Perceptions of Racial Discrimination, Racial Socialization, and Offending Trends Among African American College Students

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on Race and Offending Relationships

Abstract

General theories of crime provide insight into the collective causes of criminal offending, however they often fail to account for the unique lived experiences of African Americans. These lived experiences are often characterized by discrimination, micro-aggressions, and/or implicit biases. Contemporary criminological theories such as the Theory of African American offending (Unnever & Gabbidon, 2010) attempt to provide a racialized framework for understanding criminal offending. Using this empirical framework, this paper tests several key concepts of the Theory of African American Offending including lived experiences, the influence of racism, differential treatment, discrimination, anger, and aggression on offending. This research consists of an intra-racial comparative analysis of self-report data examining perceptions of discrimination, racial socialization and offending behavior among African American students enrolled in a predominately White institution (PWI) and a historically Black institution (HBCU). Policy implications are also discussed.

Authors

• Chenelle Jones, Ohio Dominican University

• Helen Taylor Greene, Texas Southern University