1st Edition
A Theory of African American Offending Race, Racism, and Crime
A little more than a century ago, the famous social scientist W.E.B. Du Bois asserted that a true understanding of African American offending must be grounded in the "real conditions" of what it means to be black living in a racial stratified society. Today and according to official statistics, African American men – about six percent of the population of the United States – account for nearly sixty percent of the robbery arrests in the United States. To the authors of this book, this and many other glaring racial disparities in offending centered on African Americans is clearly related to their unique history and to their past and present racial subordination. Inexplicably, however, no criminological theory exists that fully articulates the nuances of the African American experience and how they relate to their offending. In readable fashion for undergraduate students, the general public, and criminologists alike, this book for the first time presents the foundations for the development of an African American theory of offending.
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
African Americans and the Criminal Justice System
The Uniqueness of Being Black in America: The need for a Black Criminology
The African American Heritage
A Black Criminology
General Criminological Theories on African American Offending
Social Disorganization Theory
Hirschi’s Social Control Theory
Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime
Strain Theories
Merton’s Strain Theory
Agnew’s General Strain Theory
Aker’s Social Learning Theory
Afrocentricity
Conclusion
2. An African American Worldview
The Basic Premise of our African American Theory of Offending
The Racial Divide
Evidence of a General Racial Divide
Hurricane Katrina
Does race matter?
Success of the Civil Rights Movement
Reparations and Race Relations
The Racial Divide in Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System
The Racial Divide in Support for the Death Penalty
The Racial Divide in Perceptions of Injustice in the Criminal Justice System
The Racial Divide in Support for the "War on Drugs"
A Worldview that Is Shared Among All African Americans
Why African Americans Share this Perception of the Criminal Justice System
The Election of Barack Obama
Perceived Racial Discrimination
Would Employers Rather Hire Whites than African Americans?
Perceived Racial Discrimination
Conclusions
3. Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices and African American Offending
Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices
Why People Obey the Law
Procedural Justice
Legal Socialization
Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices and Defiance
Shame, Anger, and Defiance
Hirschi’s Control Theory and the Bond of Belief
Variations in African American Offending
Variations in the Degree to which African Americans Perceive Criminal Justice Injustices
Variations in Place
Variations in Defiance
Variations by Gender
4. Racial Discrimination, Negative Stereotypes, Stereotype Threats, and African American
Offending
Racial Discrimination and the General Well-Being of African Americans
Racial Discrimination and African American Offending
Racial Discrimination and Weak School Bonds
Stereotypes of African Americans
Prevailing Racial Stereotypes
Stereotypes and Offending
Stereotype Threat and Weak Social Bonds
Stereotype Threats
Stereotype Threat, Weak Bonds, and African American Offending
Pejorative Stereotypes and Offending
Summary
Gender and Crime
The Significance of Place
Conclusions
5. Racial Socialization and African American Offending
Introduction
The Different Dimensions of Racial Socialization
Cultural Socialization
Preparation for Racial Bias
Promotion of Mistrust
Egalitarian Values
Racial Socialization and Racial Identity
Racial Identity and Offending
Racial Socialization and Gender
Racial Socialization and Social Bonds
Racial Socialization and the Black Church
Racial Socialization, Racial Discrimination, Hostility, Depression, and Offending
Coping with Racism
Our Theory on Racial Socialization and Offending
Racial Socialization and Weak Bonds
Gender and African American Offending
Drugs, Gender, and Crime
Racial Socialization, Place, and Offending
Why Place Matters
6. A Theoretical Model of African American Offending
The Unique Worldview of African Americans
African American Offending and Criminal Justice Injustices
Criminal Justice Injustices and Weakening the Restraints of the Rule of Law
African American Offending and Racial Discrimination
Negative Stereotypes
Individual Offending
Variations in Experiences with Racial Injustices
Variations in Racial Socialization
Our Theoretical Model of African American Offending
Gender and African American Offending
Place Matters
Differences among African Americans
Ethnicity and Immigration Status
Colorism
Conclusion
Epilogue: Environmental Racism and African American Offending
Introduction
Environmental Racism
The Empirical Research on Environmental Racism
Race and Proximity to Environmental Toxins
The Health Effects of Environmental Racism
The Deleterious Consequences of Exposure to Lead
Lead Exposure and Cognitive Impairment
Lead Exposure and Education
Lead Exposure and Crime
Lead Exposure and African American Offending
Environmental Racism and African American Offending
Our Theory of African American Offending
Environmental Racism and African American Offending
Endnotes
Biography
James D. Unnever is a Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida-Sarasota-Manatee. Dr. Unnever was the Recipient of the Donal A.J. MacNamara Award by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2009. The author of over 40 publications appearing in such journals as Social Forces, Criminology, Social Problems, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly, Dr. Unnever was ranked as the fifth most innovative author in criminology from 2000–2010. His areas of expertise include race and crime, public opinion about crime-related issues including the death penalty, the testing of theories of crime, and school bullying.
Shaun L. Gabbidon is Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. Dr. Gabbidon has served as a fellow at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, and as an adjunct faculty member in the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The author of more than 100 scholarly publications including 50 peer-reviewed articles and 10 books, his most recent books include Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Justice: An International Dilemma and Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime (2nd edition). Dr. Gabbidon currently serves as the editor of the new SAGE journal, Race and Justice: An International Journal. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Gabbidon was most recently awarded the 2009 W.E.B. Du Bois Award from the Western Society of Criminology for his outstanding contributions in the area of race, ethnicity, and justice.
"Race, Racism, and Crime offers an insightful account of why black Americans more often commit violent crimes than do members of other groups, and why most black people do not. It draws heavily on the American black experience and will become the standard work on the subject." – Michael Tonry, Law, University of Minnesota
"This book is a must-read for criminologists and sociologists. Although the book is written for social scientists concerned with explaining crime, it is likely to be of interest to anyone striving to understand the high amount of crime that exists in many African American communities. I look forward to using it as one of the texts in the criminology course that I teach." – Ronald Simons, Sociology, University of Georgia
