Vol. 7 No. 10 (October 1997) pp. 466-468.

POVERTY, ETHNICITY, AND VIOLENT CRIME
by James F. Short, Jr. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. 244pp. $16.00 Paper. ISBN 0-8133-2014-3.

Reviewed by Ruth Ann Strickland, Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, Appalachian State University.

Providing a panoramic overview of the literature on theories and explanations of violent crime, the author has concisely summarized the causes of and alternative ways to control violent crime in the U.S. The author's stated purpose--to explain violent crime occurrences among individuals, groups and communities that vary in racial, ethnic and socioeconomic composition--is accomplished. Using recent data on criminal violence in the U.S., Short examines measures of violent crime and the social distribution trend of violent crime based on these measures. Then he compares and analyzes the various measures of violent crime, including the Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Survey, cause of death data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Youth Survey. In general, he illustrates the problems of crime counting systems with most of the focus on the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Survey. He gives less attention to the other measures of violent crime, namely the cause of death data and the National Youth Survey, which leaves the reader hungry for expanded discussion on the drawbacks and flaws of these data bases. Also, in Chapter 2, the author discusses some interesting recent trends in the occurrence of violent crime: (1) persons under age 25 are committing a higher percentage of homicides against strangers; (2) the use of guns in the commission of violent crime by juveniles has doubled since 1976; and (3) drug arrests for nonwhite juveniles after 1984 rises dramatically.


Shifting into a discussion on the social distribution of violent offenders, the author points out that it is hard to separate the effects on violent behavior of living in a certain community and the pre-existing individual proclivities toward violence. Short goes on to describe studies that analyze individual violence aggregated to census tracts but notes that these research efforts vary in quality and usefulness. Short next summarizes the literature on the social distribution of violent offenders noting that: most homicides are intraracial; nonwhites are over-represented in arrests for violent crimes; young males are disproportionately represented; blacks are mores likely than whites to continue violent crime careers into their twenties and large cities have higher violent crime rates.


In Chapter 3, Short proposes a framework to explain risk factors associated with violent behavior. This matrix includes social factors (macrosocial and microsocial) and individual factors (psychological and biological). The macrosocial factors focuses on social and economic systems in tandem with the racial and ethnic composition of communities whereas the microsocial level of analysis focuses on the "unfolding of events, to the interaction of parties involved in events and how it shapes behavior and behavioral outcomes such as violence" (39). These levels of explanation are often related to and inform each other. The author seems particularly concerned about policymaker reliance on individual level explanations and neglect of macrosocial explanations or the linkage that exists between the two levels. A major undertaking of the book is to link the levels of explanation using theoretical perspectives as well as data analysis. The author states that: "The primary focus of this book is on macrosocial level theories and research; whenever possible, research that links other levels of explanation with the macrolevel will be discussed" (42).


Chapter 4 provides the community and neighborhood contexts of violent crime. The author notes that certain community level factors can encourage or discourage violence and that communities vary in abilities to control violent crime as well as in situational circumstances that make the commission of violent crime more opportune. Extensive review of this literature includes the effects of poverty, youth authority relationships, transmission of values in families, peer culture and economic opportunity within communities on violent crime occurrences. Chapters 5 and 6 highlight the relationship between unsupervised youth groups (or gangs) and violence. Short differentiates between street gangs and other groups (for example, drug gangs) and their social distribution. He points out in his literature review that most gang homicides were most likely to be attributed to fear of retaliation, that most of these homicides occur in the street, and that gang homicide victims most likely had no prior contact with their assailant. Gang activity is also linked to macrosocial factors since most gangs are located in inner cities and in areas of poverty and physical deterioration and institutional breakdown. Racial and ethnic minorities tend to be concentrated in these areas of poverty and deterioration, which increases opportunity for their involvement in gang activities. The microsocial level explanation of gang activity includes an analysis of group dynamics of gangs--why they engage in gang turf battles, how they react to status threats, how group cohesiveness promotes delinquent behavior and how their individual sense of worth is connected to group norms. Toward the end of Chapter 6, Short ties macrosocial and microsocial factors together, explaining that the weakening of social capital (interpersonal relationship with the adult community) combined with diminished financial and human capital leads to community inability to socialize and control individual behavior and interactions. Under these conditions, gangs are more likely to thrive.


Theories for explaining violent crime at the macrosocial level, microsocial level and individual level are outlined in Chapters 7, 8 and 9. Included in the macrosocial category are Marxist, conflict, inequality, control, opportunity, routine activity, strain, institutional anomie, control balance and collective violence theories. Individual level theories of explanation include self-control, social bonding, biological and alcohol or drug use. Short links the macro and individual level theories by stating that macro forces place restraints on opportunities and may even create conditions that weaken parent-child relationships and chances for bonding and self control (145). Chapter 9 examines psychosocial and biological theories of violent crime ranging from social cognitive theory to the influences of neurophysiological processes to life course perspectives.


In the concluding chapter, Short ends with a discussion about various approaches used to control violent crime. He posits an often-articulated theme: if we fail to address the root causes of crime, success in violent crime reduction is unlikely. He notes the tenuous position of scholars who engage in crime policy analysis either by weaving their ideological preferences into their research, thereby appearing biased, or by trying to project objectivity, thereby appearing remote. The ensuing discussion about how to control violent crime includes efforts to incarcerate, to rehabilitate, to provide family support and early education and to engage in ommunity policing. The author then summarizes a study by James Howell of "what works" in youth gang violence prevention and intervention. Toward the end of his analysis, Short advocates more public-private partnerships in the effort to control violent crime and concludes with a reminder that race and ethnicity persist in significance in the debate about explaining and controlling violent crime.


Overall, this book is a worthwhile read. It provides a comprehensive review of the literature. It weaves theoretical and empirical insights together using a ophisticated framework. It provides much food for thought for those interested in crime policy and for policymakers. In Chapter 10, however, the author's prescriptions are unclear. Although he summarizes the Howell study with great care and implicitly seems to endorse this approach to crime prevention, he avoids totally committing himself to this approach. Readers might wish to know whether he concurs with all of Howell's recommendations or just some of them. Also, when he discusses the idea of public-private partnerships in the area of violent crime control, he is not very specific. It would be helpful if he would elaborate on what forms or types of cooperation should occur between the public and private sectors. The author seems to navigate the prescriptions part of his book a bit warily, as if he's going to step on a land mine. After the more impassioned discussions about macrosocial factors and how these may be inseparable from microsocial and individual level explanations of violent crime, the concluding chapter projects less enthusiasm and seems more rote in comparison. Beyond these very minor criticisms, Short should be lauded for undertaking and completing an ambitious task.
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Copyright by the author.