Examine individual changes

'<!-- Please do not remove or change this AfD message until the issue is settled --> {{AfDM|page=Race and crime (3rd nomination)|year=2011|month=April|day=4|substed=yes|origtag=afdx|help=off}} <!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point --> {{POV|date=April 2011}} {{Race}} Observations of relationships between '''race and crime''' have been part of [[criminology|criminological]] theory since its early inceptions. In early criminology this relation was used to argue that certain racially defined populations were more prone to crime than others, and in turn as motivation for policies of [[eugenics]] and even [[genocide]].<ref>Colin Webster. 2007. Understanding Race and Crime (Crime and Justice) [[Open University Press]], Chapter 2. p. 11-25</ref> Today the issue of race and crime is especially salient in relation to the fact that in some countries there are crime rates vary significantly among racial groups. The direction of causality in the explanation of that correlation is the subject of debate.<ref>Walsh, Anthony and Kevin M. Beaver. ''Biosocial Criminology: New Directions in Theory and Research''. New York: Routledge, 2008. Pages 145-146.</ref> The topic continues to be part of current debates such as regarding [[immigration]] or [[race and intelligence]].<ref>Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, 1994, Free Press</ref> === History === {{Undue|section|date=April 2011}} Race and crime were studied by criminal anthropologist Cesare Lombroso, who belonged to the Italian school of criminology of the end of the 19th century. He based his theory of [[atavism]] on the prevailing [[scientific racism|scientific racist theories]] of his day. He believed that crime was primarily a manifestation of innate qualities and that humans could defined as prone to crime only judging their physical appearance. He saw two basic races, the white and the colored race, and of the two only the white race was disposed for civilization, whereas all members of the colored race were predisposed for crime and sexual licentiousness Lombroso also divided Northern Italian and Southern Italians in two different "races." Henceforth, he thought that "Southern Italians were more crime-prone and lazy because they were unlucky enough to have less Aryan blood than their northern countrymen."<ref>Mary Gibson, Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology, p.108 (Praeger Press. Hardcover - 272 pages - 2002)</ref> Enrico Ferri, a student of Lombroso, considered black people to be of an "inferior race" and more prone to crime than others.<ref>Antony Walsh, [http://human-nature.com/nibbs/03/gibson.html The Holy Trinity and the Legacy of the Italian School of Criminal Anthropology], Review of Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology, by Mary Gibson. Published in The Human Nature Review, 2003 Volume 3: 1-11 ( 15 January )</ref><ref>Preface to "Criminal Man" by Cesare Lombroso, edited by Mary Gibson, Nicole Hahn Rafter. Duke University Press p. 17-18</ref><ref>Colin Webster. 2007. Understanding Race and Crime (Crime and Justice) Open University Press p. 12</ref> Such theories were criticized by later works of criminology, which argued that only social, economic and cultural factors explained criminality. Genetics as an explanation was largely abandoned in criminology after WWII. ==Crime statistics== === Worldwide === ''The Handbook of Crime Correlates'' (2009) is a literature review of over 5200 scientific studies examining how many different factors correlate with and otherwise are related to crime. Many of the studies are from the United States but the review also includes studies from other countries. The review states that studies on official data consistently finds higher crimes rates for blacks than for whites, especially regarding violent offenses. Victim surveys also show higher black crime rates. Studies on self-reported offending are more inconsistent with studies being about equally divided between those finding a higher overall offending and those finding no relationship. One possible explanation for the inconsistency between self-reported offending and other forms of data is biases in the criminal justice systems, but evidence for such an effect is mixed. Another is that self-reported offending primarily involves relatively trivial and victimless offenses, such as marijuana use. A third explanation is that some research indicates that whites tend to provide more complete self-reported information regarding offending.<ref name=Ellis2009/> Also Hispanics have a higher official crime rates than whites. Studies on self-reported offences are more inconsistent. Both official and self-reported offending are higher for Native Americans than for whites. East Asians have lower official and self-reported crime rates than whites. The official offending rates for south Asian are similar to that for whites although self-report is higher. Both official and self-reported crime rates are higher for Pacific and Indian Oceanic Islanders than for whites.<ref name=Ellis2009>Handbook of Crime Correlates; Lee Ellis, Kevin M. Beaver, John Wright; 2009; Academic Press</ref> [[J. Philippe Rushton]] collated crime statistics from the [[INTERPOL]] Yearbooks for different nations and presented the results as crime rates per 100,000 people for groups of nations with similar racial composition.<ref name=RT2009>{{cite doi|10.1016/j.intell.2009.04.003}}</ref> From the 1986 Yearbook, 12 East Asian countries, 48 European countries, and 28 African and Caribbean countries.<ref name=RT2009/> *murder, 6, 5, and 9 *rape, 3, 6, and 14 *serious assault, 29, 66, and 130 From the 1990 Yearbook, 12 East Asian, 41 European, and 23 Afro-Caribbean countries.