RT Article
T1 Self-Help and Black Firearm Crime
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 69
IS 1
SP 178
OP 207
A1 Ammons-Blanfort, Candice
A2 D'Alessio, Stewart J.
A2 Stolzenberg, Lisa
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1839615397
AB Self-help theory posits that a negative perception of police engenders firearm violence rather than simply amplifying individuals? ownership of firearms for self-defense. A racially diverse police force may help decrease firearm use among Black citizens because marginalized groups in society often view a governmental institution as legitimate and impartial when the racial composition of the institution mirrors the population it represents. Analyses using multilevel data show that as the racial diversity of a city?s police department increases, Black criminal offenders are much less likely to use a firearm in an aggravated assault and in a violent crime. These findings buttress the claim that the institutional legitimacy of a police agency can be enhanced by descriptive racial representation.
K1 firearm crime
K1 percent black police officers
K1 Race
K1 racially diverse police force
K1 Self-help
DO 10.1177/00111287211022627