Perceptions of Minorities' Criminal Involvement in Grand ...

McNair Scholars Journal

Volume 7 | Issue 1 Article 5

2003

Perceptions of Minorities' Criminal Involvement inGrand Rapids: Community and Media DialogueRafael E. CastanonGrand Valley State University

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Recommended CitationCastanon, Rafael E. (2003) "Perceptions of Minorities' Criminal Involvement in Grand Rapids: Community and Media Dialogue,"McNair Scholars Journal: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 5.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mcnair/vol7/iss1/5

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ABSTRACTThis study examines media over-representation and its effects on communityperception. The research examines theperception of racial/ethnic involvement inviolent crimes in Grand Rapids, Michigan.Grand Rapids Police Department arrestreports for violent crime were dichotomizedby race/ethnicity and compared to newsarticles reporting violent crimes found in theGrand Rapids Press to determine if adisparity exists between those data sets. Tomeasure public perceptions, questionnaireswere administered concerning racial/ethnicgroups and their likelihood to commitviolent crimes. The overall intention is toprovide a better understanding of rootcauses of minority disparity within theCriminal Justice System.

IntroductionThere is ample evidence that showssocial and economic inequalities existbetween the dominant groups andethnic minorities in U.S. society. Manyof these discrepancies result from yearsof inequality and differential treatmentof minorities. Historically, institutionshave enforced norms that differentiateits citizens, with preferential treatmenttowards the dominant group andnegative treatment towards minorities.The laws, customs, and traditions of thepast have had an effect on our currentthinking concerning race and ethnicity.Our traditional institutions and ideologyhave a tendency, once they have been setin motion, to continue on that samecourse unabated. The history ofenslavement, segregation, andinequalities that have occurred in theU.S., while less prevalent today, may notbe entirely extinguished from society butinstead may be concealed. That is whyinstitutional discrimination continues tobe a problem in today’s society.

The objective in this research is toexplore causes of over-representation ofminorities in the prison system byexamining possible root causes ofminority disparity in the CriminalJustice System. Minority over-representation in penal institutions is acomplex problem with many facets. Iaim to examine media influence on thissocial problem. This research examineshow often minorities are depicted in thenews and assesses if the number of newsstories reported are over-representativeof the amount of violent crimesminorities are actually committing incomparison to their counterparts in thecity of Grand Rapids, Michigan.Additionally, this study examines suchdepictions and whether there is anysignificance in how the Grand Rapidspopulation, to which the news isreported, views minorities and theirlikelihood to commit violent crime.Their views are assessed through a

GVSU McNair Scholars Journal VOLUME 7, 2003 29

Perceptions of Minorities Criminal Involvement in Grand Rapids: Community and Media Dialogue

Rafael E. CastanonMcNair Scholar

Dennis Malaret, Ph.D.Faculty Mentor

questionnaire aimed at finding thegeneral public perception of minorities’involvement with crime.

Police reports of violent crime,defined as robbery, willful killing,murder, assault, and sexual assault, wereobtained for the months of Januarythrough December 2001, and the raceand ethnicity of the offenders weresorted and categorized. News articlesreporting violent crime found in theGrand Rapids Press were also categorizedby race and ethnicity and compared tothe criminal arrest data set. With thepurpose of investigating if a discrepancyexists between news articles reportingviolent crimes of a given group and theactual amount of crime committed bythat group. A survey was alsoconstructed with the purpose ofunderstanding how individuals in GrandRapids felt about racial/ethnic groupsand their likelihood to commit violentcrime. These questionnaires aimed atfinding the public’s perception ofminorities, with respect to criminality,were handed out in Grand Rapids. Thisstudy examines the city of Grand Rapidsas a sample for the larger, broaderproblem of inequities in the likelihoodof arrest and length of imprisonment inpenal institutions amongst racial andethnic groups.

Literature ReviewNumerous studies (Wellaman, 1977;Carmichael & Hamilton, 1967; Knowles& Prewitt; 1965) show that people ofcolor are more likely to live in areas ofextreme poverty, with limited lifechances such as no employmentopportunities, a high incidence of druguse and abuse, and crime. Thesecircumstances have led to a prisonpopulation that greatly over-representsminorities in relation to their presencein the overall population in the UnitedStates. Previous research has confirmedthat a bias exists within the U.S.Criminal Justice System due to the

disproportional representation ofminorities within the prison population.This circumstance is the result ofpolicies and police tactics appliedunevenly amongst racial and ethnicgroups, such as over-policing in urbanneighborhoods and racial profiling(Cole, 1999).

