NCJ Number
179337
Journal
Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment Volume: 1 Issue: 2/3 Dated: 1998 Pages: 183-201
Date Published
1998
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper examines black on black crime and views it as a means of compensating for idiomatic purposelessness, a term that is operationally defined as a state in which persons have a vacuous sense of self--persons whose sense of significance and importance is extremely marginal and persons whose development lacks or at best is insufficiently grounded in constant positive affirmation.
Abstract
Variables grounded in history that should be understood in the context of idiomatic purposelessness include compensatory violence, disunification of essence, and human oppression. Compensatory violence has its roots in and compensates for impotence, and impotence is equivalent to feelings of powerlessness. Disunification of essence is concerned with indispensable or intrinsic properties that characterize or identify an individual. The fundamental transformation necessary for persons of African descent to disengage themselves from the dehumanizing constraints of Eurocentric thought and action is to reclaim the source of their essence by adopting an Afrocentric world view. Brief descriptions of a proposed training approach are included to facilitate the positive behavioral transformation of African Americans. The author believes exchanging idiomatic purposelessness for idiomatic purposefulness will remove a major contributing factor leading to black on black crime. 46 references