NCJ Number
165170
Editor(s)
M Tonry
Date Published
1997
Length
553 pages
Annotation
These nine papers present international comparisons of racial and ethnic differences in criminal offending, victimization by crime, and disparities and discrimination in the criminal justice systems of Australia, Canada, England and Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Abstract
An introduction notes that members of some disadvantaged minority groups in every Western country are disproportionately likely to be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for violent, priority, and drug crimes. In addition, important social policy dilemmas that are regarded in individual countries as uniquely their own are actually variations on common themes of social structure that characterize many countries. It also examines the difficulties involved in researching these issues; racial and ethnic differences in offending, victimization, and system processing in individual countries; research findings relating to immigration and crime; and recommendations on how future comparative research might advance understanding and policymaking. The individual papers focus on ethnic minorities, immigrants, crime, and criminal justice in each country. Figures, tables, footnotes, and chapter reference lists