Social Class in the United States

Colonial Model in relation to Crime and Race

Colonial Model is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: In an effort to explain high rates of crime and violence among African Americans, some criminologists have used the colonial model to analyze the effects of race and social class and their interactive effect on specific attitudes and behaviors. The model has its foundations in the work of Frantz Fanon, who examined relations between majority and minority groups in colonial settings. According to this perspective, colonization occurs when one group forcibly takes over the country of another group. During this process, those who are colonized are then forced to adhere to the norms of the colonizer. As a result, the colonized are exposed to a different set of cultural standards that become the standard by which the native group will be measured. However, the colonized are then forced to exist within a colonial society with limited resources.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Entry about Colonial Model in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime

See Also