NCJ Number
123046
Journal
Urban League Review Volume: 12 Issue: 1 & 2 Dated: (Summer 1988-Winter 1988-1989) Pages: 25-38
Date Published
1989
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper starts with the premise that it is a largely environmental, not biological or cultural disorder that is responsible for the overrepresentation of African-Americans in the lower levels of society.
Abstract
The article briefly reviews the biological and cultural explanations that have been advanced to justify the disproportionate location of African-Americans in the lower echelons of society. The paper then develops a third ideological perspective by showing how, through structural determinism, the social system determines the hierarchical arrangement of people within it, over both their biological or cultural dispositions. The author offers several policy recommendations. 1 figure, 20 references. (Author abstract modified)