NCJ Number
228154
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 377-409
Date Published
September 2009
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This paper reanalyzed Hirschi's attempt to falsify the strain theory's claim of racial discrimination and delinquency among African-American youth through a review of the data used, and its consequences within the sociology of knowledge.
Abstract
Travis Hirschi's attempt to falsify strain theory in 1969 shaped his use of the questions in the Richmond Youth Project and the very specific way in which he tested whether discrimination fostered crime. A reanalysis of the project data used in his study revealed that perceived racial discrimination was a robust predictor of delinquent involvement, suggesting that Hirschi missed a historic chance to focus the attention of a generation of criminologists on how the unique experiences of African-Americans might shape their criminality. The subsequent neglect by scholars of discrimination as a potential source of crime constituted a significant untold chapter in the sociology of knowledge, thereby impoverishing the understanding of crime. This paper revisits Hirschi's challenge of the strain theory using the Richmond Project data, reproducing Hirschi's original analysis. This is followed with a probe into why Hirschi did not discover this relationship in his data. The paper then contends that Hirschi's omission was consequential for criminology and notes that criminologists collectively ignored the possible criminogenic effects of racial discrimination until recently. Table and references