Tracing the Historical Origins of Youth Delinquency & Violence: Myths & Realities About Black Culture

• NCJ Number: 227847
• Journal: Journal of Social Issues Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Dated: 2003 Pages: 67-82
• Author(s): William E. Cross Jr.
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review; Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For other articles in this issue, see NCJ-227844-46 and NCJ-227848-52.

Annotation

This literature review of works that have traced the historical origins of youth delinquency and violence among African-Americans, focused on the impact of slavery and Black culture.

Abstract

Key scholars of the Black experience such as Wilson (1987), Patterson (1998), and Ogbu (1991) have attempted to show that contemporary problems in the Black community - such as family instability, low motivation to achieve, and high rates of juvenile delinquency and youth violence - can be traced in a linear fashion to the legacy of slavery and past discrimination. This review presents another analysis, which criticizes the historical linkage of contemporary Black problems to the legacy of slavery as being a problematic and dubious view of Black history. This paper reviews the evidence that contests this legacy of slavery thesis. There is very little historical evidence, for example, that Blacks as a whole resisted formal educational opportunities in the immediate aftermath of slavery. On the contrary, the educational demands that the masses of ex-slaves placed on themselves and on the larger society can only be viewed as a social movement for education. The attitudes and behavior of the ex-slaves show a motivation toward achievement in education for themselves and their children that was a centerpiece of their standards for personal excellence and informed involvement in the political, economic, cultural, and religious arenas of the new, free society. The ex-slaves took advantage of the material and funding support provided by the Federal Freedman's Bureau and cooperated with educational agents from northern benevolent societies. Blacks left slavery with the social capital and motivation for achievement that was needed for rapid acculturation into mainstream America. Problems arose when systemic forces in the dominant White culture neutralized or undermined Black acculturation. 50 references