NCJ Number
92668
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1983) Pages: 407-440
Date Published
1983
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Rates of homicide amoung blacks in the United States have been consistently higher than those of white Americans and of other American nonwhites. Subculture of violence theory had been the most widely accepted explanation for these differences.
Abstract
In this article, I argue that subculture theory ignores or underemphasizes a variety of historical-structural, situational, and economic factors that might explain high rates of black homicide. Seldom examined is the behavior of the law. Three theoretical propositions are offered as guides for future research. These propositions suggest that (1) the historical devaluing of black life, (2) official responses of the criminal justice system to prehomicide behavior amoung blacks, and (3) the direct effects of economic deprivation are important causal factors. (Publisher abstract)