Minorities and Crime

Someone on campus got robbed last night. The University administration sent out an e-mail to all of the students saying to be on the look-out for two black men wearing certain clothes, because that was the description the victims gave of the robbers.

I was with my boyfriend when I got the e-mail. I read it to him, and we proceeded to discuss the fact that it was two black males who had committed the robbery. I guess it stuck out to both of us because we go to a Midwestern university where the African American population is very small.

I said that I wasn't surprised that it was two black men. Now hopefully you guys know me better than to assume I was being racist. Because, you guys, I wasn't. Sociology has provided us with the foundation for Criminology, which can help explain this phenomenon while being SUPER interesting.

If I may, let me give you a few reasons why it makes more sense for African Americans to have committed this robbery on my Midwestern University campus.

First I'll turn to one of the founding fathers of Sociology, Mr. Emile Durkheim.

He has an in-depth theory but let's just talk about what relates to the topic at hand. Durkheim believed that human beings control their criminalistic urges because of connection to social groups and institutions. He belived that this connection created, "a moral conscience and discipline."
To Durkheim, criminals are those without social ties. Social ties ---> morals---> crime/lack of crime.
Considering this, one could understand that minorities might not have as many social ties to the community and university as the majority. Because of the separation and lack of social ties that it is easy to feel when surrounded by individuals unlike yourself, Durkheim might say that it is to be expected for minorities at a mostly white University to commit more crimes because they don't feel the moral connectedness to the immediate society.

There are many more theories which I could discuss to contribute to the phenomenon of minorities and crime rate, but I'll just talk about one of the most interesting.
The second theory I feel like mentioning is Labeling Theory. Labeling Theory is "the linguistic tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from norms." The problem with majorities labeling minorities as deviant is that it occasionally makes the minority take on the characteristics of a deviant because of the label he was given, in sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Labeling Theory looks something like this (by the way, don't forget that deviance isn't necessarily crime):
Deviant Act--> Social Reaction --> Negative Label --> Degradation Ceremonies --> Self- labeling--> Deviance Subculture Forms--> Deviance Amplification --> Secondary Deviance.

Frequently, after individuals self-label and begin to view themselves as bad, they move on to committing actual crimes, instead of just committing behaviors viewed by the majority as deviant, such as loitering or skateboarding.
Being a minority at a mostly white University can lead to a negative label, even without any initial deviant act. With enough reinforcement, the minority can actually begin to believe they are bad, and then the cycle continues from there, culminating in crime.

Interesting stuff, huh? There is nothing inherently more criminal about African Americans, or any other race. Minorities, no matter what their race, are more likely to be criminals.