Criminal Inequality in America: Patterns and Consequences (From Crime and Inequality, P 14-36, 1995, John Hagan and Ruth D. Peterson, eds. - See NCJ-157570)

• NCJ Number: 157571
• Author(s): J Hagan; R D Peterson
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Stanford University Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article considers correlations between race, age, sex, and economic circumstance, noting that in America, the experience of violent crime is highly concentrated among young, poor, minority males.

Abstract

The authors present statistics to bolster this argument, and trace the roots of the problem to a history of race-linked discrimination and segregation that has produced crime among minorities, as well as diffuse patterns of resentment and aggression. The chapter examines the treatment of minorities within the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and explores the primarily distrustful relationship between minority citizens and law enforcement and justice officials. This discontent and distrust stemming from the root causes of crime and trends in the dispensation of justice may have repercussions that go beyond involvement in crime. Finally, the authors examine how experiences with crime polarize class relations and lead to racial confrontation.