Testing the Theory of Racial Privilege and Offending Using Survey Data

• In Event: Whiteness and Crime: The Role of Power in Inequalities

Abstract

The Theory of Racial Privilege and Offending (TRPO) critically examines how racial hierarchies in the United States are tied to cultural adaptations that foster elite white-collar and corporate crime. This theory suggests that the structural and cultural conditions of whiteness in the US encourage cognitive frameworks of low empathy for faceless others, high entitlement and high competitiveness. This theory suggests that these cognitive frameworks, which have justified white Americans advocating for policies to their own benefit and at the expense of racial minorities (including current policies that contribute to ongoing disparities in housing, education, and health) also contribute to crime-specific cognitive frameworks that encourage elite white-collar and corporate crime. While traditional criminological theories have focused on the impact of negative conditions, such as concentrated disadvantage, in fostering crime and in explaining racial differences in offending, this theory is unique in looking at how seemingly positive conditions, such as concentrated advantage and white privilege, may also encourage crime, specifically elite white-collar crime. We use data from a unique survey to explore specific tenets of the theory.

Author

• Tracy Sohoni, Old Dominion University