of Serious Adolescent Delinquents". Crime and Delinquency. 54 (3): 390–422. doi:10.1177/0011128707307219. ISSN   0011-1287. PMC   2782848 . PMID   19946564.
  29. ↑ Burt, Callie Harbin; Simons, Ronald L.; Gibbons, Frederick X. (August 2012). "Racial Discrimination, Ethnic-Racial Socialization, and Crime: A Micro-sociological Model of Risk and Resilience". American Sociological Review. 77 (4): 648–677. doi:10.1177/0003122412448648. ISSN   0003-1224. PMC   3777442 . PMID   24058204.
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