The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America / Edition 4

by Samuel Walker, Cassia Spohn, Miriam DeLone

Overview

Comprehensive and balanced, THE COLOR OF JUSTICE is the definitive book on current research and theories of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination within America's criminal justice system. The authors synthesize the best and the most recent research on patterns of criminal behavior and victimization, police practices, court processing and sentencing, the death penalty, and correctional programs giving your students the facts and theoretical foundation they need to make their own informed decisions about discrimination in the system.
Uniquely unbiased, THE COLOR OF JUSTICE makes every effort to incorporate discussion of all major race groups found in the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780534624460
Publisher:	Cengage Learning
Publication date:	08/07/2006
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Samuel Walker is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he taught for 31 years before retiring in 2005. He is the author of 13 books on policing, criminal justice history and policy, and civil liberties. His current research involves police accountability, focusing primarily on citizen oversight of the police and police Early Intervention Systems (EIS). Originally trained as a historian, he is completing a book on U.S. presidents and civil liberties. His personal website, with information on police accountability is: http://samuelwalker.net.


Cassia Spohn is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She has published extensively on prosecutors' charging decisions in sexual assault cases; the effect of race, ethnicity, and gender on sentencing decisions; sentencing of drug offenders; and the deterrent effect of imprisonment. She is currently conducting a National Institute of Justice-funded study of police and prosecutorial decision making in sexual assault cases in Los Angeles.


