A public health approach to preventing interpersonal violence involving perpetrators and victims is laudable, but fraught with social and political pitfalls. The concept of “race” is little understood and is being exploited by both academics and the media, putting racial minorities—particularly blacks, who tend to be overrepresented in data on reported violence—at further risk. Though race is acknowledged as an ambiguous concept, some dangers nonetheless persist in linking racial minorities to dysfunctional and antisocial behavior within both cultural and biological constructs. Recommendations are given to help ameliorate the effects of such contextual linking, particularly given the present mood of U.S. political conservatism.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Prothrow-StithD.Deadly Consequences: How Violence is Destroying Our Teenage Population and a Plan to Begin Solving the Problem. Harper Collins, New York, 1991.
2.
KoopC. E., and LundbergG.Violence in America: A public health emergency. JAMA267(22): 3075–3076, 1992.
3.
NovelloA. C.ShoskyJ., and FroehlkeR.A medical response to violence (from the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service). JAMA267(22): 3007, 1992.
4.
RosenbergM. L.O'CarrollP. W., and PowellK. E.Let's be clear: Violence is a public health problem. JAMA267(22): 3071–3072, 1992.
5.
Shalala: Public health model is key to U.S. violence crisis. The Nation's Health, January 3, 1994.
6.
Violence in America: A Public Health Approach. Oxford University Press, New York, 1991.
7.
Special issue. JAMA267(22), 1992.
8.
National Research Council. Understanding and Preventing Violence, Vol. 1. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993.
9.
Violence and the Public's Health (Special issue). Health Aff., May 1993.
10.
HarrisM.The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture. Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, 1968.
11.
GouldS. J.Curve ball. New Yorker, November 28, 1994, pp. 139–149.
12.
MolnarS.Human Variation. Prentice-Hall, New York, 1992.
13.
HofstadterR.Social Darwinism in American Thought. Beacon Press, Boston, 1992.
14.
GansH. J.The War Against the Poor: The Underclass and Antipoverty Policy. Basic Books, New York, 1995.
15.
GibbsW. W.Seeking the criminal element (Trends in behavioral science). Sci. Am., March 1995, pp. 101–107.
16.
LewisO.The Children of Sanchez. Random House, New York, 1961.
17.
LewisO.La Vida: A Puerto-Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty. Random House, New York, 1968.
18.
MoynihanD. L.The Negro family and a case for national action. In The Moynihan Report and the Politics of Controversy, edited by RainwaterL. and YancyW. L.. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1967.
19.
WilsonW. J.The Declining Significance of Race. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980.
20.
AulettaK.The Underclass. Random House, New York, 1982.
21.
LemannN.Origins of the underclass. Atlantic Monthly, June 1986.
22.
GibbsJ. T.Young, Black, and Male in America: An Endangered Species. Auburn, Westport, Conn., 1988.
23.
LeacockE.The Culture of Poverty: A Critique. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1971.
24.
MalveauxJ.Race, class, and black poverty. The Black Scholar19(3): 18–21, 1988.
25.
McGaheyR.The underclass label and social policy. USA Today112(2460): 22–24, 1983.
26.
SharradenM. W.Working over the “underclass.”Social Work29: 391–392, 1984.
27.
ValentineC. A.The culture of poverty: Its scientific significance and its implications for action. In The Culture of Poverty: A Critique, edited by LeacockE., pp. 193–223. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1971.
28.
MurrayC.White families, white trash. National Rev.38: 30–34, 1988.
29.
SowellT.Race and Economics. David McKay, New York, 1975.
30.
GravesT.Urban Indian personality and the “culture of poverty.”Am. Ethnol. 1(1): 65–86, 1974.
31.
MincyR. B.Underclass variations by race and place: Have large cities darkened our picture of the underclass? In Research Report, The Rockefeller Foundation, p. 38. Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., 1991.
32.
WilentzS.Color-blinded. New Yorker, October 2, 1995, pp. 91–98.
33.
D'SouzaD.The End of Racism. Free Press, New York, 1995.
34.
StarkE.The myth of black violence. Soc. Work38(4): 485–490, 1993.
35.
PatrickD. L., and WickizerT.Community and health. In Society and Health, edited by AmickB. C.III, pp. 46–92. Oxford University Press, New York, 1995.
