NCJ Number
98968
Editor(s)
D Georges-Abeyie
Date Published
1984
Length
351 pages
Annotation
This volume presents original and reprinted articles and executive summaries of the most current research findings and theory on the relationships among criminality, criminal victimization, justice, and race.
Abstract
Part 1 examines definitional issues in race and ethnicity as they impact on crime and victimization statistics, black and white attitudes toward criminal justice issues, statistics on black crime and victimization, homicide involving black perpetrators and victims, and minority group involvement in juvenile crime. Also examined are variations in the sex, age, and race-specific incidences of offending. A literature review explores the extent and dynamics of minority crime and victimization and racial bias in criminal justice processing at various levels of the system. Part 2 focuses on the treatment of blacks and other minorities by law enforcement agencies and the courts. Specific areas covered include differential processing and sentencing disparities; inherent biases within the criminal justice system; and race differences in crime commission, arrest rates, sentencing, and postsentencing treatment. Part 3 documents the extensive incarceration of blacks in American prisons in terms of both rate and absolute number and its implications for the black community. Research into the prisonization of black and white inmates considers factors affecting institutional adjustment. Also discussed is the importance of inmate education programs in the rehabilitation of the predominantly black, poor, and undereducated inmate population. Finally, policy implications of the increasingly minority prison population and recent advocacy of harsher and more punitive criminal justice practices are discussed, as are issues in training judges. In addition to section summaries, chapter abstracts and references are provided. abstracts and references are provided.