Criminology

The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology published an article in 1982 written by Alfred Blumstein called on Racial Disproportionality of United States Prison Populations.  The article contends that black males make-up the majority of prison population than any other race or ethnicity.  The author further asserts that the criminal justice system discriminates against black males. These are both debatable topics. The United States prison system is comprised of more black males, but this is the result of criminal behavior and lack of respect for the law not race.

The prison population appears to be growing at an accelerated rate.  It is a proven fact that men commit more crimes and are responsible for the crimes of a serious nature.  This is correlated to the number of black males in prison and why over  of the prison population is comprised of black males between the ages of 20-29 (Blumstein, 1982).  It could be assumed that men act on impulse more often than their counterparts resulting in the higher number of men in prison.  It could also be interjected that the reason for the higher number of black males is due to poor education, unemployment, and lack of respect for the law.  Socio-economic factors do offer valid reasoning for the high number of incarcerated black males.

The system of criminal justice is not comprised of laws for blacks and laws for whites.  The laws are the same for everyone across the board no matter what the race, creed, ethnicity or gender may be.  Once convicted of a crime is, the judicial system is responsible for holding an offender accountable for their actions.  Prior to sentencing an offender, the criminal justice system takes several points into consideration.  The factors considered are the offenders criminal background and history, level of remorse shown, severity and nature of the offense committed, damages caused, the victim or victims of the crime, employment status, and the likelihood of recidivism.  If the higher proportion of black males in prison is due to crime, then the argument of racism is without merit.

The nature and severity of a crime is paramount in the sentencing phase of the criminal justice system.  A crime of forgery will hardly receive the same conviction as a crime of first degree murder.  Society demands that the punishment fit the crime, and legislators have composed and passed laws to ensure the protection of society as a whole.  Those committing more serious crimes should understand that the sentence will be more stringent, and they should know that the likelihood of prison is inevitable.  Black males commit more serious offenses than white males.  In the 1976 United States Department of Justice National Prisoner Statistics Report, it was shown that for the crime of murder, there were 24,577 black males and 20,399 white males convicted.  These figures are very close in range, but in actuality it shows that 52.3 of those convicted were black males.

The criminal justice system places more emphasis on the serious crimes committed by black males (Blumstein, 1982).  Essentially what this means is that the criminal justice system is more concerned with the crime being committed, while the race of the offender is basically irrelevant. The author asserts that the criminal justice system has turned its entire focus on crimes committed only by black males, when it should modify its focus to the crimes committed by white males.  This is preposterous.  The criminal justice system is bombarded with criminal offenses being committed every minute of the day.  It hardly has time to decipher and split hairs over which crime is committed by a black man and which one is committed by a white man. The offender is the one responsible for the crime having been committed, not the criminal justice system.  The criminal justice system is secondary to the situation by having to assess, try, and if convicted, assert a punishment appropriate given the nature and severity of the crime.

Statistically, the numbers show that white men are held accountable just as often if not more than black males.  Blumstein offered the following figures in the article       

Black MaleWhite MaleCrimeArrestConvictionArrestConvictionMurder8,41324,5777,88222,399Rape11,1346,26111,7094,652Robbery51,40141,02236,60426,003Aggravated Assault85,2369,193123,21012,516Other Violent237,9322,924370,6213,310Burglary74,67620,383152,39627,765Larceny255,5198,678445,7108,916Other Property127,4647,313240,98613,239Drugs110,5185,966331,6299,141Public Order8,1314,028183,9386,413Other452,870234889,380592

The most serious crimes, murder rape and robbery, were committed more frequently by black males, therefore they were convicted most often.  White males were responsible for eight other levels of criminal activity more often than black males, and were convicted due to the level of the crime.  There is no bias in the criminal justice system.  If there were a true understanding and respect for the law, there would not be a need for jails or prisons.

The number of black males in the prison system in comparison to the number of white males can be attributed to the severity and nature of the crimes committed.  Crime is judged by the offensive act committed against society.  Blumstein failed to prove that the criminal justice system functions on a premise of holding black males accountable at a different level than whitemales.  He provided more circumstantial excuses than facts with regard to the maladaptive behavior of the black male offender.  This article managed to accomplish one thing.  This article succeeded in keeping racism alive and well in America.