3450 words

Why do blacks commit more crime? Biological theories (racial differences in testosterone and testosterone-aggression, AR gene, MAOA) are bunk. So how can we explain it? The Unnever-Gabbidon theory of African American offending (TAAO) (Unnever and Gabbidon, 2011)—where blacks’ experience of racial discrimination and stereotypes increases criminal offenses—has substantial empirical support. To understand black crime, we need to understand the unique black American experience. The theory not only explains African American criminal offending, it also makes predictions which were borne out in independent, empirical research. I will compare the TAAO with hereditarian claims of why blacks commit more crime (higher testosterone and higher aggression due to testosterone, the AR gene and MAOA). I will show that hereditarian theories make no novel predictions and that the TAAO does make novel predictions. Then I will discuss recent research which shows that the predictions that Unnever and Gabbidon have made were verified. Then I will discuss research which has borne out the predictions made by Unnever and Gabbidon’s TAAO. I will conclude by offering suggestions on how to combat black crime.

The folly of hereditarianism in explaining black American offending

Hereditarians have three main explanations of black crime: (1) higher levels of testosterone and high levels of testosterone leading to aggressive behavior which leads to crime; (2) low activity MAOA—also known in the popular press as “the warrior gene”—could be more prevalent in some populations which would then lead to more aggressive, impulsive behavior; and (3) the AR gene and AR-CAG repeats with lower CAG repeats being associated with higher rates of criminal activity.

When it comes to (1), the evidence is mixed on which race has higher levels of testosterone (due to low-quality studies that hereditarians cite for their claim). In fact, two recent studies showed that non-Hispanic blacks didn’t have higher levels of testosterone than other races (Rohrmann et al, 2007; Lopez et al, 2013). Contrast this with the classical hereditarian response that blacks indeed do have higher rates of testosterone than whites (Rushton, 1995)—using Ross et al (1986) to make the claim. (See here for my response on why Ross et al is not evidence for the hereditarian position.) Although Nyante et al (2012) showed a small increase in testosterone in blacks compared to whites and Mexican Americans using longitudinal data, the body of evidence shows that there is no to small differences in testosterone between blacks and whites (Richard et al, 2014). So despite claims that “African-American men have repeatedly demonstrated serum total and free testosterone levels that are significantly higher than all other ethnic groups” (Alvarado, 2013: 125), claims like this are derived from flawed studies, and newer more representative analyses show that there is a small difference in testosterone between blacks and whites to no difference.

Nevertheless, even if blacks have higher levels of testosterone than other races, then this would still not explain racial differences in crime, since heightened aggression explains T increases, high T doesn’t explain heightened aggression. HBDers seem to have cause and effect backwards for this relationship. Injecting individuals with supraphysiological doses of testosterone as high as 200 and 600 mg per week does not cause heightened anger or aggression (Tricker et al, 1996; O’Connor et, 2002). If the hereditarian hypothesis on the relationship between testosterone and aggression were true, then we would see the opposite finding from what Tricker et al and O’Connor et al found. Thus this discussion shows that hereditarians are wrong about racial differences in testosterone and that they are wrong about causality when it comes to the T-aggression relationship. (The actual relationship is aggression causing increases in testosterone.) So this argument shows that the hereditarian simplification on the T-aggression relationship is false. (But see Pope, Kouri and Hudson, 2000 where they show that a 600 mg dose of testosterone caused increased manic symptoms in some men, although in most men there was little to no change; there were 8 “responders” and 42 “non-responders.”)

When it comes to (2), MAOA is said to explain why those who carry low frequency version of the gene have higher rates of aggression and violent behavior (Sohrabi, 2015; McSwiggin, 2017). Sohrabi shows that while the low frequency version of MAOA is related to higher rates of aggression and violent behavior, it is mediated by environmental effects. But MAOA, to quote Heine (2017), can be seen as the “Everything but the kitchen sink gene“, since MAOA is correlated with so many different things. But at the and of the day, we can’t blame “warrior genes” for violent, criminal behavior. Thus, the relationship isn’t so simple, so this doesn’t work for hereditarians either.

Lastly when it comes to (3), due to the failure of (1), hereditarians tried looking to the AR gene. Researchers tried to relate CAG repeat length with criminal behaviors. For instance, Geniole et al (2019) tried to argue that “Testosterone thus appears to promote human aggression through an AR-related mechanism.” Ah, the last gasps to explain crime through testosterone. But there is no relationship between CAG repeats, adolescent risk-taking, depression, dominance or self-esteem (Vermeer, 2010) and the number of CAG repeats in men and women (Valenzuela et al, 2022). So this, too, fails. (Also take look at the just-so story on why African slave descendants are more sensitive to androgens; Aiken, 2011.)