The effect a prison record has onminorities is great. The social stigmaplaced on ex-convict minorities whohave been labeled as criminals tends tocreate difficulties in obtaining steadywork once they have been released fromprison (Cole, 1999). Along with thestigma placed on former criminals,divergent treatment develops within thesociety. Stereotypes which representminorities as criminals or as individualswith a greater propensity towardscriminality are borne out of this stigma.This continues the cycle of poverty forminorities, that is, actions are based onnegative perceptions (profiling), creatingnegative outcomes (stigma) inhibitingminority involvement with formalinstitutions (employment).

The society we live in, formed by ourcustoms of the past, has beendiscriminatory towards minorities. Theinstitutional discrimination mentionedearlier forces minorities into a cycle ofpoverty, whereby their access to themeans of success are denied. JusticeMarshall of the Supreme Court stated ina case involving race that:

It is unnecessary in 20th-centuryAmerica to have individualNegroes demonstrate that theyhave been victims of racialdiscrimination; the racism of oursociety has been so pervasive thatnone, regardless of wealth orposition, has managed to escapeits impact. The experience ofNegroes in America has beendifferent in kind, not just indegree, from that of other ethnicgroups. It is not merely the history

of slavery alone but also that awhole people were marked asinferior by the law. And that markhas endured. (Anderson, 1973, p. 175)

The discrimination of the past and thelaws born out of this discrimination,while they may have been partiallyerased from our legislature, clearly arenot erased from everyone’s belief systemor our institutions as a whole.

One of the journals examined involvinginstitutional inequities was the GrandRapids Police Department Preliminary TrafficStop Summery: Quarterly Report printed in2000. This document was very relevant tomy research, crucial informationconcerning who and how often the GrandRapids Police Department stops anindividual were presented. This documentdisplays that black and Latino males havea 2.6 and 2.0 times greater chance ofbeing arrested during a traffic stop thanwhite males (GRPD, 2000). Black malesare subject to a total search of theirvehicles during a traffic stop 35% of thetime, Latino males 26% of the time, whilewhite males are only subject to a totalsearch of their vehicles 16% of the time(GRPD). This data shows a discrepancy inlikelihood of arrest in traffic stops. Blackmales led in number of arrests and werealso the subject of the most total searchesof their vehicles than any other racial orethnic group in the study. White maleslead the category of verbal warning bypolice officers during a traffic stop. Thedifferential treatment that occurs duringtraffic stops, the increased probability thata black male’s entire vehicle is searchedand the likelihood that a white males willbe issued a verbal warning could be oneof the reasons that black males led inarrest during traffic stops (GRPD).

In the Community Forum on RaceRelation in Grand Rapids (MichiganAdvisory Committee to the UnitedStates Commission on Civil Rights(MACSCCR), it is stated that in GrandRapids, minority populations are

Perceptions of Minorities Criminal Involvement in Grand Rapids: Community and Media Dialogue30

concentrated into 44 of the county’s 344census blocks and are in the central andnear southside area of Grand Rapids. Inapproximately 54% of the entire GrandRapids census blocks, minorities are lessthan 4% of the population. In thecentral city census block (downtown),where most arrests were made and over40% of the household incomes areunder $10,000, minorities accounted formore than 50% of the residents. In 17 ofthose central city census blocks,minorities accounted for 80% of theresidents (Michigan Advisory Committeeto the United States Commission onCivil Rights, 1998). The segregation ofminorities into impoverished areas ofthe city can help create the inequality intraffic stops for black males, given thatminorities are concentrated into low-income areas, which garners more trafficby police officers.

The residential segregation of citizensin Grand Rapids makes it possible todistance or limit social intercourse.Michael Woods of the Catholic Dioceseof Grand Rapids said

I am convinced at this momentthat if we were to ask 1,000 whitefolks if they were racist, they couldbe attached to a lie detector, say noand pass. I think that is the realproblem…the denial and theignorance that helps to perpetuateracism. [Furthermore,] part of thereason racism is able to perpetuateitself is the distances, the absenceof relationships, the absence ofdialogues of people not knowing

each other. What the dialogues dois put people in front of each otherin the same proximity…and thatchanges reality. (MACUSCCR,1998, p. 26)

This racial isolation can create socialisolation and alienation betweendifferent races or ethnicities in GrandRapids.

