Race Discrimination, Racial Socialization, and Offending Trends Among African American College Students

• Date: 01 February 2016
• Author: Chenelle A. Jones,Helen T. Greene
• Published date: 01 February 2016
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986215607255
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2016, Vol. 32(1) 60 –77

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986215607255

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Article

Race Discrimination, Racial

Socialization, and Offending

Trends Among African

American College Students: A

Test of the Theory of African

American Offending

Chenelle A. Jones1 and Helen T. Greene2

Abstract

The present study tests several key concepts of the theory of African American

offending. It uses intra-racial correlational and regression analyses to explore the

relationship between perceptions of discrimination, racial socialization (RS), and

offending among African American college students. The findings indicate perceptions

of discrimination have a significant impact on offending. Students who were more

likely to perceive situations as discriminatory were more likely to report offending

behavior. Racial Socialization did not buffer the deleterious impact of discrimination

and reduce offending. Directions for future research also are discussed.

Keywords

African American offending, racial discrimination, racial socialization

Introduction

Traditional theories of crime and criminality often focus on structural disadvantage,

social disorganization, and racial isolation (Martin et al., 2011). Missing from this

discourse, however, is a focus on the unique lived experiences of African Americans

1Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, USA

2Texas Southern University, Houston, USA

Corresponding Author:

Chenelle A. Jones, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Ohio Dominican University, 1216 Sunbury Road,

Columbus, OH 43219, USA.

Email: Jonesc12@ohiodominican.edu

607255CCJXXX10.1177/1043986215607255Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeJones and Greene

research-article2015

Jones and Greene 61

who, unlike other racial groups in the United States endured forced enslavement, mar-

ginalization, and state sanctioned discrimination (Unnever & Gabbidon, 2011).

Explanations for racial disparities often ignore the deleterious impact of social, economic,

and political racial oppression. According to Feagin (2014), a critical institutional-racism

perspective is important to understanding “the depths of the U.S. system of racial hostility

and discrimination” (p. 144).

Unnever and Gabbidon (2011) posit that the unique lived experiences of African

Americans contribute to a racialized worldview that must be considered in explana-

tions of criminogenic behavior. Unlike previous attempts to explain the race–crime

relationship, their theory offers a more holistic and fuller understanding of African

American offending by taking their worldview, racism, discrimination, and racial

socialization (RS) into consideration (Unnever & Gabbidon, 2011).

Williams, Neighbors, and Jackson (2003) define racial discrimination (RD) as a

dominant group’s actions that differentially and negatively impact subordinate racial/

ethnic groups. Some scholars have even argued that RD is a fundamental component

of the social structure of African American life (Williams, Spencer, & Jackson, 1999).

There is a considerable amount of interdisciplinary research on perceptions of RD and

how they contribute to both adult (Caldwell, Kohn-Wood, Schmeelk-Cone, Chavous,

& Zimmerman, 2004; Unnever, 2014) and youth involvement in offending (Burt &

Simons, 2015; Burt, Simons, & Gibbons, 2012; Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams,

1999; Pezzella, Thornberry, & Smith, 2015), drug use (Gibbons et al., 2010; Simons,

Chen, Stewart, & Brody, 2003), mental health issues (Barr & Neville, 2014; Chou,

Asnaani, & Hofmann, 2012; Fischer & Shaw, 1999; Gatson, 2011), and resilience

(Banerjee, Rowley, & Johnson, 2014; D. L. Brown & Tylka, 2011; Miller, 1999).

Among youth, Romero and Roberts (1998) found that African American youth

reported higher levels of RD in comparison with other racial groups and that older

youth were more likely than younger youth to perceive RD. Although the impact of

discrimination over the life course varies (Caldwell et al., 2004), research examining

the impact of discrimination on offending is underdeveloped and focuses primarily on

youth below the age of 18 (Burt et al., 2012; Caldwell et al., 2004; Simons et al., 2003;

Simons et al., 2006).

Unnever and Gabbidon (2011) posit that RD, in the absence of positive RS experi-

ences, is a causal factor for offending behavior among African Americans. RS refers

to strategies (most often) used by parents to inform their children about RD and pro-

vide them with coping mechanisms to manage its negative effects (T. L. Brown,

Linver, & Evans, 2010; Seaton, Morgan-Lopez, Yip, & Sellers, 2012; Unnever &

Gabbidon, 2011). RS (preparation for bias) and ethnic socialization (cultural socializa-

tion) are often used interchangeably (Banerjee et al., 2014; Burt & Simons, 2015; Burt

et al., 2012; Priest et al., 2014; Thomas & Blackmon, 2015), although they are differ-

ent concepts and processes (T. L. Brown & Krishnakumar, 2007; Paasch-Anderson &

Lamborn, 2014).

Studies have found that RS, conceptualized as coping with RD and racial barrier

awareness (RBA), reduces the mediating effect of RD on African American youth

offending. Few studies examine the roles of coping with RD and RBA as buffers for