ABSTRACT
Despite its attempt to place emphasis on the role of race and racism in minority crime, there are at least three shortcomings in the theoretical logic of the colonial model that limit its explanatory power. First, the perspective does not address the relevancy of experiencing one or several types of alienation. Second, like mainstream explanations, the colonial model does not examine the question of differential responses to shared oppression. Third, the colonial model provides little discussion or insight to the differential class effects of racial oppression, in particular, how structural experiences are presently affected by race and class or how race and class affect attitudes and behaviors. Although the colonial model is proposed as an alternative to classic structural theories, it too falls short in providing an adequate explanation of the high rates of crime among African American youths.
