Racial Discrimination, Racial Socialization, and Crime Over Time: A Social Schematic Theory Model

Abstract

Recent studies evince that interpersonal racial discrimination (IRD) increases the risk of crime among African Americans and familial racial socialization fosters resilience to discrimination's criminogenic effects. Yet, studies have focused on the short‐term effects of IRD and racial socialization largely among adolescents. In this study, we seek to advance knowledge by elucidating how racialized experiences—in interactions and socialization—influence crime for African Americans over time. Elaborating Simons and Burt's (2011) social schematic theory, we trace the effects of childhood IRD and familial racial socialization on adult offending through cognitive and social pathways and their interplay. We test this life‐course SST model using data from the FACHS, a multisite study of Black youth and their families from ages 10 to 25. Consistent with the model, analyses reveal that the criminogenic consequences of childhood IRD are mediated cognitively by a criminogenic knowledge structure and socially through the nature of social relationships in concert with ongoing offending and discrimination experiences. Specifically, by increasing criminogenic cognitive schemas, IRD decreases embeddedness in supportive romantic, educational, and employment relations, which influence social schemas and later crime. Consonant with expectations, the findings also indicate that racial socialization provides enduring resilience by both compensating for and buffering discrimination's criminogenic effects.

Biological embedding of neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy: Influences on chronic illness via accelerated cardiometabolic age

“…For example, in Code of the Street , Elijah Anderson (1999) indicated that residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to adopt the norms of the street code subculture to handle their everyday routines. Studies of African Americans have also highlighted cultural promotive and protective factors (e.g., cultural pride, spiritually, and cultural socialization) among African American neighborhoods and cultures and its protective role in the face of adversities and stressors (Burt, Lei, & Simons, 2017; Causadias, 2013; Constantine, Donnelly, & Myers, 2002; Gaylord-Harden, Burrow, & Cunningham, 2012). …”

“…This is due to the fact that individuals residing in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are exposed to a constellation of social stressors associated with increased presence of social disorder and subculture (Anderson, 1999; Burt, Lei, & Simons, 2017; Hill et al, 2005; Latkin & Curry, 2003; Ross & Mirowsky, 2009). These conditions foster concerns about safe and feelings of powerlessness and social isolation (Ross, 2011).…”

Longitudinal Mechanisms Linking Perceived Racial Discrimination to Aggressive Delinquency among North American Indigenous Youth

“…Most prior studies on discrimination and crime make the implicit assumption that it is the amount of discrimination experienced or perceived that matters rather than specific subdomains that comprise most measures of discrimination (Bastos et al 2010). For example, much of the prior research on discrimination and crime primarily focus on African American experiences and use data from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS; Brody et al 2006; Brody, Kogan, and Chen 2012; Burt, Lei, and Simons 2017; Burt and Simons 2015; Burt et al 2012; Evans, Simons, and Simons 2016; Gibbons et al 2004; Simons and Burt 2011; Simons et al 2003) or the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods Study (PHDCN; Riina et al 2013; Unnever, Cullen, and Barnes 2016a, 2016b). The FACHS study used an adapted version of the Schedule of Racist Events (Landrine and Klonoff 1996), which focuses on how often participants perceived a variety of discriminatory experiences from global sources (e.g., how often has someone).…”

Race, Crime, and Criminal Justice

“…Although they face criticism, some criminologists still fault the Commission's () position because they believe that biological or psycho‐biological differences are at the heart of the causes of crime (Mednick and Volavka, ; Wilson and Herrnstein, ). At the polar opposite view are those who argue that the differences are brought on by continued racism and discrimination in the United States (Burt, Lei, and Simons, , ; Unnever and Gabbidon, ). We believe that it is accurate, based on the weight of the research evidence, to state that most criminologists support the notion that, just as members of the Commission thought 50 years ago, research findings now indicate that Black–White differences in rates of criminal involvement can be explained by social and economic disadvantage (Morenoff, ).…”