Perception of Race on Crime Classification

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Using on line surveys, a sample of 196 people read an article about a criminal incident that involved the use of a firearm and the death of four individuals in a school setting that also had elements of a workplace relationship with one of the victims and the perpetrator. The article was altered to include three accounts of the story in which the name of the suspect and the picture of the suspect was changed to show a white, an African American, and a person of Arabic descent. Respondents were asked to classify the incident as either a terrorist incident, a mass shooting incident, or workplace violence. In addition, basic demographics and views of firearm policies were also gathered. While a significant relationship was found between perception of suspect race and crime classification, the results were mixed. When the suspect was white, most respondents tended to classify the crime as a mass shooter incident. Interestingly, respondents did not classify suspects of Arabic descent as terrorist incidents.

Authors

• Sundeep Parmar, NYIT

• Andy Rodriguez, NYIT

• George Schultz, NYIT

• Andrew Costello, NYIT

• Emily Restivo, New York Institute of Technology