NCJ Number
147023
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Education Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall 1993) Pages: 273-290
Date Published
1993
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The treatment of issues of race by criminologists and criminal justice researchers during four periods in American history is described. Support for the continued examination of the relationship between crime and race is provided.
Abstract
Race has always been a part of American criminology and criminal justice research. During the early years of American criminology, the focus was on etiology of crime. The predominant theories assumed that offenders were distinguished by genetic and other physiological factors. This theory was applied to African-Americans. During the next period, criminology came to focus on social and cultural explanations of crime. Research relied on crime data provided by police records and the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which were first available in 1930. These records showed that arrest rates for African-Americans were much higher than for whites. Criticisms of the use of this data for drawing conclusions about crime rates by race are discussed. Beginning in the 1960s, studies tended to focus more on differential treatment of African-Americans by the criminal justice system. Self-report crime surveys provided evidence that crime rates for African- Americans were closer to that of whites, leading researchers to conclude that the proper focus should be on official decisionmaking rather than on etiology. In the most recent period, the etiology of crime is again being studied. The development of a national crime victims survey has given support for using UCR data for examining crime rates by race. The authors support the continued study of race and crime. They argue that it is not enough to focus only on issues of justice and fair treatment by the system. Evidence of the depth of the criminal justice crisis facing African-Americans is provided as support for the continued study of the causes of crime as they relate to race. The authors suggest some of the issues regarding race that should be addressed in criminology and criminal justice courses. These include definitional issues, historical background on the development of the American legal and criminal justice systems in light of racial issues, and practical concerns. References, appendix