Racial Stereotypes and Support for Breed-Specific Legislation: An Experimental Test of Extended Criminalization

• In Event: Racial Politics of Policing and the Law

Abstract

Scholars have long argued that behaviors and objects associated with criminally stereotyped minority groups can themselves become criminalized and lead to disparate sanctions. For instance, Tarver (2014) argues that pit bulls are vessels of racial abnormality due to their association to African Americans, which may motivate breed-specific legislation. Yet, this hypothesis remains undertheorized and empirical evidence is scant. To address this issue, we seek to test the concept of extended criminalization, which posits that behaviors associated with racial and ethnic groups accentuate and aggrandize perceived threat of minority groups through a reinforcing process. We examine the extended criminalization hypothesis in the context of breed-specific legislation. Specifically, using data from a survey-based experiment conducted with a sample of students from two universities (N=553), we test the effects of owner race and racial stereotypes on support for laws banning pit bulls. The findings and their implications are discussed.

Authors

• Andrew J. Thompson, University at Albany, SUNY

• Justin Tyler Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY

• Jonathan Intravia, Ball State University