Tension can often stem from bothemployment and unemployment. Datashows that Caucasians in Grand Rapidsaccount for 88.6% of the population, yetthey constitute 92% of the employedlabor force (MACUSCCR, 1998).Caucasians were the only racial orethnic population to have the percentageof employed citizens (88.6%) greaterthan their percentage of the population(92%). Employment is furthersegregated in the white-collar and blue-collar sectors of employment. Table 1shows the highest paid category in thewhite-collar sector, Officials andManagers; 95.5 percent of thesepositions were held by Caucasians whoagain make up 88.6% of the totalpopulation. African Americans who are6.7% of the population made up 2.6%of the category. Latinos who are 3% ofthe population held only 1% of thesepositions (MACUSCCR). Caucasiansconstitute 94.4% and 93.3% of thecategory, Sales Workers and ClericalOffice Workers, while African Americansrepresented 3% and 4.4%; Latinosrepresented 1.4% and 1.6%(MACUSCCR). Minorities, who are11.4% of the population in Grand

Rapids, were underrepresented in everywhite-collar category (Officials,Professionals, Technicians, SalesWorkers, and Clerical Workers) at 8%,while Caucasians, who are 88.6% of thepopulation, exceeded in every white-collar category making up roughly 92%of the highest paid job sector.

Additionally, in the blue-collar sectorthe highest skilled and highest payingcategory, Craft Worker, is occupied byCaucasians in 93.5% of the cases; 2.9%and 2.4% are occupied by AfricanAmericans and Latinos respectively;both rates lower than their presence inthe population. In the Laborer andService Worker category of blue-collarwork, African Americans make up 7.2%and 9.3%; Latinos make up 5.4% and3%, both rates are either consistent withtheir presence in the population orexceed it (MACUSCCR, 1998). Minoritiesare continually clustered into the lowestpaying jobs while Caucasians occupythe highest paying jobs in Grand Rapids.Minorities make up 6.9% of the skilledtrades, yet represent 23.6% of theservice workers, occupations with thelowest wages and most menial tasks.Four out of every ten minorities in thelabor force in Grand Rapids work in thelowest paying occupations available inGrand Rapids (MACUSCCR). Thesediscrepancies are hard to ignore. Thesegregation and/or concentration ofminorities into impoverished areas andlow paying jobs can create negativeperceptions or stereotypes aboutminorities.


The discrepancies found in GrandRapids have created tension between theraces and ethnicities in the city.Lawrence H. Borom, President of theGrand Rapids Urban League, attributesthe racial tensions found in the AfricanAmerican community to the sense offrustration and powerlessness due to thehigh levels of poverty (MACUSCCR,1998). In a recent exposé published inTake Pride, an African Americannewspaper, it was discovered that infantmortality for African American childrenin Kent County was double that of any

other group. According to WaltherMathis, President of Take Pride, the racialtensions are heightened due to theGrand Rapids media, which isdominated by white people, leaving theminority view point muted(MACUSCCR). Several testifiers beforethe Michigan Advisory Committee onCivil Rights expressed concerns aboutthe local news coverage in the GrandRapids area. The negative depictions ofminorities creates a reinforcement ofnegative stereotypes that impedes equalopportunity for minorities; an

impression that minorities makenegative contributions to a communityrather than positive contributions cancreate alienation towards the minoritycommunity by the larger community(MACUSCCR). The literature I reviewedhas been very important to the researchbeing conducted and provides greatinsight into the inequities that existwithin Grand Rapids and the tensionscreated by these discrepancies in thecommunity.

A study conducted by Michael J.Leiber and Kristin Y. Mack (2002)


