Racist Crime in Light of Criminal Theory

Paper Summary:

This study seeks the origin and causes of a racial homicide in Jasper, Texas. Three schools of crime theories help explain various dimensions of the crime. The classical school advances the social contract theory and the theory of proportionality. The Marxist school presents the labeling and conflict theories. Finally, the paper shows how Vernon Geberth and Erich Fromm advance the psychology of evil or malignant narcissism to explain the origin and cause of James Byrd's lynching.

From the Paper:

"The proponents of the proportionality theory claim that the punishment should fit the crime. For example, if the punishment for stealing a doughnut were the same for stealing a car, many would see no added risk in stealing the car. Therefore, crime would increase if the punishment did not fit the crime. For several generations in Jasper, law enforcement looked the other way and/or participated in racist crimes. The risk for committing these crimes was next to nonexistent. Therefore, these unchallenged crimes increased in our tragic history of racism, over the decades. (Hoffman, 1999) This theory helps explain the racist crime trends from the 1920s to the 1960s. Jasper in 1998 was seen as a vestige of that era. Another paradigm may help explain the events at Jasper."

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