Racial discrimination persists and continues to persist as a routine situation for racial minorities in America. Despite the prevalence of racism, the effect of racial bias on social behaviors remains largely underdeveloped. Criminal traits are no exception. Despite the fact that scholars have long been interested in uncovering the issue of racial disparities in crime, one area that they have not explored is on the direct relationship between institutional prejudice and crime rates. The neglect has is unwarranted ways given the evidence that African Americans, in particular males, engage in crimes more than whites. Based on that, we would focus on the relationship between institutional racism and its impact on crime rates among blacks.
Review
Race discrepancy in crime has long been an issue for concern among criminologists and sociologists. Despite the existence of bias in the criminal justice system, what is evident is that African Americans engage in higher rates of crime as compared to their white counterparts (Williams 1985). Earlier research depicted the root cause of the state of affair to be the deviant black subculture, which encouraged crime through violence. Nonetheless, the premise of generalization for a particular race was proven largely inadequate due to its neglect of structural influences. For a long period, the lack of consideration for cultural deficit explanation brought about an unproductive mix of controversy. Despite differing in several crucial ways, the explanations examine the study of race and crime from a contextual perspective. They highlight the variation in ethnic-racial composition and the levels of inequality.
The generalization aspects emphasize racialized structural forces such as unemployment and housing discrimination that aggregate to produce economically disadvantaged areas (Feagin 1991). Because of the isolation, the state of affair weakens the control of crime and is conducive for the emergence of a deviant culture. High crime rates in areas resided by African Americans result. The research highlights that racial segregation and concentrated disadvantages play crucial roles in exacerbating crime rates among the minorities due to systemic structural disadvantage. Concerning that, the argument on macro-level approaches that dominate the discourse on race and crime do not fully account for the way that race influence macro-interactions (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012). A comprehensive explanation needs to go beyond such viewpoints to address the reality of racism. From a wider perspective, racial discrimination has not played a fundamental role in explaining black offenses thus, a new thinking about race and crime needs to come in place to underscore the role micro-level interactions play.
The harm of racial discrimination has been conceptualized within the stress process framework as an intense stressor producing psychological and physiological distress. In relation to that, the general strain theory applies the stress framework to criminal offending (Agnew 1992). The negative emotions pressure an individual to avoid their stress through alternative behaviors or attempting to attain positively valued stimuli through unlawful channels. According to the strain theory, racial discrimination increases the likelihood of offending. Besides that, there are also additional hypothesis that relate to the strain theory aiming to contextualize the topic on race and crime. They include depression partially mediates the effect of racial discrimination on offending, a hostile view of relationship mediates the effect of racial prejudice on deviant behavior and the disengagement from conventional norms prompts the effect of bias on crime.
Families prepare their children to function socially in the society through a process known as socialization. Given the persistence of white racism and racial stratification, racial minority experiences are distinct from those of white kids. Research depicts that minority families that aim to counter the status quo have resulted to ethnic-racial socialization (Demo and Hughes 1990). It is aimed at promoting protective approaches that ensure they promote their kids pride and esteem in their racial group. Although many parents engage in the situation, the frequency of the message varies. Learning about African American culture takes place naturally at home through tacit socialization. Cultural socialization has been directly linked to favorable views of African American, higher academic success and improved self-esteem (Jang and Thornberry 1998). Research indicates that cultural socialization is inversely related to externalizing behavior and internalizing problems. In addition to the compensatory effect, there exists a reason to believe that cultural socialization may be of help in managing discrimination challenges.
Majority of African Americans will encounter discrimination in their lives. Besides that, they are ill prepared on the coping mechanisms. Preparation for bias reflects the translation of social experiences into proactive socialization practices. Rather than exerting a direct effect, research suggests that preparation for bias provides resilience by offsetting the effects of racial prejudice. It lowers the consequences of prejudice through prior familiarization with the issue that result in decreasing the psychological distress levels.
Based on that, research was conducted aimed at examining the effects of race on crime at the micro-level, through the highlighting of interpersonal discrimination as a race specified risk aspect. In replicating previous works, there was the prediction that experiences with racial discrimination increase people’s likelihood of committing offenses. Focusing on that, what is evident is the argument that discrimination brings about depression, disconnection from standard norms and hostile view of relationships that in turn culminate to deviant traits (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012).. Noting that racial bias does not often lead to crime, there is a focus on cultural practices that validate prejudice. Familiar cultural socialization strengthened through racial identity and a sense of community is inversely associated with crime through lowering depression and hostile views. Furthermore, there is the prediction that preparation for bias mitigates the effect of racial discrimination on crime, through integrating competencies that handle the matter.
