Interracial Homicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Interracial Homicide - Essay Example The causes that motivate homicide can be diverse and very individual. However, there are cultural motivations that create an atmosphere where homicides that are interracial are relevant to the associations to those social groups. As the naturally occurring competition for resources develops between communities, the result can have lethal consequences. The African-American communities, in particular, have developed an atmosphere of distrust for law enforcement that has roots in the oppressed nature of that heritage. Without a sense of security through a trust that the police are available as a source of protection, members of that community have a cultural adaptation toward survival based on need, whether those needs are in line with lawful social conduct or are defined by ethics outside of the community mandates. The national statistics that concern homicide reveal commonalities for the causes of interracial murder. The statistical views of the causes for interracial homicide suggest the importance of economic factors that usually represent an inequality. Discriminatory factors also play a strong role in the way in which the races approach their diversity and can have influence over the creation of conflict. Because competition between social groups with the purpose of domination in order to survive creates strong and passionate responses, the result can be the taking of life. When a group is segregated into a socially disadvantaged geography, the need to take something from the advantaged group in order to continue survival can lead to the commission of potentially homicidal acts that are sometimes associated with other crimes. As the research of relevant literature reveals some common elements associated with interracial homicide, a pattern of cultural causes reveals the nature of the comp etitive American culture. Research Questions 1. How does the opportunity for contact between social groups contribute to increases in interracial homicide and homicide rates 2. What relationship does economic and political competition have with interracial homicide rates 3. How does the concept of disadvantage and discrimination create an effect on interracial homicide 4. Does the difference between arrest and sentencing rates between African- Americans and Caucasian-Americans contribute to an atmosphere of criminal behavior that increases interracial homicide Literature Review Effect of contact between social groups (Contact Theory) S. F. Messner and S. J. South did a study on interracial homicide in 1992 that gathered data from 154 cities in order to prove that both a racial heterogeneity population size with an inequality of socioeconomics, coupled with the level of unemployment affected the rate of interracial homic