ORGANIZATIONS AS VICTIMS IN AMERICAN MASS RACIAL DISTURBANCES - A REEXAMINATION

• NCJ Number: 18430
• Author(s): E L QUARANTELLI; R R DYNES
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 34 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5 R01 MH-15399-04
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: Ohio State University
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PAPER PRESENTED AT THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SUMPOSIUM ON VICTIMOLOGY - JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, SEPTEMBER 2-6, 1973.

Annotation

STUDY OF WHO THE VICTIMS WERE IN THE AMERICAN URBAN RACIAL DISTURBANCES OF THE 1960S, WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF VICTIMS WERE ATTACKED, AND IF THE OFFENDER-VICTIM SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP COULD ACCOUNT FOR THE BEHAVIOR.

Abstract

THE STUDY WAS LIMITED TO DISTURBANCES THAT INVOLVED MASS ACTIVITIES BY BLACK PEOPLE IN THE STREETS. THE OTHER MAJOR IDENTIFYING CRITERION WAS THE DEPLOYMENT OF EXTRA POLICE FORCES IN THE COMMUNITY. A TOTAL OF 325 EVENTS MET THESE TWO CRITERIA AND INVOLVED AROUND 300 DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES. THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE LITERATURE ON VICTIMS WAS SCANTY BUT DID INDICATE THAT CERTAIN ASPECTS OF ORGANIZATIONS MIGHT RAISE THE PROBABILITY OF THEIR BEING ATTACKED. AN ANALYSIS OF DATA IN THIS AND OTHER STUDIES INDICATED THAT ORGANIZATIONS WERE OVERHWELMINGLY THE VICTIMS IN THE DISTURBANCES, BUT THAT CERTAIN TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS WERE VERY DISPROPORTIONATELY SINGLED OUT FOR ATTACK. THE STUDY SUGGESTED THAT A STARTING POINT FOR A GENERAL EXPLANATION MIGHT BE THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONAL VARIABLES OF CLASS, STATUS AND POWER. GHETTO BLACKS SEE THEMSELVES AS RANKING LOW ON ALL THREE DIMENSIONS AND PERCEIVE THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH CERTAIN KINDS OF ORGANIZATIONS AS SYMBOLIZING THIS FACT. THESE PERCEPTIONS OF CERTAIN ORGANIZATION REST NOT ON ANY INTRINSIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORGANIZATIONS BUT HOW SUCH ENTITIES ARE DEFINED IN PREDISTURBANCE TIMES, AND IF SUCH DEFINITIONS ARE REINFORCED DURING PERIOS OF DISORDERS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)