RACE AND CRIME REVISITED

• NCJ Number: 58887
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 25 Issue: 3 Dated: (JULY 1979) Pages: 347-357
• Author(s): C E POPE
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 11 pages
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Council on Crime and Delinquency; UMI Dissertation Services; Institute for Scientific Information
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PRICE QUOTED FOR NCCP IS FOR SINGLE ISSUE EARLIER VERSION OF THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ACADEMY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCIENCES, NEW ORLEANS (LA), 1978

Annotation

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RACE AND CRIME INDICATED IN RESEARCH LITERATURE IS EXAMINED, AND FINDINGS ARE EVALUATED.

Abstract

FOR MANY YEARS, THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING RACE AS A CORRELATE OF CRIME HAS GENERATED EXTENSIVE RESEARCH INTEREST. ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE REPORTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE REVEAL THAT BLACKS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, THE EVIDENCE IS NEITHER CONSISTENT NOR CONCLUSIVE. FURTHER, THE CORRELATION BETWEEN RACE AND CRIME HAS BEEN SHOWN TO VARY WITH THE TYPE OF MEASUREMENT EMPLOYED. STUDIES BASED ON OFFICIAL DATA SOURCES HAVE INDICATED THAT BLACKS, AS WELL AS OTHER SELECTED MINORITY GROUPS, ARE OVERREPRESENTED IN ARREST, CONVICTION, AND PRISON STATISTICS WITH RESPECT TO THEIR POPULATION BASES. STUDIES USING SELF-REPORT MEASURES, HOWEVER, HAVE DEMONSTRATED A ZERO OR MINIMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RACE AND CRIME. THE INITIAL FINDINGS REPORTED IN VICTIMIZATION RESEARCH ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE RESULTS OF OFFICIAL TALLIES OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY, WHETHER THE OFFICIAL SOURCES USED ARE ARREST, CONVICTION, OR PRISON DATA. ALL THREE MEASURES USED (OFFICIAL RECORDS, SELF-REPORT SURVEYS, AND VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS) HAVE UNRESOLVED METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. IT IS ALSO LIKELY THAT EACH MEASURE FOCUSES UPON A DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT PHENOMENON AND IS THEREFORE NOT DIRECTLY COMPARABLE WITH THE OTHERS. OFFICIAL STATISTICS COMPILED BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE FREQUENTLY BEEN CRITICIZED AS BEING UNRELIABLE, FRAGMENTARY, AND MISLEADING. SELECTION BIAS IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH SELF-REPORT AND VICTIM SURVEY TECHNIQUES. STUDIES WHICH HAVE TESTED A DISCRIMINATION HYPOTHESIS WITH REGARD TO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE OF BLACKS AND WHITES DO NOT UNIFORMLY SUBSTANTIATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN GENERAL DISCRIMINATE AGAINST BLACKS. MOST STUDIES IN THE LITERATURE ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY EXAMINING SELECTION BIAS HAVE BEEN BASED UPON CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA AND HAVE APPLIED STATIC ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES. THIS IS NOT TRUE TO THE NATURE OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, WHICH IS A DYNAMIC SYSTEM WHERE DECISIONS MADE AT ONE POINT AFFECT THOSE AT A SUBSEQUENT STAGE. AN ANALYSIS OF LONGITUDINAL DATA AND THE APPLICATION OF DYNAMIC ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES MIGHT REPRESENT A MORE USEFUL RESEARCH APPROACH. FURTHER, AN AREA RELATIVELY IGNORED IN THE RESEARCH LITERATURE IS SYSTEM ECOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE DECISIONMAKING. THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL FLUCTUATIONS UPON THE NATURE AND TYPES OF DECISIONS AT DIFFERENT POINTS MAY BE DIRECT AND PRONOUNCED. (RCB)