A Theory of African American Offending: Race, Racism, and Crime

by Unnever; James D.

• ISBN13: 9780415883580
• ISBN10: 041588358X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-02-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A little more than a century ago, the famous social scientist W.E.B. Dubois asserted that a true understanding of African American offending must be grounded in the "real conditions" of what it means to be black living in a racial stratified society. Today and according to official statistics, African American men'”about 6 percent of the population of the United States'”account for nearly 60 percent of the armed robbery arrests in the United States. To the authors of this book, this and many other glaring racial disparities in offending centered on African Americans is clearly related to their unique history and to their past and present racial subordination. Inexplicably, however, no criminological theory exists that fully articulates the nuances of the African American experience and how they relate to their offending. In readable fashion for undergraduate students, the general public, and criminologists alike, this book for the first time presents the foundations for the development of an African American theory of offending..

Author Biography

James D. Unnever is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Dr. Unnever was the recipient of the Donal A.J. MacNamara Award by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2009. The author of over 40 publications appearing in such journals as Social Forces, Criminology, Social Problems, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly, Dr. Unnever was ranked as the fifth most innovative author in criminology from 2000-2010. His areas of expertise include race and crime, public opinion about crime-related issues including the death penalty, the testing of theories of crime, and school bullying. Shaun L. Gabbidon is Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public Affairs at Penn Stare Harrisburg. Dr. Gabbidon has served as a fellow at Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, and as an adjunct faculty member in the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The author of more than 100 scholarly publications including 50 peer-reviewed articles and 12 books, his most recent books include Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice: An International Dilemma and Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime (2nd edition). Dr. Gabbidon currently serves as the editor of the new SAGE journal, Race and Justice: An International Journal. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Gabbidon was most recently awarded the 2009 W.E.B. Du Bois Award from the Western Society of Criminology for his outstanding contributions in the area of race, ethnicity, and justice.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. XV
African American Offending	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
African Americans and the Criminal Justice System	p. 1
The Uniqueness of Being Black in America: The Need for a Black Criminology	p. 4
The African American Heritage	p. 4
A Black Criminology	p. 7
General Theories on African American Offending	p. 10
Social Disorganization Theory	p. 11
Hirschi's Social Control Theory	p. 13
Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime	p. 14
Strain Theories	p. 15
Merton's Strain Theory	p. 15
Agnew's General Strain Theory	p. 16
Aker's Social Learning Theory	p. 19
Afrocentricity	p. 21
Conclusion	p. 24
An African American Worldview	p. 25
The Basic Premise of Our Theory of African American Offending	p. 26
The Racial Divide	p. 29
Evidence of a General Racial Divide	p. 29
Hurrticane Katrina	p. 30
Does Race Matter?	p. 30
Success of the Civil Rights Movement	p. 31
Reparations and Race Relations	p. 31
The Racial Divide in Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System	p. 32
The Racial Divide in Support for the Death Penalty	p. 32
The Racial Divide in Perceptions of Injustice in the Criminal Justice System	p. 34
The Racial Divide in Support for the ôWar on Drugsö	p. 37
A Worldview that is Shared Among all African Americans	p. 39
Why African Americans Share this Perception of the Criminal Justice System	p. 41
The Election of Barack Obama	p. 46
Perceived Racial Discrimination	p. 47
Would Employers Rather Hire Whites than African Americans?	p. 48
Perceptions of Racial Discrimination	p. 49
Conclusions	p. 51
Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices and African American Offending	p. 52
Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices	p. 52
Why People Obey the Law	p. 52
Procedural Justice	p. 53
Legal Socialization	p. 55
Perceptions of Criminal Justice Injustices and Defiance	p. 57
Shame, Anger, and Defiance	p. 57
Hirschi's Control Theory and the Bond of Belief	p. 62
Variations in African American Offending	p. 65
Variations in the Degree to which African Americans Perceive Criminal Justice Injustices	p. 65
Variations in Place	p. 66
Variations in Defiance	p. 70
Variations by Gender	p. 70
Racial Discrimination, Negative Stereotypes, Stereotype Threats, and African American Offending	p. 73
Racial Discrimination and the General Well-Being of African Americans	p. 76
Racial Discrimination and African American Offending	p. 78
Racial Discrimination and Weak School Bonds	p. 80
Stereotypes of African Americans	p. 88
Prevailing Racial Stereotypes	p. 88
The Impact that Negative Stereotypes Have on African Americans	p. 92
Stereotypes and Offending	p. 93
Stereotype Threat and Weak Social Bonds	p. 94
Stereotype Threats	p. 94
Stereotype Threat, Weak Bonds, and African American Offending	p. 96
Pejorative Stereotypes and Offending	p. 98
Summary	p. 101
White Collar Crime	p. 102
Gender and Crime	p. 103
The Significance of Place	p. 106
Conclusions	p. 111
Racial Socialization and African American Offending	p. 113
Introduction	p. 113
The Different Dimensions of Racial Socialization	p. 119
Cultural Socialization	p. 120
Preparation for Racial Bias	p. 121
Promotion of Mistrust	p. 122
Egalitarian Values	p. 124
Racial Socialization and Racial Identity	p. 125
Racial Identity and Offending	p. 128
Racial Socialization and Gender	p. 129
Racial Socialization and Social Bonds	p. 133
Racial Socialization and the Black Church	p. 137
Racial Socialization, Racial Discrimination, Hostility, Depression, and Offending	p. 138
Coping with Racism	p. 140
Our Theory on Racial Socialization and Offending	p. 144
Racial Socialization and Weak Bonds	p. 151
Gender and African American Offending	p. 152
Drugs, Gender, and Crime	p. 158
Racial Socialization, Place, and Offending	p. 160
Why Place Matters	p. 161
A Theoretical Model of African American Offending	p. 167
The Unique Worldview of African Americans	p. 167
African American Offending and Criminal Justice Injustices	p. 167
Criminal justice Injustices and Weakening the Restraints of the Rule of Law	p. 171
African American Offending and Racial Discrimination	p. 173
Negative Stereotypes	p. 177
Individual Offending	p. 182
Variations in Experiences with Racial Injustices	p. 182
Variations in Racial Socialization	p. 183
Our Theoretical Model of African American Offending	p. 186
Gender and African American Offending	p. 190
Place Matters	p. 195
Ethnic Differences in African American Offending	p. 201
Ethnicity and Immigration Status	p. 201
Colorism	p. 204
Conclusion	p. 204
Epilogue: Environmental Racism and African American Offending	p. 207
Introduction	p. 207
Environmental Racism	p. 208
The Empirical Research on Environmental Racism	p. 210
Race and Proximity to Environmental Toxins	p. 210
The Health Effects of Environmental Racism	p. 211
The Deleterious Consequences of Exposure to Lead	p. 212
Lead Exposure and Cognitive Impairment	p. 213
Lead Exposure and Education	p. 214
Lead Exposure and Crime	p. 215
Lead Exposure and African American Offending	p. 218
Our Theory of African American Offending	p. 219
Environmental Racism and African American Offending	p. 220
Notes	p. 225
References	p. 233
Index	p. 263
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