Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime

299 Pages·2015·2.142 MB·English

by  Shaun L. Gabbidon

C P
RIMINOLOGICAL ERSPECTIVES ON
R C
ACE AND RIME
Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime, Third Edition is an ideal
starting point for those interested in examining how well criminological
theory contextualizes racial and ethnic disparities. A perfect addition
to either crime theory or race and crime courses, this is the only text to
look at the array of explanations for crime as they relate to racial and
ethnic groups. Each chapter includes a historical review of each the-
oretical perspective and how its original formulation and more recent
derivatives account for racial/ethnic differences, and a consider ation of
potential weaknesses or criticisms of each theory in Gabbidon’s effort
to determine the success of these criminological perspectives. This
third edition has been updated throughout, with the major addition of
race-centered perspectives in Chapter 9 .
Shaun L. Gabbidon , Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Criminal Jus-
tice at Penn State Harrisburg. He has also served as a fellow at Harvard
University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research,
and has taught at the Center for Africana Studies at the University
of Pennsylvania. Professor Gabbidon is the author of more than 100
scholarly publications including more than 60 peer-reviewed articles
and 11 books. Dr. Gabbidon can be contacted at [email protected]
Criminology and Justice Studies Series
Edited by Shaun L. Gabbidon, Penn State Harrisburg
Criminology and Justice Studies offers works that make both intellectual and sty-
listic innovations in the study of crime and criminal justice. The goal of the series is
to publish works that model the best scholarship and thinking in the criminology
and criminal justice fi eld today, but in a style that connects that scholarship to
a wider audience including advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and the
general public. The works in this series help fi ll the gap between academic mono-
graphs and encyclopedic textbooks by making innovative scholarship accessible to
a large audience without the superfi ciality of many texts.
Books in the Series
Published:
Biosocial Criminology: New Directions in Theory and Research edited by Anthony
Walsh and Kevin M. Beaver
Community Policing in America by Jeremy M. Wilson
Criminal Justice Theory: Explaining the Nature and Behavior of Criminal Justice
edited by David E. Duffee and Edward R. Maguire
Lifers: Seeking Redemption in Prison by John Irwin
Race, Law and American Society: 1607 to Present by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
Today’s White Collar Crime by Hank J. Brightman
T he New Criminal Justice: American Communities and the Changing World of Crime
Control by John Klofas, Natalie Hipple, and Edmund McGarrell
The Policing of Terrorism: Organizational and Global Perspectives by Mathieu Defl em
Corrections by Jeanne Stinchcomb
Community Policing by Michael Palmiotto
A Theory of African American Offending by James Unnever and Shaun Gabbidon
When Crime Appears: The Role of Emergence by Jean McGloin, Christopher Sullivan,
and Leslie Kennedy
Voices from Criminal Justice edited by Heith Copes and Mark Pogrebin
Crime and the Life Course, 2/e by Michael Benson
Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice edited by C. Ron Huff and Martin
Killias
Human Traffi cking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives edited by Mary C. Burke
Race, Law and American Society, 2/e: 1607 to Present by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
Research Methods in Crime and Justice by Brian Withrow
Crime and Networks edited by Carlo Morselli
Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform edited by Marvin Zalman and
Julia Carrano
Questioning Capital Punishment: Law, Policy, and Practice by James R. Acker
Understanding White-Collar Crime: An Opportunity Perspective, Second Edition by
Michael L. Benson and Sally S. Simpson
Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime, Third Edition by Shaun Gabbidon
C
RIMINOLOGICAL

P
ERSPECTIVES ON
R C
ACE AND RIME
T E
HIRD DITION
Shaun L. Gabbidon
Th ird Edition published 2015
by Routledge
711 Th ird Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
Th e right of Shaun L. Gabbidon to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2007
Second edition published by Routledge 2010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gabbidon, Shaun L., 1967–
Criminological perspectives on race and crime / Shaun L. Gabbidon. —
Th ird edition.
pages cm. — (Criminology and justice studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Crime and race. 2. Criminology—Philosophy. 3. D iscrimination
in criminal justice administration. 4. Ethnopsychology. I. Title.
HV6191.G33 2015
364.3'4—dc23
2014032969
ISBN: 978-1-138-82661-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-82662-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73916-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Adobe Caslon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Additional Books by Shaun L. Gabbidon
African American Criminological Thought , co-authored with Helen Tay-
lor Greene (SUNY Press, 2000)
African American Classics in Criminology and Criminal Justice , edited
with Helen Taylor Greene and Vernetta D. Young (SAGE, 2002)
Race, Crime, and Justice: A Reader , edited with Helen Taylor Greene
(Routledge, 2005)
Race and Juvenile Justice, edited with Helen Taylor Greene and Everette
B. Penn (Carolina Academic Press, 2006)
W.E.B. Du Bois on Crime and Justice: Laying the Foundations of Sociologi-
cal Criminology (Ashgate, 2007)
Race and Crime, 2nd edition , co-authored with Helen Taylor Greene
(SAGE, 2009)
Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice: An International Dilemma (SAGE,
2009)
Encyclopedia of Race and Crime , edited with Helen Taylor Greene
(SAGE, 2009)
Race and Crime: A Text Reader, edited with Helen Taylor Greene
(SAGE, 2011)
A Theory of African American Offending: Race, Racism, and Crime ,
co-authored with James D. Unnever (Routledge, 2011)
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C
ONTENTS
PREFACE IX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XIII
CHAPTER 1 A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO RACE, CRIME,
AND THEORY 1
CHAPTER 2 BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND
CRIME 9
CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION AND STRAIN
PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND CRIME 45
CHAPTER 4 SUBCULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON RACE
AND CRIME 73
CHAPTER 5 LABELING PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND CRIME 93
CHAPTER 6 CONFLICT PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND CRIME 121
CHAPTER 7 SOCIAL CONTROL PERSPECTIVES ON
RACE AND CRIME 151
CHAPTER 8 COLONIAL PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND CRIME 177
CHAPTER 9 GENDER AND RACE-CENTERED PERSPECTIVES
ON RACE AND CRIME 195
CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSION 229
PERMISSIONS 233
REFERENCES 235
INDEX 275
vii
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P
REFACE
As I noted in the fi rst edition of this work, the idea for this book has
its origins in Coramae Richey Mann’s classic text, Unequal Justice: A
Question of Color (1993). As a graduate student, I can recall reading
Chapter 3 , in which Mann reviewed theories that sought to explain
offending and victimization trends among racial and ethnic minorities.
After reading the chapter, I realized the importance of exploring the
utility of criminological perspectives for contextualizing race, ethnic-
ity, and crime. Thus, the fi rst edition of this work represented the fi rst
attempt to provide book-length coverage of criminological theories that
have been proffered to better understand race, ethnicity, and crime (for
chapter-length discussions of theories used to explain race and crime,
see Gabbidon and Taylor Greene 2013, Chapter 3; Leiber 2008). To
say the least, the response to the fi rst two editions was overwhelming!
In addition to strong sales and scholarly reviews, I received emails and
had personal conversations with countless colleagues from around the
world who were appreciative of the work. Consequently, on the heels of
this positive feedback, Routledge decided to publish this third edition.
This new edition has been updated with cuts in some places and
additions in others. Even so, I cannot claim the work is fully compre-
hensive. The sheer number of works published each year precludes the
inclusion of every study that tests the perspectives profi led in this book.
Nonetheless, the work provides, as reviewers of the fi rst edition noted
(see Dawson-Edwards 2008; Henderson 2008; Knowles 2008), a start-
ing point for those interested in examining how well criminological
theory contextualizes racial and ethnic disparities.
ix