The hypothesis is tested using data from the first four waves of Family and Community Health Study (FACHS) that surveys black families in Iowa (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012).. Of importance, is that the incorporation of all the measures from the waves leads to the focus on the effects of discrimination on crime concurrently. The modeling decision was arrived at after the realization on the belief that discrimination has a significant effect on crime in the short term as compared to the long term. Despite the fact that such a viewpoint may raise crucial question, a recent survey on FACHS showed that racial discrimination was directly related to violent delinquency over time. Moreover, studies reveal that distress is not related to future reports of racial discrimination. Preliminary analysis testing on the sequence of crime, disengagement from conventional norms and discrimination experiences point to the fact that the casual order is from systematic discrimination. Besides that, they provide no support for an alternative stance of reverse causal ordering.
Findings
From the research conducted, the results indicated that institutional discrimination exerted significant effects on depression and non-conformity to the norms. Each of the variable used had some impact on the delinquency rates and the severity of the situation progresses. From a wider perspective, racial discrimination had a higher association to the total effect on crime. Collectively, the results provided support for the theoretical model on the intertwined relationship between race and discrimination. On the issue of ethnic-racial socialization, it was evident that cultural socialization would be inversely associated with offending and the intervening approach (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012). Neither preparation for prejudice nor cultural association had a direct outcome on delinquency. Nonetheless, it could be fundamental on reversing the situation.
Preparation for prejudice does not relate to detachment from traditional norms or stress. It is largely linked with hostile views of relationships but in a way, that worsens the situation. The protective effects for the preparation of both cultural and bias socialization are not considerably crucial hence; their minimal influence on the outcome. Having realized that preparation for bias neutralizes the impact on offending, the other important question regards how the situation is achieved. In particular, a crucial question is on whether preparation for bias neutralized the effects of discrimination through the intervening procedure (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012). The other hypothesis was on the preparation for bias reducing the effects of hostile views, rejection on criminal norms and depression. The results were consistent with the findings as they revealed that the rejection was mainly due to offsetting of the felonious mechanisms. Preparation for bias lowers all the mediator factors by a wide margin.
Discussion
From the survey, it was evident that interpersonal racial discrimination plays a crucial role in offending African Americans thus contributing to racial disparities in crime. Many of the contemporary approaches to studying race have taken a macro-level approach (Burt, Simons and Gibbons 2012). They incorporate racial discrimination as an aspect shaping crime rates indirectly instead of applying it in its own right. Contextual viewpoints are unable to focus on micro-sociological aspects that determine how particular races interact. The situation has led to a misunderstanding on the issue leading to instantiations of racism. Building on previous researches, the criminal nature of interpersonal racial discrimination, and the study takes a micro-sociological approach relating racial disparity to interactional experiences.
African American racial experiences are recurring ranging from employment opportunities, employment issues and housing that tend to disadvantage them (Feagin 1991). In addition, they are unpredictable and cumulative in their negative impact. The study was able to conceptualize interpersonal racial discrimination as traumatizing, stressful and antagonistic and its increase was likely to amplify the probability of offending. The results aggregated with other surveys suggest that experiences related with racial discrimination increase the likelihood of engaging in crime. The other objective of the research was to analyze whether cultural resource among blacks provide resilience to criminogenic effects of interpersonal prejudice (Fisher and Shaw 1999). The results highlighted the importance of bias preparation as a way to lower the effects of emotional distress. They equip one with competencies that allow them to cope in non-criminal ways with cognitive factors endangered by prejudice.
The results of the study are a crucial aspect to the contribution of work on systemic racial sidelining that targets minority races. The study can be assumed to depict a wider picture of the blacks despite focusing on a smaller segment of the populace. Despite there being limited research on the area, the review provides findings that are of great concern with a possibility of shifting the current narrative. However, it is crucial that future assessments replicate the findings using diverse samples if further progress is to be made.
In conclusion, one can conclude that institutional racism plays a considerable role in increasing crime rates among black people. When a particular race is systematically marginalized and denied opportunities, the state of affair leads to lack of economic empowerment that manifest in form of poverty. As a result, they engage in crime as a means of survival. Therefore, it is crucial that the state of affair changes if the issue is to get a permanent solution.
Works Cited
Agnew, R., 1992. Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30(1), pp.47-88.
Burt, C.H., Simons, R.L. and Gibbons, F.X., 2012. Racial discrimination, ethnic-racial socialization, and crime: A micro-sociological model of risk and resilience. American sociological review, 77(4), pp.648-677.
Demo, D.H. and Hughes, M., 1990. Socialization and racial identity among Black Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, pp.364-374.
Feagin, J.R., 1991. The continuing significance of race: Antiblack discrimination in public places. American sociological review, pp.101-116.
Fischer, A.R. and Shaw, C.M., 1999. African Americans' mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling psychology, 46(3), p.395.
Jang, S.J. and Thornberry, T.P., 1998. Self-esteem, delinquent peers, and delinquency: A test of the self-enhancement thesis. American Sociological Review, pp.586-598.
Williams, J., 1985. Redefining institutional racism. Ethnic and racial studies, 8(3), pp.323-348.
