Precarious Protection: Differential Racialization and the Policing of Asian Victimization and Offending in America

Abstract

While a great deal of research has considered racial disparities in the justice system, there has been a lack of research on Asian populations. This research addresses this omission by conducting a comprehensive examination of policing of Asian victims and suspects. To accomplish this, this study uses NIBRS data to examine variation in arrest for Asian-involved incidents of violent crime. Results indicate that incidents involving Asian victims are more likely to result in arrest than other incidents, but that incidents involving Asian suspects are also especially likely to result in arrest, with the critical exception of instances that involve Black victimization. Taken together, results suggest that the consequence of the unique social position of Asian people in American racial hierarchies is a punishment system that is not uniformly positive or negative, but partially dependent on the role of Asian people in a criminal incident, as either victim or offender.