Now that I have shown that the three main hereditarian explanations for higher black crime are false, now I will show why blacks have higher rates of criminal offending than other races, and the answer isn’t to be found in biology, but sociology and criminology.

The Unnever-Gabbidon theory of African American criminal offending and novel predictions

In 2011, criminologists Unnever and Gabbidon published their book A Theory of African American Offending: Race, Racism, and Crime. In the book, they explain why they formulated the theory and why it doesn’t have any explanatory or predictive power for other races. That’s because it centers on the lived experiences of black Americans. In fact, the TAAO “incorporates the finding that African Americans are more likely to offend if they associate with delinquent peers but we argue that their inadequate reinforcement for engaging in conventional behaviors is related to their racial subordination” (Unnever and Gabbidon, 2011: 34). The TAAO focuses on the criminogenic effects of racism.

Our work builds upon the fundamental assumption made by Afrocentists that an understanding of black offending can only be attained if their behavior is situated within the lived experiences of being African American in a conflicted, racially stratified society. We assert that any criminological theory that aims to explain black offending must place the black experience and their unique worldview at the core of its foundation. Our theory places the history and lived experiences of African American people at its center. We also fully embrace the Afrocentric assumption that African American offending is related to racial subordination. Thus, our work does not attempt to create a “general” theory of crime that applies to every American; instead, our theory explains how the unique experiences and worldview of blacks in America are related to their offending. In short, our theory draws on the strengths of both Afrocentricity and the Eurocentric canon. (Unnever and Gabbidon, 2011: 37)

Two kinds of racial injustices highlighted by the theory—racial discrimination and pejorative stereotyping—have empirical support. Blacks are more likely to express anger, exhibit low self-control and become depressed if they believe the racist stereotype that they’re violent. It’s also been studied whether or not a sense of racial injustice is related to offending when controlling for low self control (see below).

The core predictions of the TAAO and how they follow from it with references for empirical tests are as follows:

(Prediction 1) Black Americans with a stronger sense of racial identity are less likely to engage in criminal behavior than black Americans with a weak sense of racial identity. How does this prediction follow from the theory? TAAO suggests that a strong racial identity can act as a protective factor against criminal involvement. Those with a stronger sense of racial identity may be less likely to engage in criminal behavior as a way to cope with racial discrimination and societal marginalization. (Burt, Simons, and Gibbons, 2013; Burt, Lei, and Simons, 2017; Gaston and Doherty, 2018; Scott and Seal, 2019)

(Prediction 2) Experiencing racial discrimination increases the likelihood of black Americans engaging in criminal actions. How does this follow from the theory? TAAO posits that racial discrimination can lead to feelings of frustration and marginalization, and to cope with these stressors, some individuals may resort to committing criminal acts as a way to exert power or control in response to their experiences of racial discrimination. (Unnever, 2014; Unnever, Cullen, and Barnes, 2016; Herda, 2016, 2018; Scott and Seal, 2019)

(Prediction 3) Black Americans who feel socially marginalized and disadvantaged are more prone to committing crime as a coping mechanism and have weakened school bonds. How does this follow from the theory? TAAO suggests that those who experience social exclusion and disadvantage may turn to crime as a way to address their negative life circumstances. and feelings of agency. (Unnever, 2014; Unnever, Cullen, and Barnes, 2016)

The data show that there is a racialized worldview shared by blacks, and that a majority of blacks believe that their fate rests on what generally happens to black people in America. Around 38 percent of blacks report being discriminated against and most blacks are aware of the stereotype of them as violent. (Though a new Pew report states that around 8 in 10—about 80 percent—of blacks have experienced racial discrimination.) Racial discrimination and the belief in the racist stereotype that blacks are more violent are significant predictors of black arrests. It’s been shown that the more blacks are discriminated against and the more they believe that blacks are violent, the more likely they are to be arrested. Unnever and Gabbidon also theorized that the aforementioned isn’t just related to criminal offending but also to substance and alcohol abuse. Unnever and Gabbidon also hypothesized that racial injustices are related to crime since they increase the likelihood of experiencing negative emotions like anger and depression (Simons et al, 2002). It’s been experimentally demonstrated that blacks who perceive racial discrimination and who believe the racist stereotype that blacks are more violent express less self-control. The negative emotions from racial discrimination predict the likelihood of committing crime and similar behavior. It’s also been shown that blacks who have less self-control, who are angrier and are depressed have a higher liklihood of offending. Further, while controlling for self-control, anger and depression and other variables, racial discrimination predicts arrests and substance and alcohol abuse. Lastly the experience of being black in a racialized society predicts offending, even after controlling for other measures. Thus, it is ruled out that the reason why blacks are arrested more and perceive more racial injustice is due to low self-control. (See Unnever, 2014 for the citations and arguments for these predictions.) The TAAO also has more empirical support than racialized general strain theory (RGST) (Isom, 2015).

