Jewish and Arab Male Offenders in Israel - A Study of Ethnicity, Class and Minority Experience

• NCJ Number: 86520
• Author(s): B Z Cohen
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 180 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Bryn Mawr College - doctoral dissertation

Annotation

The criminal records of Jewish and Arab young adult male felons were analyzed to determine the influence on criminality of ethnicity, social class, and ethnic status.

Abstract

Data on 200 offenders and the 1,531 offenses for which they were convicted derive from police and probation files. Differences in offense behavior are reflected in offense type, severity, predation, and violence. Results of conventional and loglinear analyses indicate that the Arab offenders tend toward more personal and violent crime, while the Jewish offenders tend to commit property and predatory crime. Social class, as an independent variable, is not significantly associated with offense behavior, but when considered in interaction with ethnicity and ethnic status, social class helps define offender populations with characteristic offense patterns. The differences between Jewish and Arab crime are more pronounced for offenders who spend their adolescent years as members of ethnic minorities in their immediate environments. Contrary to the manner in which law-abiding ethnics are presumed to behave, criminal populations may become more ethnic in their criminal behavior when in an alien environment. Tables, footnotes, the data collection instrument, and over 100 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)