<ref name=RT2009/> *murder, 3, 5, and 13 *rape, 3, 6, and 17 *serious assault, 27, 63, and 213 From the 1993–96 Yearbooks, 7 East Asian, 45 Caucasian, and 22 Afro-Caribbean countries.<ref name=RT2009/> *murder, 2, 4, and 8 *rape, 3, 5, and 6 *serious assault, 31, 34, and 136 There were similar or greater differences if instead analyzing subsets of nations from the more ethnically homogeneous northeast Asia, central Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. The same pattern also appeared when comparing total violent crime in six mainly White/Amerindian Caribbean countries to eight mainly Black Caribbean countries (72 vs. 449).<ref name=RT2009/> === United Kingdom === {{Main|Race and crime in the United Kingdom}} Different racial/ethnic groups differ in crime rates<ref>Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2008/09. Ministry of Justice.</ref> which has caused debate and several proposed explanations. === Australia === {{See|Indigenous Australians and crime}} The relationship between Indigenous Australians and crime is debated with their imprisonment rate higher than that of non-Indigenous people.<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/CA5ACE72DF796D05CA257687001CDDA8?opendocument 4517.0 – Prisoners in Australia, 2009: Imprisonment rates], [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]]</ref> === United States === {{Main|Race and crime in the United States}} There are large disparities in crime rates for the different racial/ethnic groups in the [[United States]]. A number of theories have been proposed as explanations. == Ethnic/racial homogeneity == The degree to which is a country is compromised of more than one ethnic/racial group is referred to as its ethnic/racial homogeneity. Many studies have examined if ethnic/racially heterogeneous areas, most often neighborhoods in large cities, have higher crime rates than homogeneous areas. The evidence is largely consistent for that the more ethnically/racially heterogeneous an area is, the higher its crime rates tend to be.<ref name=Ellis2009/> == Racial group conflicts == {{See also|Dominant minority|Model minority|Middleman minority}} The relations between different racial/ethnic groups are sometimes tense and have in some cases caused large scale criminal violence. The book ''[[World on Fire]]'' described tension and violence against successful ethnic minorities worldwide.<ref>Chua, Amy (2002). World on Fire. Doubleday. ISBN 0385503024.</ref> ==Theories of causation== {{See also|Causes and correlates of crime}} === Sociological theories === {{Ref improve section|date=April 2011}} Criminologists from the United States have proposed a large number of theories attempting to explain the US data as described in the [[Race and crime in the United States]] article. However, these do not necessarily work for other nations or for worldwide statistics. Examples of sociological theories regarding different worldwide crimes rates include the theory that crimes rates decrease with [[democratization]], the theory that crime rates decrease with [[economic development]], the theory that crimes rates decrease with less [[economic inequality]], and the theory that when certain groups are underrepresented in the population (notably young, unmarried, lower-income, less educated males), then there is less crime.<ref>Modernization, Inequality, Routine Activities, and International Variations in Household Property Crimes, Sener Uludag, Mark Colvin, David Hussey, Abbey L. Eng, International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences Vol 4 Issue 1 January – June 2009</ref> === Trait theories === [[Richard Lynn]] has in the books ''[[Race Differences in Intelligence (book)|Race Differences in Intelligence]]'' and the ''[[The Global Bell Curve]]'' argued that there is a relationship between [[Iq#IQ_and_crime|IQ and crime]] which is an important explanation for differing crime rates across the world. It should be noted that this is not necessarily a genetic theory. Average IQ differences between nations can also be explained by environmental factors such as malnutrition and disease. There are also various criticisms both against [[intelligence quotient]] and genetic explanations regarding [[race and intelligence]] as discussed in the articles on those topics.<ref name=Nisbett2009Appendix>{{cite book |last=Nisbett |first=Richard |authorlink=Richard Nisbett |title=Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2009 |isbn=0393065057 |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/29596219}}</ref> [[Linda Gottfredson]] has argued that denying or trying to conceal real biological differences between groups on average IQ instead cause people to seek something to blame for the differing average group achievements, causing resentment and hostility. She argues that "virtually all the victim groups of genocide in the Twentieth Century had relatively ''high'' average levels of achievement (e.g., German [[Jews]], [[The Killing Fields|educated Cambodians]], Russian [[Kulak]]s, [[Armenian Genocide|Armenians in Turkey]], [[Nigerian Civil War|Ibos in Nigeria]]; Gordon, 1980)."<ref name="G2005"/> She has also disputed that a lower achieving group gains from denying or concealing real biological differences. An increasingly complex society built on the assumption than everyone can do equally well means that they who do not have this ability have increasing trouble functioning in most areas of life. They need various forms of special assistance which is not possible as long as the need is denied to exist.