NCJ Number
183601
Date Published
2000
Length
11 pages
Annotation
To clearly understand the phenomenon of crime committed by black Americans, theoretical researchers must ask two significant questions: (1) why the significance of race has been ignored as a relevant explanatory factor in the criminology theory; and (2) what ontological foundations must be recognized for a useful theory of crime committed by blacks to be developed.
Abstract
The evolution of modern criminology theory has displayed a clear path toward recognizing certain factors as relevant to understanding the genesis of criminality. Such factors include individual choice, structural elements associated with social class position, changes resulting from industrialization, and the significance of social opportunities in the development of individual behavior. Observations of trends in crime and punishment have led criminologists to call for a race-conscious approach to the study of social dynamics. To elaborate a comprehensive theory connecting race and crime, it is necessary to specify domains of analysis and to define levels of analysis to which principles are to be directed. In light of the social dynamics of both individual action and social structure, the social processes by which an act is viewed as criminal deviance can be more clearly outlined. As the level of social structure grows increasingly more complex, norms of conduct come to reflect a more formalized array of interests and social concerns. In analyzing the phenomenon of race and crime, consideration must be paid to certain social and historical facts that have shaped American culture. The phenomenon of criminal behavior is viewed as a developmental product of socialization, the nature of which is affected by institutionalized assumptions regarding skin color. 25 references