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Still Excluded? An Update on the Status of African-American Scholars in the Discipline of Criminology and Criminal Justice

NCJ Number
207353
Journal
Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2004 Pages: 384-406
Author(s)
Shaun L. Gabbidon; Helen Taylor Greene; Kideste Wilder
Date Published
November 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article re-examines the claim in a landmark 1991 article that African-American scholars have been excluded from the criminological enterprise and consulting in criminal justice policymaking.
Abstract
In 1991, Vernetta Young and Anne Sulton published an article entitled, "Excluded: The Current Status of African-American Scholars in the Field of Criminology and Criminal Justice." As African-American criminologists, Young and Sulton assessed the criminological enterprise and concluded that although African-Americans have studied crime for more than a century, their scholarship and contributions have been "virtually ignored" by financial supporters of criminological research and by criminological publications. The current article revisits some areas were African-American exclusion was noted in the original article, including the integration of African-American scholarship in various scholarly outlets, the racial composition of editorial board members of the major criminal justice journals, the race of grant recipients, the use of African-American criminologists as experts for media stories on crime and criminal justice, as well as their use as consultants in the criminal justice policymaking process. Further, this article examines criminology and criminal justice programs at historically Black colleges and universities. The overall view of this analysis is that moderate improvements have occurred in African-American representation and involvement in the examined areas of criminology and criminal justice. Still, much more needs to be done by both African-American and White criminologists to ensure that the scholarly work of all those involved in criminology is supported and respected, regardless of race. 3 tables, 2 notes, and 27 references