10 short answers

Chapter 2

Victims and Offenders:

Myths and Realities about Crime

Learning Objectives (slide 1 of 2)

You will be able to sort your way through basic data on crimes and victims and be able to spot occasions when the news media present a distorted picture of crime in America.

You will understand the basic patterns of who commits major crimes and who the principal victims are. You will have a solid grasp of the racial- and ethnic-group patterns related to both victims and offenders.

You will understand the concept of “racial hoaxes” and the role they play in distorting public understanding of crime.

Learning Objectives (slide 2 of 2)

You will understand the category of “hate crimes,” with special reference to race and ethnicity, and how they are different in important respects from what are called “street crimes” (e.g., robbery and burglary).

You will understand the different theoretical explanations for the racial and ethnic gap in offending and victimization.

You will have a good understanding of the racial and ethnic aspects of gangs in America.

A 21st Century Reality

Media and Crime

Racial Hoaxes

2010 - Bethany Storro, white female, describes a black female assailant who threw acid at her face.

Played to the “mad black woman imagery”

Reflects societal perspectives and distorted images of victims and offenders in America

Racial Hoax (slide 1 of 2)

Intentionally directing law enforcement & media towards “stereotypical” criminal groups

Impacts every racial group

Wastes law enforcement resources

Perpetuates stereotypes (harming society)

The majority of racial hoax cases are by a white person charging an African American (~70-percent of cases between 1987 and 1996)

Racial Hoax (slide 2 of 2)

1994 – Susan Smith, white female, asserted that an African American man stole her car and kidnapped her children.

State and Federal Officials spent 9 days looking for the offender

She drove the car into the lake and killed her children

Victimization & Societal Response

Many say media attention falls along racial and ethnic lines

Note the connections between the victims whose cases differ at a racial level

Extreme Coverage

Laci Peterson

Natalee Holloway

Chandra Lev

Almost No Coverage

Evelyn Hernandez

LaToyia Figueroa

Ardena Carter

You Decide (1)

What are possible reasons that explain why the media coverage of missing person cases do not reflect the current reality?

Broader Picture of Crime Victims

Perceptions of crime

Shaped by TV news & newspapers

Usually feature young African American or Hispanic males as offenders

Usually feature whites as victims

Leads to presumption that such cases are typical

Many find it difficult to honestly

discuss race and crime

National Crime Victimization Survey

Most systematic victimization info source

Circa 1973 -- Bureau of Justice Statistics

Annual estimates of number & rate of personal & household victimizations

Produces more complete picture of crime & aspects of victims than police records

Includes data about victimizations not reported to the police

National Crime Victimization Survey

Limitations

Does not cover commercial crime (such as convenience store robberies or bank robberies), white collar crime, kidnapping, or homicide

Does not produce estimates by city/state

Homeless people are not interviewed; and responses are susceptible to memory loss, telescoping (reporting a crime that occurred more than a year ago, which is outside the scope of the survey), exaggeration, misunderstandings about crime categories (e.g., robbery vs. burglary), and interviewer bias

Recent NCVS Data (2014) (slide 1 of 2)

Household Victimization

African American households more vulnerable than white households

Hispanic households more vulnerable than non-Hispanic ones

Urbanization

African Americans are more vulnerable to household victimization in urban and suburban areas.

Less vulnerable in rural settings.

Crime and Urbanization (2014)

Hispanic households are more vulnerable than non-Hispanic households in urban and rural areas

Less vulnerable in suburban settings

Non-Hispanic whites are more vulnerable in urban areas than suburban or rural areas.

Urban life offers a higher concentration of suitable targets and motivated offenders.

Crime and Urbanization (1993-1998)

Urban (29% of US population)

38% of all victimizations

Suburban (50% of US population)

47% of all victimizations

Rural (20% of US population)

20% of all victimizations

Recent NCVS Data (2014) (slide 2 of 2)

Personal Victimization

African Americans more likely than other groups to be personal crime victims

Almost two times more likely to be victims of rape and robbery than non-Hispanic whites

Hispanics have the highest victimization rate for rape

Highest victimization rate is reported for persons self-identified as “two or more races”.

You Decide (2)

What are some of the possible explanations for the overrepresentation of minorities as crime victims? Are minority communities particularly vulnerable to crime? Why?

NCVS Special Research

Dugan and Apel

Native American women were almost twice the rate for black women to be at risk of violent victimization

Native American females were the most likely to be victimized by someone who was using drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident.

African American women were the most likely to call the police to report the victimization

Asian women were the least likely to do so

Hispanic females were the least likely to be victimized in the home

NCVS Overall Rates

Lifetime Risk of Rape

1 out of every 12 females (and 1 out of every 9 black females)

Lauritsen and White

African American and Hispanic women face higher risks of violence at the hands of strangers

African American women face higher risks of violence at the hands of nonstrangers.

Homicide victimizations

Most striking racial differences

African American males at most risk (2014 - 15 percent of the population and 51.6 percent of all homicide victims)

All group rates have decreased since 1990

Whites

Greatest risk: Homicide victimization by family member

African Americans

Greatest risk: Homicide victimization related to drugs, sex, and gangs.

Typical Offender Portrait

Many associate “crime” with African Americans

The perception of crime is associated with “Street Crime”

African American Rates (2014) – 51.3 percent arrest rate for murder, 55.9 percent for robbery, and 29.9 percent of those arrested for rape

Many citizens overestimate the prevalence of crime due to…

Personal experience

Vicarious Experience

Media images

UCR Arrest Data

Stereotype

“Average offender is African American”

2014 Reality

27.8 percent African American

69.4 percent White

2.7 percent Asian & Native American

You Decide (3)

The descriptive information in UCR arrest data depicts an overrepresentation of African American offenders for most violent and property crimes. What are the possible explanations for such disparity?

