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Construction and Reinforcement of Myths of Race and Crime

NCJ Number
182495
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2000 Pages: 133-156
Author(s)
Matthew Robinson
Date Published
May 2000
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This analysis of race and crime concludes that the criminal justice process and the media create and reinforce myths of crime associated with race.
Abstract
Myths of race and crime start in the lawmaking stage, because the law dictates what police, courts, and corrections do. The mass media also regularly broadcast and at times even celebrate criminal justice activity. Thus, the creation and reinforcement of myths of race and crime are a cyclical and systemic process. The main elements of this process are the legislating of crime, the media portrayals of crime, and the activities of criminal justice agencies. The three central myths demonstrated by this analysis are that the label of crime is a function of what is most harmful to society, that African Americans commit more crime than other groups in society, and that the criminal justice system is fair or unbiased. Understanding that these myths are not truths demands a closer examination of the overrepresentation of black persons and other minorities in the criminal justice system by questioning the myth that their overrepresentation results from their criminal behaviors and the resulting harms. A result of these myths is that overall racial disparities in the criminal justice system are worse today in the post-civil rights era. These myths are responsible for the criminal justice system’s engagement in a new form of racial segregation: punishment. Figures, table, and 106 references (Author abstract modified)