NCJ Number
10054
Date Published
1972
Length
51 pages
Annotation
ANALYSIS OF RIOT DATA SHOWS THAT DISORDERS HAVE DECREASED IN FREQUENCY AND SERIOUSNESS BUT STILL OCCUR THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WITH INCREASED HOSTILITY BETWEEN RACES.
Abstract
LEAST IN TERMS OF NUMBERS, 1967 WAS MORE THE YEAR OF THE LONG HOT SUMMER THAN WERE ANY OF THE OTHERS. THE NUMBER OF SUMMERTIME DISORDERS HAS DECREASED ANNUALLY FROM A HIGH OF 176 IN 1967 TO A LOW OF 46 EVENTS IN 1971. THE DISTRIBUTION OF DISORDERS HAS CHANGED OVER THE FIVE YEARS COVERED BY THIS REPORT - BEING HEAVILY CONCENTRATED DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS IN 1967 AND PROGRESSIVELY BECOMING MORE AND MORE DIFFUSED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CALENDAR YEARS BY 1971. FINALLY, IT IS CLEAR THAT CIVIL DISORDERS HAVE DEFINITELY BECOME LESS SERIOUS IN CHARACTER OVER THE LAST FIVE SUMMERS. THIS FINDING OBTAINS WHETHER ONE CONSIDERS THE DECREASE OF EVENTS INVOLVING ONE OR MORE EXTREME ACTS IN TERMS OF ABSOLUTE NUMBERS OF SUCH EVENTS (124 IN 1967, COMPARED TO 13 IN 1971) OR IN TERMS OF THE PROPORTION OF SUCH EVENTS (70 PERCENT IN 1967, COMPARED TO 27 PERCENT IN 1971). THE FINDINGS ALSO SHOW CHANGES IN THE LOCUS OF AND PARTICIPANTS IN THE SUMMER DISORDERS OF 1967 THROUGH 1971. FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1967, 47 PERCENT OF THE SUMMERTIME DISORDERS OCCURRED IN LARGE CITIES (WITH POPULATIONS OF 100,000 OR MORE). BY 1971 THESE CITIES ACCOUNTED FOR 70 PERCENT OF THE DISORDERS, EVEN THOUGH THE ABSOLUTE NUMBER OF SUMMER DISORDERS HAD DECLINED. IN 1967, CITIES WITH BLACK POPULATIONS OF 25 PERCENT OR MORE ACCOUNTED FOR ONLY 21 PERCENT OF THE SUMMERTIME DISORDERS. BY 1971 THIS FIGURE HAD CLIMBED TO 36 PERCENT. IN 1967, 80 PERCENT OF THE SUMMER DISORDERS WERE ATTRIBUTED TO BLACK PARTICIPANTS. BY 1971 THIS FIGURE HAD DECLINED TO ONLY 37 PERCENT. MOREOVER, ONLY 11 PERCENT OF THE DISORDERS WE STUDIED FOR 1967 INVOLVED OPEN HOSTILITIES BETWEEN TWO OR MORE FORMATIONS, BUT BY 1971 A FULL 37 PERCENT OF THE SUMMER DISORDERS WERE ATTRIBUTED TO TWO OR MORE FORMATIONS. AUTHOR ABSTRACT