36.
WolfgangM. E., and FerracutiF.The Subculture of Violence. Tavistock, London, 1967.
37.
CurtisL. A.Violence, Race and Culture. Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass., 1975.
38.
SilbermanC.Criminal Violence, Criminal Justice. Vintage, New York, 1980.
39.
BlauJ. R., and BlauP. M.The cost of inequality: Metropolitan structure and violent crime. Am. Soc. Rev.47: 114–129, 1982.
40.
MessnerS. F.Poverty, inequality, and the urban homicide rate. Criminology20: 103–114, 1982.
41.
WilliamsK. R.Economic sources of homicide: Reestimating the effects of poverty and inequality. Am. Soc. Rev.49: 283–289, 1984.
42.
LongresJ. F.Human Behavior in the Social Environment. F. E. Peacock, Itasca, Ill., 1990.
43.
SailingM., and HarveyM. E.Poverty, personality, and sensitivity to residential stressors. Environ. Behav. 13(2): 131–163, 1981.
44.
CockerhamW. C.Social stratification and self management of health. J. Health Soc. Behav. 27(1): 1–14, 1986.
45.
OsborneN. G., and FeitM. D.The use of race in medical research (Commentary). JAMA267(2): 275–279, 1992.
46.
BrownR. M.No duty to retreat: American self defense. Chronicles, January 1994, pp. 20–22.
47.
HassingerJ. R.Attributes of urban environments feared by handgun carriers. EDRA: Environmental Design Research Association14: 113–119, 1983.
48.
YoungR. L.Perceptions of crime, racial attitudes, and firearms ownership. Soc. Forces64(2): 473–486, 1985.
CohenD., and NisbettR. E.Self-protection and the culture of honor: Explaining southern violence (Special issue: The Self and the Collective). Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull.20(5): 551–567, 1994.
51.
WeilD. S., and HemenwayD.I am the NRA: An analysis of a national random sample of gun owners. Violence and Victims8(4): 353–365, 1993.
52.
NaisonM.Outlaw culture in black neighborhoods. Reconstruction1(4): 128–131, 1992.
53.
NickensH.Health promotion and disease prevention among minorities. Health Aff.9(2): 133–143, 1990.
54.
National Research Council.A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1989.
55.
Whites retain negative view of minorities a survey finds.New York Times, January 10, 1991, p. B10.
56.
KillianL. M.Race relations in the nineties: Where are the dreams of the sixties?Soc. Forces69(1): 1–13, 1990.
57.
BellD.Faces at the Bottom of the Well. Basic Books, New York, 1992.
58.
WestC.Race Matters. Beacon, Boston, 1993.
59.
CoseE.Rage of a Privileged Class. Harper Collins, New York, 1993.
60.
BakerF. M.Racism in the 1990s: Old wine in a high-tech bottle (Editorial). J. Natnl. Med. Assoc. 83(6): 489, 1991.
61.
ByrdW. M.Race, biology, and health care: Reassessing a relationship. J. Health Care Poor Underserved1(3): 278–296, 1990.
62.
CooperR.Race, disease and health. In Health, Race & Ethnicity, edited by RathwellT. and PhillipsD., pp. 21–79. Croom Helm, London, 1986.
63.
ConradP., and SchneiderJ.Deviance and Medicalization. C. V. Mosby, St. Louis, 1980.
64.
HorneG.Race backwards: Genes, violence, race, and genocide. Covert Action, Winter 1992–93, pp. 29–35.
65.
JohnsonJ. P.Academic approaches to race-crime statistics do not justify their collection. Can. J. Criminol. 36(2): 166–174, 1994.
66.
JonesJ.Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Free Press, New York, 1981.
67.
ReedW.Suffer the children: Some effects of racism on the health of black infants. In Sociology of Health and Illness, edited by ConradP. and KernR., pp. 272–280. St. Martin's, New York, 1986.
68.
ThomasS., and QuinnS.The Tuskegee syphilis study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV education and AIDS risk education programs in the black community. Am. J. Public Health81(11): 1498–1505, 1991.
69.
MarkelH.The stigma of disease: Implications of genetic screening. Am. J. Med.93(2): 209–215, 1992.
70.
StoneR.HHS “violence initiative” caught in a crossfire (Race and public policy). Science258: 212–213, 1992.
