ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how classic structural theories explained minority youth crime, and how these explanations compared to a popular alternative perspective of African American crime, the colonial model. It provides an overview of social disorganization and the Durkheim-inspired strain theories, two of the classic social structure models that have addressed high concentrations of crime among racial and ethnic groups. The chapter examines an alternative view of minority crime, the colonial model, and an assessment of the similarities and differences that exist between the theoretical arguments of the minority and mainstream perspectives. Social disorganization theory emerged from the ecological research of sociologists at the University of Chicago. Colonialist theorists argue that racial minority groups in the United States are ‘internal colonies’ that are systemically controlled and exploited by the dominant culture. The internal colonialism perspective underscores the importance of the cultural destruction and stigmatization, and the overall lower social status of African Americans.
