The System in Black and White (PDF)

In a collection of compelling contributions to the study of the nexus between race, crime, and justice, noted scholars in the field critique many long-held assumptions and myths about race, challenging criminal justice policymakers to develop new and effective strategies for dealing with the social problems such misunderstandings create. In sections devoted to criminological theory, law enforcement, courts and the law, juvenile delinquency, and gender, contributors endeavor to dispel myths about African-American involvement in the criminal justice system. In so doing, a number of important facts are established about the race/crime nexus. For example, in an analysis of criminological theory, it is concluded that race, as a singular social factor, has not been adequately represented in existing paradigms. The subject of police profiling of African-Americans reveals an evolution of court decisions that have marginalized, rather than liberated, African-Americans since slavery. Each contributor challenges both the reader and the criminal justice system to develop meaningful strategies for addressing the racism that still pervades our system of justice.

A chapter on women of color in prison makes a compelling argument that such institutions often represent safer environments than the life on the streets women leave behind. This persuasive volume will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty in Sociology, Criminal Justice, policy development, African-American and Women's Studies.