A MULTILEVEL TEST OF RACIAL THREAT THEORY |
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| Authors: | LISA STOLZENBERG STEWART J. D'ALESSIO DAVID EITLE |
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| Affiliation: | Lisa Stolzenberg is associate professor of criminal justice at Florida International University. She received her B.A. in criminal justice from the University of Florida and her M.S. and Ph.D. in criminology from Florida State University. Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, including the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Social Problems, Criminology, Journal of Criminal Law &Criminology and Justice Quarterly. Her research interests are in exploring all aspects related to the criminal event. Please direct all correspondence concerning this article to Lisa Stolzenberg, School of Policy and Management, Florida International University, University Park Campus-PCA 260A, Miami, FL 33199, email:;Stewart J. D'Alessio is associate professor of criminal justice at Florida International University. He received his B.A. in history from Stetson University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in criminology from Florida State University. His current research analyzes data drawn from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).;David Eitle is assistant professor of criminal justice at Florida International University. His current research interests include examining the influence of school factors on student deviance, the effects of the social stratification of criminal justice organizations and the relationship between cumulative exposure to adversity and young adult crime. |
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| Abstract: | We develop a conceptual model articulating the mechanisms by which racial threat is theorized to affect social control, focusing specifically on the influence of the relative size of the black population on the likelihood that the police will arrest a black citizen suspected of a violent criminal offense. A multilevel analysis of 145, 255 violent crimes reported to police in 182 cities during 2000 shows only qualified support for racial threat theory. Controlling for the amount of race-specific crime reported to police, our findings reveal that black citizens actually have a lower probability of arrest in cities with a relatively large black population. This finding tends to cast doubt on the validity of the racial threat hypothesis. No evidence buttresses the claim that economic competition between whites and blacks affects arrest probabilities. However, results show that in cities where racial segregation is more pronounced blacks have a reduced risk sof being arrested relative to whites. Crimes involving black offenders and white victims are also more apt to result in an arrest in cities that are racially segregated. These findings support the view that racial segregation is an informal mechanism to circumscribe the threat of potentially volatile subordinate populations. |
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| Keywords: | racial threat racial segregation benign neglect arrest probability multilevel |
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