Improving the UCR

How to get it right…

Victim perceptions of offenders

Check arrest stats against NCVS stats

Make sure % of victims who ID Af. American offenders = % Af. American offenders arrested for that crime

Avoid problems

Get multiple people to identify offender’s race/ethnicity, rather than relying only on the victim

Self-Report Surveys

Advantage

Avoids biases of Criminal Justice system

Disadvantage

Not always more accurate than official data

No standardized survey designs

Most CJ data focus only on whites and African Americans

Code of the Street

Elijah Anderson

Attempts to explain causes of violent delinquency among Af. Americans.

Street code values associated with violent behavior

Neighborhood street culture amplifies the effect of individual street code values on violent behavior

Drug Offenders

Prevalent media image of a user is a person of color

Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey

Survey of 12th grade youth

Results (for a range of illicit drug)

African American youth report the lowest use of all licit and illicit drugs reviewed

White youth had the highest reported use rates for hallucinogens, tranquilizers, amphetamines, and sedatives.

Hispanic youth report the highest use rates for marijuana, crack and cocaine.

Drug Offenders

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Rates reported concerning the presence of drug dealing in the neighborhood

African American & Hispanic youth = higher

Whites = lower

Crime as Intraracial v. Interracial (slide 1 of 2)

NCVS

Almost all crimes are intraracial (e.g. white on white, black on black, Hispanic on Hispanic)

Crime as Intraracial v. Interracial (slide 2 of 2)

UCR (29-year review of the Supplemental Homicide Report)

Homicide is essentially an intraracial event

1980-2008 rates indicating an intraracial event

84 percent for whites

93 percent for African Americans

63 percent for Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders

57 percent for Native American/American Indians

CRIME AS AN INTERRACIAL (HATE) EVENT (slide 1 of 2)

Interracial

Not all interracial crimes are “hate crimes”

(UCR) FBI Hate Crime Data Collection Program

Mandated by Congress to collect and disseminate information on hate crime in the United States

Not valid measure of national or regional volume

Only offer general perspectives on hate crimes

Limited at a statue level and collection level

CRIME AS AN INTERRACIAL (HATE) EVENT (slide 2 of 2)

NCVS Report in 2005

Under half of hate incidents are reported (191,000 hate incidents, 92,000 reported)

3 percent of all violent crimes reported in the NCVS were perceived by the victim as hate crimes

Offenders are predominately male and most likely to be white and a stranger to the victim.

Ethnic Youth Gangs

Gang, race, and crime are linked in the minds of many people

Gangs

No universal definition exists

Usually applied to a group of young people…

With organized membership / leadership

Believed to be involved in criminal activity

Myths vs. Reality (Youth Gangs) (slide 1 of 2)

Myth 1: Gangs are a uniquely twentieth and twenty first century phenomenon.

Reported as early as 1783

Myth 2: All gang members are African American and belong either to the Bloods or Crips.

Gangs are racially & ethnically diverse

Myth 3: Gangs are only found in large cities.

Many are in suburban, rural, & reservations

Myths vs. Reality (Youth Gangs) (slide 2 of 2)

Myth 4: Gangs are the result of poverty and a growing underclass

A good portion of gang members are working or middle class.

Myth 5: All gang members are males.

Many are female; not just affiliates

Myth 6: Youth gangs involve only young people and have few ties to organized crime.

More than 25 percent of all law enforcement agencies in one survey indicated that gangs in their jurisdiction were associated with organized crime.

Gang Varieties (slide 1 of 2)

African American

Bloods & Crips = most known

Some groups have transitioned into property crime rather than drug sales.

Some with political agenda (foundations within Islam)

Native American

Indian Bloods and Native Gangster Disciples

Some tribe-based on tribal lands

Seem to be property-based, but there is increasing concern about violence and drug distribution (especially methamphetamine and marijuana

Gang Varieties (slide 2 of 2)

Asian

Some associated with assimilation issues

Some community based

Some profit-oriented

Hispanic

Identified within foundations of Brotherhood/sisterhood, machismo, and loyalty to the barrio

Sur 13 and The Latin Kings are most evident in the west

White

Some rebelling against society

Some white supremacists, terrorists, & satanic

Conclusion

Media reports and information have significant impact on perceptions

Inaccurate image of white victim and minority offender persists

Most offenders = white

Minorities at disproportionate risk of victimization

Crime is mostly intraracial, not interracial

Data on disproportionate offending is less clear and varies by crime type

Key Terms

Victim

Offender

Interracial

Intraracial

NCVS

UCR

Racial hoax

Gang

Hate crime

Discussion Questions (slide 1 of 2)

Should states have racial hoax sentence enhancement statutes? What are the costs of these statutes?

Is there an overrepresentation of minorities as victims of crime? What are some explanations for this?

‘‘Should hate be a crime?’’ What arguments can be made to support or oppose the use of sentencing enhancement penalties for hate crimes?

Discussion Questions (slide 2 of 2)

What dilemmas are produced when law enforcement implements race- and ethnic-specific strategies to fight gang formation or control gang crime? How do they differ from the dilemmas of choosing race-neutral strategies? Are these likely to result in institutional or contextual discrimination?