Journal article
Accounting for Racial Disparities in the Nature of Violent Victimization
Journal of quantitative criminology, Vol.30(4), pp.629-650
05/18/2014
DOI: 10.1007/s10940-014-9217-6
Abstract
Objectives
Prior research suggests racial differences in violent victimization reflect differences in severity and not frequency. The current study proposes and tests hypotheses regarding the sources of racial variation in the nature of violent victimization.
Methods
A person-incident data file is employed to examine theoretical mechanisms that purportedly explain the effects of race on the nature of violent victimization. Data are analyzed with multinomial logistic regression models. Mediation processes are examined using a decomposition model that simultaneously adjusts for parameter rescaling and confounding.
Results
Descriptive statistics reveal larger proportions of black males compared to whites experience gun violence, yet higher percentages of white males suffer unarmed violence. Differential exposure variables explain a larger quantity of racial differences in the likelihood of gun versus unarmed violence compared to behavioral attributes variables. Still, race remains a robust predictor of firearm victimization controlling for the full array of study variables.
Conclusions
It appears that black males are more likely than whites to suffer serious forms of violence and not minor forms due more to their exposure to risky settings than to their behavioral characteristics. Nonetheless, there is some evidence that stereotypes also partially account for the higher rates of gun victimization among black males. This study advances research on race and interpersonal violence. Moreover, the study demonstrates the importance of specifying the proper dependent variable when testing theories of interpersonal violence and victimization.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Accounting for Racial Disparities in the Nature of Violent Victimization
- Creators
- Mark T Berg - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of quantitative criminology, Vol.30(4), pp.629-650
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10940-014-9217-6
- ISSN
- 0748-4518
- eISSN
- 1573-7799
- Publisher
- Springer US
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/18/2014
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive)
- Record Identifier
- 9984282466702771
Metrics
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