African Am. Am. Indian Asian Caucasian Latino

1. Officials and Managers 1,301 170 277 48,506 5112.6% 0.3% 0.5% 95.5% 1.0%

2. Professionals 1,896 103 365 51,711 4833.5% 0.2% 0.7% 94.8% 0.9%

3. Technicians 492 47 139 13,139 2793.5% 0.3% 1.0% 93.2% 2.0%

4. Sales Workers 1,649 207 407 52,137 7943.0% 0.4% 0.7% 94.4% 1.4%

5. Clerical and Office Workers 3,100 242 303 65,374 1,1144.4% 0.3% 0.4% 93.2% 1.6%

6. Craft Workers 1,714 325 348 55,325 1,4272.9% 0.5% 0.6% 93.5% 2.4%

7. Operatives 6,283 596 1,061 65,819 3,6388.1% 0.8% 1.4% 85.0% 4.7%

8. Laborers 1,662 154 231 19,827 1,2577.2% 0.7% 1.0% 85.7% 5.4%

9. Service Workers 5,838 430 562 54,080 1,9029.3% 0.7% 0.9% 86.0% 3.0%

10. No category 773 66 79 8,492 1,137 7.3% 0.6% 0.7% 80.4% 8%

Table #1: Civilian Labor Force by Minority Group in Grand Rapids, 1998

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Furnished by: Michigan Employment Security Commission,Information and Reports Section. Note: The first line represents the total number of individuals in an occupation. The second linerepresents the percentage of the total occupation’s total.

focused on the differential treatment thatoccurs amongst juveniles in the judicialsystem in the state of Iowa. The studyfound that probation officers usedifferent causal attributions (internal vs.external attributions) to assess thecriminal behavior of minorities andwhite youth. Leiber and Mack reportedthat minority youth involvement incrime was seen as related to internal ordispositional attributions such asattitudinal problems, e.g. lack ofindividual responsibility, whiledelinquency among white youth wasattributed to external causes, e.g.impoverished conditions. Becauseinternal attributions resulted inperceptions that youths were at a higherrisk for re-offending, decision-makersrecommended longer sentences forminorities than whites. By delving intothe subjective qualities that influencedthe construction of a case, Leiber andMack found that the values and beliefsof decisions-makers created a legallyrecognizable, yet racially stereotypic,image of an offender that influenced thedecision-making process.

A similar study conducted byAlbonetti and Hepburn (1996) examinesthe joint effects of age, minority status,gender, and prior offenses on thedecision to defer prosecution andrecommend referral of felony drugdefendants to a drug treatment program.They found that race coupled with prioroffenses and being older in age increasedthe likelihood of prosecution; minoritieswith no prior offenses also had increasedlikelihood of prosecution; youngerminorities with prior offenses increasedthe likelihood of participation in a drugdiversion program.

The studies conducted by Albonettiand Hepburn (1996) and Leiber andMack (2002) display the differentialtreatment that occurs within theprosecutorial stage in the criminaljustice system. The negative stereotypethat is placed on minorities in regards to

crime affects how or to what degree thejustice system prosecutes minoritiescompared to white youths. Thediscrepancies are in part due tostereotypes held by those who are indecision-making positions and mayinvolve personal biases developedtowards a given race or culture whichcan negatively affect minorities duringprosecution and can lead to longersentences and rejection from diversionprograms, assisting in the over-representation of minorities in thecriminal justice system.

Theoretical AssessmentThe major theories used as theframework of this research are the self-fulfilling prophecy perspective and thelabeling and conflict theories. Eachprovides an understanding of underlyingeffects that may result frommisrepresentations in arrests and newsreports related to perceptions.

Labeling theory explains how labels,particularly negative labels, can inhibitthe opportunities of an individual andcreate negative feelings about generalgroups of people. Conflict theorydiscusses the possible reasons for powerconflicts between classes and howinequalities and discrimination can havebenefits for one class at the expense ofanother. This study evaluates theperception of the Grand Rapidscommunity with respect to violent crimeand those perceived to be the mainperpetrators. Reasoning for thiscomponent of the research is largelyrooted in the perspective within labelingtheory called the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Self-fulfilling prophecy was firstemployed by Robert Merton in SocialTheory and Social Structure (1957) andwas described as a false definition of asituation evoking a new behavior whichmakes the original false conceptioncome true. This perspective will help tounderstand how generalized negativeperceptions a community holds

regarding a particular racial or ethnicgroup can result in negative outcomesfor those racial or ethnic groupsnegatively stereotyped. Rosenthal andJacobson (1971) conducted a well-known experiment exhibiting self-fulfilling prophecy. In this study, twentypercent of the students from each ofeighteen elementary classrooms wererandomly chosen and the teachers wereinformed that those students were“intellectual bloomers.” Those studentswho were randomly given the label“intellectual bloomers” scored fourpoints higher on IQ test than the rest ofthe children. This experiment displaysthat the result of expecting a highperformance can lead to a higherperformance; conversely, expecting alow performance can lead to a lowerperformance. Perceptions that certainsegments of society are more pronetowards criminality can have the effectof creating more criminality within thatsegment of the population based on theexpectations the larger community holdsfor that given group. If the largercommunity and institutions in thatcommunity feel that a certain group orgroups of people are more likely tocommit crime, more crime may becommitted than normal by those groupsgiven the expectations of thecommunity. If a negative behavior, i.e.committing violent crime, is perceivedby the larger community to be moreprevalent in minority conduct, then it isimportant to understand why and howthese labels could be constructed andimposed on minorities by the largercommunity.