71.
HoldenC.Back to the drawing board, says NIH (Crime conference). Science257: 1474, 1992.
72.
MillerS. M.Race in the health of America. In The Nation's Health, Ed. 4, edited by LeeP. R. and EstesC., pp. 359–372. Jones & Barlett, Boston, 1994.
73.
BeckerH. S.Outsiders. Free Press, New York, 1963.
74.
HerrnsteinR., and MurrayC.The Bell Curve. Free Press, New York, 1994.
75.
WrightL.One drop of blood. New Yorker, July 25, 1994, pp. 46–55.
76.
CernovskyZ. Z., and LitmanL. C.Re-analyses of J. P. Rushton's crime data. Can. J. Criminal. 35(1): 31–36, 1993.
77.
GaborT. M.The suppression of crime statistics on race and ethnicity: The price of political correctness. Can. J. Criminol. 36(2): 153–163, 1992.
78.
GaborT. M., and RobertsJ. V.Rushton on race and crime: The evidence remains unconvincing. Can. J. Criminol. 32(2): 335–343, 1990.
79.
HattK.Reservations about race and crime statistics. Can. J. Criminol. 36(2): 164–165, 1994.
80.
RobertsJ. V., and GaborT. M.Lombrosian wine in a new bottle: Research on crime and race. Can. J. Criminol. 32(2): 291–313, 1990.
81.
RushtonJ. P.Race and crime: A reply to Roberts and Gabor. Can. J. Criminol. 32(2): 315–334, 1990.
82.
DavisL. R.The articulation of difference: White preoccupation with the question of racially linked genetic differences among athletes. Sociol. Sports J.7: 179–187, 1990.
83.
Statistical Abstracts of the United States 1994. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1994.
84.
KleinJ.Cities, heal thyselves. Newsweek, July 5, 1993, pp. 24–25.
85.
NavarroV.Race or class versus race and class: Mortality differentials in the United States. Lancet336: 1238–1240, 1990.
86.
WilliamsD. R.Lavizzo-MourneyR., and WarrenR. C.The concept of race and health status in America. Public Health Rep.109(1): 26–41, 1994.
87.
NelsonJ.Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience. Nobel Press, Chicago, 1993.
88.
GatesH. L.Thirteen ways of looking at a black man. New Yorker, October 23, 1995, pp. 56–65.
89.
HeathL., and PetraitisJ.Television viewing and fear of crime: Where is the mean world?Basic Appl. Soc. Psychol. 8(1–2): 97–123, 1987.
90.
OliverM. B.Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in “reality-based” police shows: A content analysis. J. Broadcasting Electronic Media38(2): 179–192, 1994.
91.
SuretteR.Television and support of punitive criminal justice policy. J. Q.62(2): 373–377, 450, 1985.
92.
ReedI.The black pathology biz: Crimes, drugs, and the media. Nation, November 20, 1989, pp. 597–598.
93.
AlperJ. S.Ethical and social implications. In Sociobiology and Human Nature, edited by GregoryM.SilversA., and SutchD., pp. 195–221. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1978.
94.
WilkinsonD., and KingG.Conceptual and methodological issues in the use of race as a variable: Policy implications. Milbank Q.65(Suppl. 1): 56–71, 1987.
95.
KriegerN.Shades of difference: Theoretical underpinnings of the medical controversy on black/white differences in the United States, 1830–1870. Int. J. Health Serv.17(2): 259–278, 1987.
96.
WilliamsD. R.The concept of race in Health Services Research: 1966–1990. Health Serv. Res.29(3): 261–274, 1994.
97.
McIntoshP.White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace and Freedom. July/August 1989, pp. 10–12.
98.
KnowlesL., and PrewittK.Institutional Racism in America. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1969.
99.
KeithS. N.Effects of affirmative action in medical schools: A study of the class of 1975. N. Engl. J. Med.313(24): 1519–1525, 1985.
100.
LaVeistT. A.Segregation, poverty, and empowerment: Health consequences for African Americans. Milbank Q.71(1): 41–64, 1993.
101.
HecklerM.Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black & Minority Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1986.
102.
McCordC., and FreemanH. P.Excess deaths in Harlem. N. Engl. J. Med.322(3): 173–177, 1990.
