Sociology Now, Census Update

take into account the fact that even within the lower classes, Blacks are signi-

ficantly more likely to be arrested and sentenced than Whites.

2.Differential opportunity. Black children are much more likely to be raised by

single mothers than are White children. They receive less supervision, so they turn

to crime. But the vast majority of children raised by single parents

(mostly mothers) do not turn to crime. No significant correlation has

been found between growing up in single-parent households and juve-

nile or adult crime.

3.Labeling. Being Black is a master status, automatically labeled deviant,

equated with violence and criminality. So people (Black or White) tend

to view Black behavior as more threatening and report on it more often,

police officers (Black or White) tend to arrest Blacks more often, and

juries (Black or White) tend to give them stiffer sentences.

4.Conflict. The crime records omit fraud, income tax evasion, embezzlement, and other

crimes that are more often committed by Whites, thus producing misleading statistics.

Crime and Age

When we say crime, we might also say young. Since the rise of the first adolescent sub-
cultures in the 1940s, minors have been committing far more than their share of crimes.
In 2000 and 2001, 15- to 24-year-olds constituted 14 percent of the U.S. population
but 47 percent of arrests for property crime, and 39 percent of arrests for violent crime.
In search of explanations, many sociologists point to gang activity, which has
infiltrated every aspect of community life. Also, because most of the youthful offend-
ers are male, the culture of masculinity may also be at fault: A 15 year-old boy can
hardly demonstrate his “masculine” toughness, aggression, and control through
academic or artistic accomplishments. He can go out for sports, but in the inner city,
school sports have substandard facilities and underpaid staff, and there are few
private after-school programs. He proves his masculinity by violence and crime.
Certainly, there are female gangs, and crimes by young females have increased in
recent decades. But even the phrase “prove your femininity” is hard to translate into
a provocation to crime. And the data make it clear that crime is largely an activity of
young males—and it has been for some time. Figures 6.4 and 6.5 show data on age
and gender of homicide rates in two different places, England and Chicago, separated

CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES 191

Latinos have a one in six chance of being

incarcerated in their lifetime. Black men

have a one in three chance. White men

have a one in 17 chance of ever serving

time (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003).

Didyouknow

?

“DWB”

The perceived connection between race and crime is

often painful to those who are targeted. African

Americans sometimes refer to the phenomenon of

being constantly stopped by the police as “DWB”—

“driving while Black.” Studies of traffic stops have

found that while 5 percent of the drivers on Florida

highways were Black or Latino, nearly 70 percent of those

stopped and 80 percent of those searched were Black or Latino.

A study in Maryland found that although Blacks were 17 per-

cent of the motorists on one freeway, they were also 73 percent

of those stopped and searched. A study in Philadelphia found

that 75 percent of the motorists were White and 80 percent of

those stopped were minorities (Cannon, 1999; Cole, 1999). Stop-

ping and searching minorities is a form of “racial profiling” in

which members of minority groups are seen as “more likely” to

be criminals and therefore stopped more often. It’s more a self-

fulfilling prophecy: Believing is seeing.

Sociologyand ourWorld