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Racial Threat Perspective

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For a substantial amount of time, research based on criminology and criminal justice has been unable to explain variations in crime, as well as the variations in most actions of the criminal justice system (Walker, 2007). Unfortunately, we have been unable to provide explanations, which could be used to make more effective and efficient policies, reduce crime, or explain why neighborhoods, once deteriorated, continue to produce high crime areas, even when sufficient resources have been invested in order to improve the area. Walker (2007) suggests that our lack of success in these areas may perhaps be due to following the models of physical science. Often, when trying to explain such behaviors, as Walker (2007) noted that human behavior is often …show more content…
(2012) a linear model of two distinct perspectives, known as, the racial threat perspective and the symbolic threat perspective, had been used to explain the racial bias in pre adjudication detention. Although I am not sure whether I agree with the assumptions proposed by either perspective, Thomas et al. (2012) was able to find strong support for only the symbolic threat perspective in comparison to the limited support they received for the racial threat perspective in regards to the impact of race on detention, however, the researchers recommended that their interpretations remain tentative until further research can address certain limitations. To be able to uncover the true nature of racial stereotypes, researchers must be able to dig deeper into the data, as discussed by Walker (2012). To truly be able to undercover the links between race-based stereotypes, perceived racial threats, and the use of discretion by system officials we must not be constrained by linear models as they are unable to explain complex human behavior in which could be used to better explain the racial bias in pre adjudication …show more content…
Although I am not sure the if the eco-dynamic theory in which Walker (2007) proposed is they key to future research, I do agree with him that using traditional methods and analyses to examine such complex human behavior should in fact be revisited. As demonstrated in Drawe et al. (2014) we were able to efficiently identify the key parameters to which drove the system in that are to develop more unstable patterns by studying the juvenile distance to crime and hot spot analyses, in comparison to testing the two distinct perspectives in Thomas et al. (2012).

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