So the predictions of the theory are: Racial discrimination as a contributing factor; a strong racial identity could be a protective factor while a weak racial identity would be associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in criminal activity; blacks who feel socially marginalized would turn to crime as a response to their disadvantaged social position; poverty, education and neighborhood conditions play a significant role in black American offending rates, and that these factors interact with racial identity and discrimination which then influence criminal behavior; and lastly it predicts that the criminal justice system’s response to black American offenders could be influenced by their racial identity and social perceptions which could then potentially lead to disparities in treatment compared to other racial groups.

Ultimately, the unique experiences of black Americans explain why they commit more crime. Thus, given the unique experiences of black Americans, there needs to be a race-centric theory of crime for black Americans, and this is exactly what the TAAO is. The predictions that Unnever and Gabbidon (2011) made from the TAAO have independent empirical support. This is way more than the hereditarian explanations can say on why blacks commit more crime.

One way, which follows from the theory, to insulate black youth from discrimination and prejudice is racial socialization, where racial socialization is “thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes regarding race and racism are communicated across generations (Burt, Lei, & Simons, 2017; Hughes, Smith, et al., 2006; Lesane-Brown, 2006) (Said and Feldmeyer, 2022).

But also related to the racial socialization hypothesis is the question “Why don’t more blacks offend?” Gaston and Doherty (2018) set out to answer this question. Gaston and Doherty (2018) found that positive racial socialization buffered the effects of weak school bonds on adolescent substance abuse and criminal offending for males but not females. This is yet again another prediction from the theory that has come to pass—the fact that weak school bonds increase criminal offending.

Doherty and Gaston (2018) argue that black Americans face racial discrimination that whites in general just do not face:

Empirical studies have pointed to potential explanations of racial disparities in violent crimes, often citing that such disparities reflect Black Americans’ disproportionate exposure to criminogenic risk factors. For example, Black Americans uniquely experience racial discrimination—a robust correlate of offending—that White Americans generally do not experience (Burt, Simons, & Gibbons, 2012; Caldwell, Kohn-Wood, Schmeelk-Cone, Chavous, & Zimmerman, 2004; Simons, Chen, Stewart, & Brody, 2003; Unnever, Cullen, Mathers, McClure, & Allison, 2009). Furthermore, Black Americans are more likely to face factors conducive to crime such as experiencing poor economic conditions and living in neighborhoods characterized by concentrated disadvantage.

They conclude that:

The support we found for ethnic-racial socialization as a crime-reducing factor has important implications for broader criminological theorizing and practice. Our findings show the value of race-specific theories that are grounded in the unique experiences of that group and focus on their unique risk and protective factors. African Americans have unique pathways to offending with racial discrimination being a salient source of offending. While it is beyond the scope of this study to determine whether TAAO predicts African American offending better than general theories of crime, the general support for the ethnic-racial socialization hypothesis suggests the value of theories that account for race-specific correlates of Black offending and resilience.

…

TAAO draws from the developmental psychology literature and contends, however, that positive ethnic-racial socialization offers resilience to the criminogenic effect of weak school bonds and is the main reason more Black Americans do not offend (Unnever & Gabbidon, 2011, p. 113, 145).

Thus, combined with the fact that blacks face racial discrimination that whites in general just do not face, and combined with the fact that racial discrimination has been shown to increase criminal offending, it follows that racial discrimination can lead to criminal offending, and therefore, to decrease criminal offending we need to decrease racial discrimination. Since racism is due to low education and borne of ignorance, then it follows that education can decrease racial attitudes and, along with it, decrease crime (Hughes et al, 2007; Kuppens et al, 2014; Donovan, 2019, 2022).

Even partial tests of the TAAO have shown that racial discrimination related to offending and I would say that it is pretty well established that positive ethnic-racial socialization acts as a protective factor for blacks—this also explains why more blacks don’t offend (see Gaston and Doherty, 2018). It is also know that bad (ineffective) parenting also increases the risk for lower self-control (Unnever, Cullen, and Agnew, 2006). Black Americans share a racialized worldview and they view the US as racist, due to their personal lived experiences with racism (Unnever, 2014).

