NCJ Number
138042
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (1992) Pages: 100-113
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the social, cultural, and biological realities of the popular and scientific uses of the terms "race" and "ethnicity" and then examines the significance of "social distance" in the criminal justice context, which often involves blacks, Hispanics, and other nonwhite minorities.
Abstract
The analysis focuses on the possible impact of the misapplication of the concepts of race and ethnicity, and thus social distance, upon the crime commission, criminal victimization, and criminal justice processing of blacks and other nonwhite ethnic and racial minorities. The paper concludes that the misapplication of the biological term "race" for the sociocultural term "ethnicity" likely results in a focus on spurious crime causation and association. Statistics indicate that ethnic and racial minorities in the United States are disproportionately involved as perpetrators and victims of the FBI's Crime Index Offenses. Also, the disproportionate conviction and incarceration rate for ethnic and racial minorities is due, in part, to their prior arrest records and offending behavior. What remains at issue is whether the predisposition of minorities toward crime commission is biologically based, ethnically based, class based, or a combination of these factors. Once realistic and consistent definitions of race and ethnicity have been developed, pertinent research questions can be explored. This paper identifies seven research issues that should be explored in connection with the links of minorities to crime. 24 references