NCJ Number
182497
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2000 Pages: 171-193
Date Published
May 2000
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This analysis of research on the relationship between race and violence concludes that race effects on violence are linked to tangible macrostructural, normative, and recursive dynamics that are sensitive to the local and historical context within which most black persons reside.
Abstract
An overwhelming majority of studies examining the relationship between race and criminality use racial composition as a proxy for cultural context or simply for race effects without actually specifying what this variable may or may not be capturing. This ambiguous approach neglects the dynamic nature of race/class stratification and the more general patterning of opportunity and spatial concentration. Inroads toward a better understanding of race and racial concentration and its relation to violence and to general criminological outcomes can take place with a change in the current conceptual landscape. Much research literature has conceptual inadequacies. An approach oriented to the stratification process broadens the research and policy discourse and focuses on more fundamental societal processes and potential holistic solutions. This approach suggests the need not only for efforts such as increased policing of dangerous areas and mentoring of vulnerable adolescent populations, but also for policy initiatives on economic development and growth. Figures, note, and 123 references (Author abstract modified)