Do theories of crime or violence explain race differences in delinquency?☆
Introduction
Arrest data and data from victimization surveys suggest that African-Americans have higher crime rates than White Americans (e.g., Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995, Hawkins et al., 2000; see Sampson and Lauritsen, 1994). While race differences can ultimately be attributed to racism and the historic oppression of African-Americans (e.g., Hawkins, 1995, McCord, 1997, Sampson and Wilson, 1995), the more proximate causal process is unclear. In fact, we argue that it is not even clear what racial patterns in offending require explanation.
In this research, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (hereafter AddHealth) to examine racial patterns in violence and delinquency (Udry, 1998). We attempt to determine whether blacks and whites differ in their tendency to engage in violence or in their tendency to engage in serious delinquency, violent or not. AddHealth is particularly useful for examining racial patterns because it is based on a large national sample, it over-samples African-Americans, and it uses a method that yields higher frequencies of self-reported delinquency (Harris et al., 2003). As a result, this research is more likely than past research to reveal the extent to which race effects are mediated and moderated by other demographic variables.
We use a method of theory testing that focuses on establishing the dependent variable rather than the introduction of mediating variables (although we do that as well). We argue that it is theoretically important to determine whether there are race differences in violent offenses or any type of serious offenses. If race is associated with violence but not other types of crimes, then one must look to theories of violence, not crime, for an explanation. On the other hand, if race is associated with all types of crime, or serious crime, then theories of crime and norm violation are likely to provide the explanation. Our goal, therefore, is to examine what group of theories is likely to explain race differences.
Our methods also differ from the methods used in earlier studies. First, we rely upon a statistical method that yields a true measure of specialization and that allows us to determine exactly what types of offenses vary by race (Deane et al., 2005). This method is well-suited to the analysis of criminal behavior, since most offenders commit a variety of offenses, and offenses cannot easily be rank ordered. The versatility of many offenders, however, does not preclude the possibility that predictors might be different for different types of criminal behaviors (Nagin and Paternoster, 1993, Horney et al., 1995).
Section snippets
Discriminant prediction
Some theories attempt to explain why people engage in deviance, while others attempt to explain why they engage in aggression. The task is complicated by the fact that deviance and aggression are overlapping domains: some aggressive behavior violates norms (and is therefore deviant behavior) and some deviant behavior involves intentional harm-doing (or aggression). For example, spanking children involves violence but not deviance, the use of illegal drugs involves deviance but not aggression,
Prior research on race and offense patterns
Prior research suggests that race differences in offending vary depending on the type of offense. Thus, the Uniform Crime Statistics reveals stronger race differences in arrests for violent crime than property crime or drug abuse violations (see Zimring and Hawkins, 1997). Further, both arrest data and data from the National Crime Victimization Survey show stronger race differences in offending for robbery than assault, and for aggravated assault compared to simple assault (Bureau of Justice
The role of other demographic factors
Race effects are to some extent mediated by other social-demographic factors. Black youth are more likely than white youth to be raised in single parent impoverished families, and to live in impoverished, urban neighborhoods. All of these are well-known risk factors for delinquency. However, research on the net effects of race, controlling for these variables, is somewhat limited. One problem with UCR data and victimization surveys is that they have limited information on the demographic
Methodology
We first describe the data and measurement, and then provide an extended discussion of our incident-based approach to data analysis. The extended discussion is necessary because of the novelty of this method.
Results
In Table 2, we present race effects on the nine offenses using the marginal logit regression methodology described above. The table compares race effects when mediating and control variables are left out of equations (total effects) with race effects when those variables are included in the equations (partial/net effects). In Model 1 (“unadjusted” or “total effect” model), we see statistically significant differences between blacks and whites on all types of violent criminal behavior. Race
Discussion
This research suggests that black adolescents are more likely than white adolescents to engage in violent crime but not property or drug crime. In fact, blacks are less likely to use illegal drugs, when demographic variables are controlled. For African-American youth: crime is not the problem.
Implications for specific theories
Our main goal in this research was to describe racial patterns of adolescent offending and to determine whether theories of crime or violence could explain them. Our results suggest that neither strain theory nor control theories, nor the social disorganization approach can explain the net effects of race that we observed since they imply race differences in a variety of offenses, not just violent offenses (e.g., Agnew, 1987, Hirschi, 1969, Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990, Sampson and Wilson, 1995
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We wish to thank Tom Bernard, Steven Messner, and Mary Lee Taylor for their comments on earlier drafts. This research uses data from AddHealth, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a Grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from AddHealth should contact AddHealth, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contract.html).