The Ethnic Typification of Crime and Support for Punitive Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis of Arabs in Israel

• Other Authors: Devers, Lindsey N. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Criminal law
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-0075

According to social threat theorists, it is the mere presence of blacks that induces a fear of crime which increases punitive attitudes and leads to the mobilization of social control. Blalock (1967) argued that social control is exerted upon minority populations that are deemed threatening. Recent work on the percent black and fear of crime has transformed this aggregate-level relationship into an individual-level measure of the presences of blacks, specifically, the racial typification of crime. The present study extends Chiricos and colleagues (2004) work on the racial typification of crime by conducting such analyses in Israel where there have historically been high ethnic tensions. The dissertation explores the relationship between the ethnic typification of crime and punitive attitudes by utilizing an Arab sample of respondents from Israel. Results indicate that the main hypothesis under examination was not supported by the regression analyses. The analyses demonstrated that concern for crime was the strongest predictor of punitive attitudes net of other control and demographic variables. === A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2010. === Date of Defense: October 25, 2010. === Arabs, concern for crime, intraethnic threat, intraracial threat, Israel fear of crime, minority threat, punitive attitudes, social threat, social control, typification of crime === Includes bibliographical references. === Dr. Marc Gertz, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joyce Carbonell, University Representative; Nicole Piquero, Committee Chair.