Inequalities in the United States

Structural-Cultural Perspective in relation to Crime and Race

Structural-Cultural Perspective is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: In the social sciences, specifically criminology, the structural-cultural perspective is an alternative theoretical model that explains how social problems in Black communities are the result of structural-level inequalities and dysfunctional cultural response patterns. This emerging theory introduces the role of race in creating structural constraints that are systematically embodied in community-level contexts and attribute to high crime rates within the African American community. Proposed in the 1980s by William Oliver, the structural-cultural perspective introduces an integrated theory that combines structural conditions and cultural adjustments to such environments in the field of criminology. Oliver, who applied the theory in several writings, suggests that the causes of social problems and violence among African Americans are associated with disproportionate opportunities created by various social structures in the United States. He used the perspective in his earlier works to explore the alternative image of masculinity among African American males.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Entry about Structural-Cultural Perspective in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime

See Also