Miriam DeLone is Professor of Criminal Justice at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Her research interests include political economy and social control; race, ethnicity, gender, and sentencing; and corrections. Her teaching interests are in the areas of minorities and crime, criminology, corrections, law and social control, the nature of crime, and the administration of justice. She is currently writing in the areas of media and crime and crime prevention through a public health perspective.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Preface	ix
1	Race, Ethnicity, and Crime	1
	The Scope of This Book	3
	Goals of the Chapter	5
	The Colors of America: Racial and Ethnic Categories	5
	Racial and Ethnic Categories	5
	The Politics of Racial and Ethnic Labels	11
	The Quality of Criminal Justice Data on Race and Ethnicity	13
	The Geography of Racial and Ethnic Justice	14
	Disparity versus Discrimination	15
	The Discrimination-Disparity Continuum	18
	A Theoretical Perspective on Race, Ethnicity, and Crime	19
	Alternative Theories	20
	Conclusion	21
	Discussion Questions	21
	Notes	22
2	Victims and Offenders	25
	Goals of the Chapter	26
	A Broader Picture of the Crime Victim	26
	The National Crime Victimization Survey	27
	Household Victimization	28
	Personal Victimization	30
	Trends in Household and Personal Victimization	33
	Lifetime Likelihood of Victimization	34
	Homicide Victimization Rates	35
	Summary: A More Comprehensive Picture of the Crime Victim	36
	Picture of the Typical Offender	37
	Official Arrest Statistics	37
	Perceptions of Offenders by Victims	43
	Self-Report Surveys	47
	Summary: A Picture of the Typical Criminal Offender	50
	Crime as an Intraracial Event	50
	The National Crime Victimization Survey	51
	UCR Homicide Reports	51
	Summary: Crime as an Intraracial Event	52
	Crime as an Interracial (Hate) Event	53
	Ethnic Youth Gangs	54
	Gang Myths and Realities	55
	Varieties of Ethnic Gangs	57
	Conclusion	59
	Discussion Questions	60
	Notes	60
3	Race, Ethnicity, Social Structure, and Crime	65
	Goals of the Chapter	65
	Economic Inequality	66
	Income	67
	Wealth	67
	Unemployment	69
	Poverty Status	70
	Human Capital and Social Capital	70
	Progress, Stagnation, or Regression? The Debate over the Status of African Americans	71
	The Debate over the Underclass	73
	Community Social Structure	75
	Residential Segregation	75
	Theoretical Perspectives on Inequality and Crime	79
	Social Strain Theory	79
	Differential Association Theory	80
	Social Disorganization Theory	81
	Culture Conflict Theory	82
	Conflict Theory	82
	Routine Activity Theory	83
	The Limits of Current Theories	84
	Inequality and Social Reform	84
	The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement	85
	The Attack on Economic Inequality	87
	Conclusion	89
	Discussion Questions	89
	Notes	90
4	Justice on the Street?	93
	Unequal Justice?	93
	Conflicting Evidence	94
	Goals of the Chapter	95
	A Contextual Approach	95
	A Long History of Conflict	97
	The Police and a Changing America	97
	Public Attitudes About the Police	98
	Policing Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities	100
	The African American Community	100
	The Hispanic Community	101
	The Native American Community	101
	The Middle Eastern Community	102
	Special Issue: Enforcing Federal Immigration Laws	103
	Police Use of Deadly Force	103
	Disparity versus Discrimination in Police Shootings	105
	Controlling Police Shootings	105
	"Police Brutality": Police use of Physical Force	106
	Discrimination in Arrests?	109
	Zero-Tolerance Policing	110
	Traffic Stops: Racial Profiling	111
	Defining Racial Profiling	111
	Profiling Contexts	112
	The Data on Traffic Stops	112
	Interpreting Traffic Stop Data	113
	Controlling Bias in Traffic Stops	114
	A Success Story: The Customs Bureau	115
	Street Stops and Frisks	116
	Special Issue: Stereotyping and Routine Police Work	118
	Verbal Abuse	119
	Police Officer Attitudes and Behavior	120
	Minorities and Police Corruption	122
	Police-Community Relations Programs	122
	Citizen Complaints Against the Police	124
	Citizen Oversight of the Police	126
	Police Employment Practices	126
	Trends in Racial Minority Employment	127
	The Law of Employment Discrimination	129
	Discrimination in Assignment	130
	The Impact of Diversity	131
	Minorities as Supervisors and Chief Executives	134
	Conclusion	134
	Discussion Questions	135
	Notes	136
5	The Courts	143
	The Situation Today	145
	Goals of the Chapter	147
	Decisions Regarding Counsel and Bail	147
	Racial Minorities and the Right to Counsel	148
	Racial Minorities and Bail Decision Making	154
	Charging and Plea Bargaining Decisions	162
	Prosecutors' Charging Decisions	162
	Race and Plea Bargaining Decisions	170
	Conclusion	172
	Discussion Questions	173
	Notes	174
6	Justice on the Bench?	178
	Goals of the Chapter	180
	Selection of the Jury Pool	180
	Techniques for Increasing Racial Diversity	183
	The Peremptory Challenge: Racial Profiling in the Courtroom?	185
	The Supreme Court and the Peremptory Challenge: From Swain to Batson	186
	Playing the "Race Card" in a Criminal Trial	190
	Race-Conscious Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Courtroom?	195
	Conclusion	197
	Discussion Questions	198
	Notes	199
7	Race and Sentencing	202
	Goals of the Chapter	203
	Racial Disparity in Sentencing	203
	Four Explanations for Racial Disparities in Sentencing	204
	Empirical Research on Race and Sentencing	207
	Reviews of Recent Research	207
	When Does Race Matter?	211
	Sentencing in Three Urban Jurisdictions: Direct and Indirect Race Effects	211
	Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Age, and Employment: A Volatile Combination?	213
	Differential Treatment of Interracial and Intraracial Sexual Assault	218
	The Effect of Race on Sentencing for Various Types of Crimes	222
	Sentencing and the War on Drugs	225
	Sentencing Reform: The Quest for a "Just" Punishment System	231
	Race/Ethnicity and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines	238
	Race/Ethnicity and State Sentencing Reforms	239
	Have Sentencing Guidelines Increased the Likelihood of Racial Discrimination?	241
	Conclusion	243
	Discussion Questions	244
	Notes	245
8	The Color of Death	250
	Goals of the Chapter	251
	The Constitutionality of the Death Penalty	251
	Furman v. Georgia	252
	Post-Furman Decisions	253
	Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment	255
	Race and the Death Penalty: The Empirical Evidence	257
	Statistical Evidence of Racial Disparity	258
	Pre-Furman Studies	262
	Post-Furman Studies	267
	Race and the Federal Capital Sentencing Process	272
	Explanations for Disparate Treatment	275
	McCleskey v. Kemp: The Supreme Court and Racial
	Discrimination in the Application of the Death Penalty	276
	The Execution of Warren McCleskey	280
	The Aftermath of McCleskey	282
	The Death Penalty in the 21st Century	283
	The Movement to Reform the Death Penalty	286
	The Movement to Abolish the Death Penalty	287
	Conclusion	289
	Discussion Questions	290
	Notes	291
9	Corrections Versus College: Minorities in Society	297
	Goals of the Chapter	298
	The Incarcerated: Prison and Jail Populations	298
	Minority Overrepresentation	298
	Historical Trends	301
	Impact of the War on Drugs	303
	Incarceration Rates	303
	Jails and Minorities	305
	The Role of Jail	305
	Minority Overrepresentation	305
	Parole: Early Release from Prison	306
	Success and Failure on Parole	307
	Probation: A Case of Sentencing Discrimination?	308
	Perspectives on the Racial Distribution of Correctional Populations	309
	Adjustment to Prison	312
	Prison Gangs	316
	Women in Prison	319
	Conclusion	319
	Discussion Questions	320
	Notes	320
10	Minority Youth and Crime	324
	Goals of the Chapter	325
	Young Racial Minorities as Victims and Offenders	325
	Juveniles as Victims of Crime	325
	Juveniles as Offenders	328
	Juveniles of Color and the Police	331
	Race/Ethnicity and the Juvenile Justice System	332
	Race/Ethnicity and Juvenile Court Outcomes in Four Jurisdictions	337
	Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court	344
	Explaining Disparate Treatment of Juvenile Offenders	346
	Juveniles Under Correctional Supervision	348
	Conclusion	350
	Discussion Questions	351
	Notes	351
11	The Color of Justice	355
	Race, Crime, and Justice	356
	Notes	359
	Selected Bibliography	360
	Index	373

Editorial Reviews

A synthesis of recent research and theories of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination in the criminal justice system. The authors attempt to comprehensively cover different facets of the issue, expanding their analysis to include African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans; exploring levels of discrimination in differing sections of the system (police, courts, and corrections); comparing geographic areas; including class and gender issues; and looking at the juvenile justice system. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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