National unity and reconciliation in Rwanda: A flawed approach?

This article examines the Rwandan government's national unity and reconciliation policy and one of its key elements, the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC). It contends that while the NURC potentially represents an innovative model that other post-conflict societies could adapt and use, the central premise on which both the commission and the government's broader national unity and reconciliation policy are based is critically flawed. The unity that they are endeavouring to achieve, as a vehicle for reconciliation, relies upon a negation of ethnicity – a core component of the 1994 genocide – and hence does not allow for an open and honest engagement with the past. The problem is further compounded by the government's attitude towards the prosecution of crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which not only demonstrates that ethnicity remains highly significant but also underscores the incomplete and partial way in which the past is being addressed.     

SPREADING THE WEALTH: THE EFFECT OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME AND RACE/ETHNICITY ACROSS HOUSEHOLDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ON CITY CRIME TRAJECTORIES*

This study tests the effect of the composition and distribution of economic resources and race/ethnicity in cities, as well as how they are geographically distributed within these cities, on crime rates during a 30‐year period. Using data on 352 cities from 1970 to 2000 in metropolitan areas that experienced a large growth in population after World War II, this study theorizes that the effect of racial/ethnic or economic segregation on crime is stronger in cities in which race/ethnicity or income are more salient (because of greater heterogeneity or inequality). We test and find that higher levels of segregation in cities with high levels of racial/ethnic heterogeneity lead to particularly high overall levels of the types of crime studied here (aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts). Similarly, higher levels of economic segregation lead to much higher levels of crime in cities with higher levels of inequality.     

Labor migration,ethnic kinship,and the conundrum of citizenship in Turkey

This paper explores the ambiguous purchase that claiming Turkish ethnicity has in Bulgarian Turkish migrants' attempts to access formal and social citizenship. I suggest that despite the new Citizenship Law, which appears to eliminate ethnic privilege, the emphasis on Turkish ethnicity continues to play a significant role in the migrants' attempts at inclusion. I seek to resolve this seeming tension between, on the one hand, the continuing significance of ‘Turkishness’ in migrants' discursive claims, and, on the other hand, the failure of most of these claims to materialize in practice by addressing the question of social and economic capital. Although ethnic belonging continues to be an important facet of citizenship, social class makes a significant difference in determining who qualifies as a citizen and has access to social citizenship. I thus argue that we need to expand the current terms of the debate on the inclusiveness of citizenship in Turkey, which revolve around ‘denationalization’ and ‘postnationalism,’ to include questions of class-based exclusion.     

Solitary Confinement as Punishment: Examining In-Prison Sanctioning Disparities

Drawing on prior sentencing and prison scholarship, this study examines the use of solitary confinement as a form of punishment. Specifically, it assesses whether, given a prison infraction, minority inmates—and young, male, minority inmates in particular—are more likely to be placed in solitary and to be placed in it for longer durations. Multilevel regression analyses of state prison data suggest little support for the hypothesis that minority males, or young minority, males, are sanctioned more harshly than other inmates. The analyses identify, however, that males are more likely than females to be placed in solitary as a form of disciplinary punishment and that younger females are more likely to be placed in it than older females. The findings highlight that age and sex may interact to influence punishment decisions and raise questions about the precise roles of race and ethnicity in affecting punishment decisions. Implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

Examining All-cause and Cause-specific Mortality among Former Prisoners in Pennsylvania

Former prisoners have a higher than expected risk of death following release from incarceration. However, little is known about the specific risk factors for post-release mortality among former prisoners. The current study uses a unique set of measures obtained from administrative records from Pennsylvania to examine demographic, custodial, behavioral, and criminal history factors that impact mortality risk following release from incarceration. Moreover, this study is the first to assess whether risk factors for post-release mortality are consistent or variable across race and ethnicity. Using data from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and mortality records from the Pennsylvania Department of Health we find several demographic, custodial, behavioral, and criminal history measures are related to post-release mortality risk. Moreover, while most risk factors for mortality are generally consistent across race and ethnicity, we find evidence that some custodial and criminal history factors vary by race and ethnicity.     

Race,Crime, and Criminal Justice

Fifty years ago, the U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson did not frequently mention race and ethnicity in its discussion of and recommendations for the criminal justice system, but it did have a lot to say about race and crime. Through the use of arrest rates to measure racial differentials in criminal involvement, the Commission concluded that Blacks commit more crime as a consequence of Black people living in greater numbers in criminogenic “slum” conditions. To address racial differences, the Commission favored the Great Society programs of Johnson's War on Poverty. Contemporary criminologists continue to debate the racial distribution of crime, the causes of crimes, and the best policies to reduce crime and racial differentials. The Commission did not anticipate the current debate among scholars regarding how much racial disproportionality exists in the criminal justice system and its causes and consequences. The policies that led to mass incarceration have been significant drivers of continued criminal justice racial disparity. Those policies are inconsistent with the recommendation in The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society (1967), upending the pursuit of a more fair and just system.     

Los Confines

Abstract

This paper seeks to develop an understanding of Mexican American incarceration including an examination of historical experiences in three selected states: California, New Mexico, and Texas. A caste model of inequality is considered to determine if it is useful in understanding the risk of imprisonment for Mexican Americans. Blalock's (1967) theory regarding ethnic concentration and increased discrimination is also used to allow for systematic analyses of the data. Finally, analyses of the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics study number 3029 (2001) are presented for partial evaluation of the impact of caste, of Blalock's (1967) theory, and to inform suggestions for improved data collection and future research. There was no consistent support for the expectations of overrepresentations of Mexican Americans in California or Texas prisons. Neither was there consistent support for the expectation that Mexican Americans sentenced in counties with high concentrations of Mexican Americans would receive longer sentences than would Anglos.     

Race,Ethnicity and the Risk of Homicide Victimization in the United States

Abstract

Linked data from the National Health Interview Surveys and Multiple Causes of Death Use Files are used to estimate the individual level effects of race and ethnicity, and relevant controls on homicide mortality. African American and Hispanic race/ethnicity are found to be leading factors in homicide victimization. Following some previous work this research also finds that the gap between white and minority homicide victimization is attenuated but not explained by SES, contextual and marital status variables. It is hypothesized that the experience and perception of racism, and the frustration, anger and resentment that result produce an ideological climate that sustains high levels of violence among minority members beyond what concentration of disadvantage variables predict.     

Hispanics Incarcerated in State Correctional Facilities

Abstract

Criminological investigators have exhibited considerable interest in racial variations among prison inmates, variations in justice system responses to these racial groups, and related issues. However, there has been relatively little interest or research in ethnicity, particularly Hispanics. The category Hispanic is not consistently defined by ei-ther lay persons or scholars. In the media and elsewhere in the U.S., Hispanic is not consistently defined along racial lines, national origin, immigrant status, or language capacity, and, therefore, the term Hispanic has several meanings. This paper examines the characteristics of Hispanics, as an aggregate category and as subgroups, incarcerated in state cor-rectional facilities. The analysis argues that disaggregation of Hispanics into Hispanic subgroups is necessary to understand the diversity of their experiences with incarceration.     

Family Processes and Delinquency

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between family processes and delinquency. A multiethnic sample was utilized to determine whether the impact of parental attachment, involvement and supervision on delinquency is consistent across Latino, White and African American youth. Analysis of two waves of data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth indicates that relationships are not identical across ethnic and gender groups. Group differences uncovered by the current study are consistent with earlier research on family processes and suggest that both ethnicity and gender are important considerations when estimating the influence of the family on delinquent behavior. Theoretical and policy implications of group differences are discussed.