NCJ Number
98977
Date Published
1984
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This chapter explores the dynamics and extent of minority crime and criminal victimization, racial bias in the criminal justice system, and minority knowledge and perceptions of the system's components and processing mechanisms.
Abstract
Data indicate that racial and ethnic minorities both perpetrate and are victims of a disproportionate amount of personal and property crime. The extent of offending and victimization varies with the specific offense examined. Numerous theories have attempted to explain this overrepresentation in terms of cultural, economic, and other socioenvironmental factors. A number of studies have suggested that criminal justice processing, particularly through discretionary decisions, operates on a double standard that discriminates against minorities. A number of other studies have either failed to find discrimination or have found processing and sentencing disparities to be related to other factors such as offender attitude, age, and previous record. A number of studies have found that ignorance of the law and legal processes is a serious problem among minorities, and that minorities appear to be unable to use the law as a constructive social process. Studies of attitudes toward the criminal justice system indicate that, compared to whites, minorities have negative perceptions of the police and have had negative contacts with and/or hold negative attitudes toward criminal justice agencies. These findings hold both for lower class and upper and middle-class minorities. Because criminology is predominantly a white social science, there must be a black commitment to revealing the injustices and consequences of bias in the criminal justice system. Fifty-eight notes, 98 references, and 6 data tables are provided.