NCJ Number
51596
Date Published
1978
Length
167 pages
Annotation
AN OVERVIEW IS GIVEN OF WRITINGS BY BLACK CRIMINOLOGISTS FROM 1895 THROUGH THE 1970'S, THE STATUS OF BLACK STUDIES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN THE 1970S, AND STUDIES IN BLACK CRIMINOLOGY BY WHITE AUTHORS ARE SURVEYED.
Abstract
THIS STUDY OF BLACK CRIME AND DELINQUENCY AS PERCEIVED BY BLACK AUTHORS ENDEAVORS TO SHOW THAT THERE IS A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE CALLED BLACK CRIMINOLOGY AND THAT THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM CRIMINOLOGY AS SEEN BY THE WHITE CULTURE. BEFORE THE 1970S, MOST WRITINGS BY BLACK AUTHORS APPEARED IN PRIMARILY BLACK JOURNALS AND WERE LITTLE KNOWN IN THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY. THE STUDY FIRST DESCRIBES THE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH REQUIRED TO FIND WRITINGS BY BLACK AUTHORS AND TO IDENTIFY THE RACE OF AUTHORS WHEN THIS WAS NOT KNOWN. THEN AN OVERVIEW OF BLACK CRIMINOLOGY IS GIVEN BY DECADE. THESE WRITINGS CONTINUALLY EMPHASIZED THE FACT THAT BLACK PERCEPTIONS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES DIFFER GREATLY FROM PERCEPTIONS BY WHITES. THIS STUDY ALSO FINDS THAT IN THE 1800'S BLACKS WERE PRIMARILY INVOLVED IN NONVIOLENT CRIME. IN THE SOUTH BLACKS WERE ARRESTED WITH LITTLE PROVOCATION AND THEIR RELEASE DEPENDED UPON WHITES' PAYING THE FINE. THUS, THE BLACK OFFENDER BECAME, IN EFFECT, AN INDENTURED SERVANT. VIOLENT CRIME AMONG BLACKS INCREASED AS MORE MOVED NORTH INTO THE CITIES. EARLIER BLACK CRIMINOLOGISTS CONCENTRATED ON REFUTING THE CLAIM THAT BLACKS WERE INHERENTLY CRIMINAL. IN THE MID 1900'S BLACK WRITERS CONCENTRATED ON EXAMINATIONS OF SOCIAL CAUSES BEHIND BLACK CRIMINALITY. TWO EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHIES ARE INCLUDED: A LISTING OF WORKS BY BLACK AUTHORS COVERING THE PERIOD 1895-1978, AND A LIST OF STUDIES OF BLACK CRIME BY WHITE AUTHORS COVERING THE PERIOD 1913-1978. EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)