Youth Violence— Crime or Self-Help? Marginalized Urban Males' Perspectives on the Limited Efficacy of the Criminal Justice System to Stop Youth Violence

Abstract

In 1983, sociologist Donald Black proposed the theory of “Crime as Social Control,” in which he argued that for the socially disadvantaged, crime is commonly moralistic and can be characterized as self-help in the pursuit of justice when legal protection fails. This article uses Black's theory as a framework to assess the role of violence among African American male youth in disadvantaged urban communities in New York City. Using in-depth interview data for 416 young violent male offenders, the authors analyze youths' perspectives on their personal safety; access to legal, governmental, and communal protection from violence; the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and police in addressing crime and violence in their neighborhoods; and the need to rely on self- and group/gang-protection as a means of social control. The implications for self-help theory are discussed.