The TAAO and situationism

Looking at what the TAAO is and the predictions it makes, we can see how the TAAO is a situationist theory. Situationism is a psychological-philosophical theory which emphasizes the influence of the situation and its effects on human behavior. It posits that people’s actions and decisions are primarily shaped by the situational context that they find themselves in. It highlights the role of the situation in explaining behavior, suggests that people may act differently based on the context they find themselves in, situational cues which are present in the immediate context of the environment can trigger specific behavioral responses, suggests that understanding the situation one finds themselves in is important in explaining why people act the way they do, and asserts that behavior is more context-dependent and unpredictable and could vary across different situations. Although it seems that situationism conflicts with action theory, it doesn’t. Action theory explains how people form intentions and make decisions within specific situations, basically addressing the how and why. Conversely, situationism actually compliments action theory, since it addresses the where and when of behavior from an external, environmental perspective.

So the TAAO suggests that experiencing racial discrimination can contribute to criminal involvement as a response to social marginalization. So situationism can provide a framework for exploring how specific instances of environmental stressors, discrimination, or situational factors can trigger criminal behavior in context. So while TAAO focuses on historical and structural factors which lead to why blacks commit more crime, adding in situationism could show how the situational context interacts with historical and structural factors to explain black American criminal behavior.

Thus, combining situationism and the TAAO can lead to novel predictions like: predictions of how black Americans when faced with specific discriminatory situations, may be more or less likely to engage in criminal behavior based on their perception of the situation; predictions about the influence of immediate peer dynamics in moderating the relationship between structural factors like discrimination and criminal behavior in the black American community; and predictions about how variations in criminal responses to different types of situational cues—like encounters with law enforcement, experiences of discrimination, and economic stress—within the broader context of the TAAO’s historical-structural framework.

Why we should accept the TAAO over hereditarian explanations of crime

Overall, I’ve explained why hereditarian explanations of crime fail. They fail because when looking at the recent literature, the claims they make just do not hold up. Most importantly, as I’ve shown, hereditarian explanations lack empirical support, and the logic they try to use in defense of them is flawed.

We should accept the TAAO over hereditarianism because there is empirical validity, in that the TAAO is grounded in empirical research and it’s predictions and hypotheses have been subject to empirical tests and they have been found to hold. The TAAO also recognizes that crime is a complex phenomena influenced by factors like historical and contemporary discrimination, socioeconomic conditions, and the overall situational context. It also addresses the broader societal issues related to disparities in crime, which makes it more relevant for policy development and social interventions, acknowledging that to address these disparities, we must address the contemporary and historical factors which lead to crime. The TAAO also doesn’t stigmatize and stereotype, while it does emphasize the situational and contextual factors which lead to criminal activity. On the other hand, hereditarian theories can lead to stereotypes and discrimination, and since hereditarian explanations are false, we should also reject them (as I’ve explained above). Lastly, the TAAO also has the power to generate specific, testable predictions which have clear empirical support. Thus, to claim that hereditarian explanations are true while disregarding the empirical power of the TAAO is irrational, since hereditarian explanations don’t generate novel predictions while the TAAO does.

Conclusion

I have contrasted the TAAO with hereditarian explanations of crime. I showed that the three main hereditarian explanations—racial differences in testosterone and testosterone caused aggression, the AR gene, and MAOA—all fail. I have also shown that the TAAO is grounded in empirical research, and that it generates specific, testable predictions on how we can address racial differences in crime. On fhe other hand, hereditarian explanations lack empirical support, specificity, and causality, which makes it ill-suited for generating testable predictions and informing effective policies. The TAAO’s complexity, empirical support, and potential for addressing real-world issues makes it a more comprehensive framework for understanding and attempting to ameliorate racial crime disparities, in contrast to the genetic determinism from hereditarianism. In fact, I was unable to find any hereditarian response to the TAAO, so that should be telling on its own.

Overall, I have shown that the TAAO’s predictions that Unnever and Gabbidon have generated enjoy empirical support, and I have shown that hereditarian explanations fail, so we should reject hereditarian explanations and accept the TAAO, due to the considerations above. I have also shown that the TAAO makes actionable policy recommendations, and therefore, to decrease criminal offending, we thusly need to educate more, since racism is borne of ignorance and education can decrease racial bias.