<ref name=G2005>What if the Hereditarian Hypothesis Is True? Linda S. Gottfredson, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law Volume 11, Issue 2, June 2005, Pages 311-319</ref><ref>[http://www.cato-unbound.org/2007/11/26/linda-s-gottfredson/flynn-ceci-and-turkheimer-on-race-and-intelligence-opening-moves/ FLYNN, CECI, AND TURKHEIMER ON RACE AND INTELLIGENCE: OPENING MOVES]</ref> === Biological theories === [[J. Philippe Rushton]] in his book ''[[Race, Evolution, and Behavior]]'' applied [[r/K selection theory]] to human races and a number of factors including crime. Rushton and Templer (2009) examined how several factors correlated with high national rate of violent crime (murder, rape, and serious assault). Higher violent crime rates correlated with higher rate of HIV/AIDS (0.5), lower [[nations and intelligence|national IQs]] (0.25), darker skin color (0.23), shorter life expectancy (0.21), but had no relationship with national income (correlation of 0.00). They argue that this, as well as an analysis showing that 52% of the [[variance]] of these as well as other factor (birth rate and infant mortality) could be explained by a single factor, support the existence of a r/K factor.<ref name="RT2009"/> There have been numerous criticisms of the theory by various scholars including several Anthropologists.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Brace| first=C Loring | year=1996 | url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1996.98.1.02a00250/abstract | title=Racialism and Racist Agendas: Race, Evolution, and Behavior: A Life History Perspective. J. Philippe Rushton| journal=American Anthropologist | volume=98 | pages=1 176–177 | doi=10.1525/aa.1996.98.1.02a00250 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Review: Of Genes and Genitals | last=Lewontin| first=Richard |journal=Transition |volume=0 |issue=69 |pages=178–193 |year=1996 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-1191%281996%290%3A69%3C178%3AOGAG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5}}</ref><ref name=rebreview>[http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/wahlsten.html Book Review of Race, Evolution and Behavior]</ref> [[Joseph L. Graves]] argues that r/K selection theory has been falsified by empirical experiments testing its reliability and was largely discarded by evolutionary biologists in the early 1990's. Graves criticizes Rushton's understanding and application of the theory as being fundamentally incorrect.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Graves | first=J. L. | year=2002 | url=http://ant.sagepub.com/content/2/2/131.short | title=What a tangled web he weaves: Race, reproductive strategies and Rushton's life history theory | journal=Anthropological Theory | volume=2 | pages=2 131–154 | doi=10.1177/1469962002002002627 }}</ref><ref>Graves, Joseph L. "The Misuse of Life History Theory: J. P. Rushton and the pseudoscience of racial hierarchy" in Fish, Jefferson. Ed. (2002) Race and Intelligence: Separating science from Myth. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. passim</ref> One example of criticism of biological theories for criminal behavior is the book ''[[The Gene Illusion]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Joseph|first=J.|title=The Gene Illusion: Genetic Research in Psychiatry and Psychology under the Microscope|year=2003|publisher=PCCS Books|isbn=1-898059-47-0}}</ref> == Use in law enforcement == === Racial profiling === [[Racial profiling]] refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement (e.g. make a traffic stop or arrest). The practice is controversial and is illegal in some nations. ===Forensics=== In [[forensics]] several methods are used to determine the race of a victim or a perpetrator. [[Forensic anthropology]] is the application of the science of [[physical anthropology]] and human [[osteology]] (the study of the human [[skeleton]]) in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. [[DNA profiling]] is another method that can be used in law enforcement to used to identify a person's race/geographic ancestry or degree of [[admixture]] of different races/geographic ancestries. It has also been used to infer features of physical appearance such as hair and eye color. Since in particular results for persons with a mixed ancestry may be difficult to interpret, some companies supply photographs of persons with a similar genetic mix in order to help identification. Research is also being done on more exactly determining physical traits such as hair texture, skull shape, or the distance between the eyes, possibly allowing a crude sketch of a suspect to be generated from a DNA sample. Critics have questioned the reliability of the results and argue that physical appearances vary, even for close relatives such as siblings. There is also worry about the possibility of genetic racial profiling.<ref>Molecular eyewitness: DNA gets a human face, Carolyn Abraham, Globe and Mail, Jun. 25, 2005, Last updated Tuesday, Apr. 07, 2009 10:24PM, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article888804.ece</ref><ref>DNA tests offer clues to suspect's race, Richard Willing, USA Today, Posted 8/16/2005 11:46 PM, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-16-dna_x.htm</ref> ==See also== *[[Genetics of aggression]] *[[Race and Intelligence]] *[[Racial profiling]] *[[Sex and crime]] *[[White flight]] *[[Nature versus nurture]] *[[Scientific racism]] == References == {{reflist}} == Further reading == * {{cite book|author=Shaun L. Gabbidon|title=Criminological perspectives on race and crime|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780415874212|edition=2nd}} {{Race and crime}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2011}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Race And Crime}} [[Category:Race]] [[Category:Criminology]] [[Category:Crime]] [[Category:Race and crime]]'