NCJ Number
19913
Date Published
1975
Length
185 pages
Annotation
THIS WORK ATTEMPTS TO DETERMINE HOW USEFUL A CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF VIOLENCE IS IN UNDERSTANDING CRIMINAL HOMICIDE, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, FORCIBLE RAPE, AND ROBBERY COMMITTED BY BLACKS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
AN INTRODUCTION TO SEVERAL CONCEPTS USED IN THIS ESSAY IS FIRST PROVIDED. AMONG THESE ARE THE NOTIONS OF ANOMIE, SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION, AND BLACK FAMILY PATHOLOGY. A GENERAL INTERPRETIVE FRAMEWORK IN WHICH CULTURE IS VIEWED AS A VARIABLE INTERVENING BETWEEN MORE BASIC STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF POOR BLACK BEHAVIORS AND VIOLENT CRIMINAL OUTCOMES IS THEN PRESENTED. A 'MULTIDIMENSIONAL VALUE SPACE' IS CONCEIVED IN WHICH SOME POOR BLACKS SIMULTANEOUSLY ACCEPT DOMINANT CULTURAL, BLACK POVERTY SUBCULTURAL, AND VIOLENT CONTRACULTURAL VALUES, BEHAVIORS, AND MEANINGS. THIS MODEL IS APPLIED TO HOMICIDE, ASSAULT, RAPE, AND ROBBERY BY POOR BLACKS, ASKING HOW AN ADHERENCE TO VIOLENT CONTRACULTURE CAN FACILITATE THESE BEHAVIORS, YET ALSO ARGUING THAT MANY OTHER VARIABLES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHENOMENON. PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, A DISCUSSION OF THIS THEORY IN RELATION TO LABELING THEORY, AND SPECULATIONS ON THE MEANING OF NORMALCY ARE INCLUDED. (SNI ABSTRACT)