The labeling theory takes a symbolicinteractionist outlook towards crime ordeviance. Symbolic interactionisminterprets symbols and the meaningsassigned these symbols such aslanguage, gestures, and objects. Thedifferences in how cultures interpretthese symbols found in society can affecthow cultures interact with one another.


Labeling theory examines how thedominant culture’s interpretation of anaction affects those individuals labeledby society and the affect it has on theindividuals.

Lemert (1951), focuses on the socialconstruction of deviance and describesdeviance as a product of society’s“reaction” act, assigning a “deviant” labelto the person. Labeling theory is criticalto understanding the creation ofboundaries between deviance andcompliance and whom these boundariesinhibit and enable. Lemert’s concept isoutlined by primary (initial “deviant”act) and secondary (any subsequent“deviant” act) deviance. According toLemert, primary deviance is the “actor’s”initial (a person’s first negativeinteraction with authority) act thatcauses an authority figure (criminaljustice system) to label them a deviant.This reaction by the authority figure willremain primary to the “actor”, as long asthe labeled “actor” can rationalize theprocess (dispute charges through thejudiciary branch) as a function of asocially acceptable role (prove innocenceand retain non-deviant label).

If the “actor” who is labeled deviantreacts to the negative label by acceptingthe deviant label (convicted of crime)and continues to involve themselves inother deviant acts (further crime), this istermed as secondary deviance. Thiscreates the critical factor towardsbecoming a career delinquent,movement by “actor” into deviantsubculture (Dahrendorf, 1979). The“actor” (convicted deviant) surroundshimself with persons who can providemoral support and self-justifyingrationale and may develop new forms ofdeviance in this environment. Ifminorities in Grand Rapids are labeledby judicial and/or media institutions(arrested or reported) as committingmore crime, this can create a generalnegative perception among the generalpopulation towards an entire group or

groups of people with similarcharacteristics. Those characteristics thatmay be similar are housing and/orneighborhoods, occupations or annualincome and/or racial and ethnicindicators that can be used to identifyand easily categorize groups of people ascriminal. These characteristics can resultfrom the lower wages found in minoritygroups in Grand Rapids and theclustering of minority neighborhoodsdiscussed earlier. Labeling theory is veryconcerned with the one-on-oneinteraction created between those whoare labeled deviant and those who arenot, and subsequently segregatedpopulations. Labeling helps tounderstand how the dominant cultureimposes itself on sub-cultures in society;another theory must be used to explainthe “why” in this question.

Conflict theory is utilized in this studyto bring a macro-based understanding ofthe actions that occur in society anddiscussed in this study. In the view ofconflict theory, certain forms of deviancerepresent behaviors that are in conflictwith those powerful segments of societythat shape public policy. Deviance inand of itself is a socially constructedcategory, thus a situation becomescriminal because a law defines it assuch. Conflict theory views society nothas shared values, but the outcome ofstruggles between two classes. Devianceis rooted in society’s economic system,which has laws that are created toprotect the interest of the ruling class.Laws are used to legitimize interventionby society’s institutions of correction andcontrol (i.e. police, family, religion, etc).These apparatuses often work againstthe poor and/or powerless, reflecting acertain institution’s specific norms andvalues, which in capitalism emphasizesbuying goods and accumulating wealth.The means to attain goods are out ofreach for segments of society due todifferential treatment by policy makersand law enforcers, creating wants but

inadequate means for attaining the goalsthat society has created. Thisphenomenon tends to send a goodproportion of members of society into aspiral or state of ambivalence, oftenreferred within the realm of sociology asanomie. This kind of institutionaldiscrimination is very evident in currentdrug laws which have placed longerprison sentences, as well has heavierfines, on people arrested with possessionor distribution of crack, predominatelysold in lower-class neighborhoods.While individuals arrested for cocaine, apurer form of crack used predominatelyby affluent drug users, receive smallerfines and shorter sentences (Feagin, 1991).

These theories provide the foundationfor my research. The study uses the self-fulfilling prophecy perspective tounderstand the effect negativeperceptions the larger community holdsfor sub-cultural communities can havefor the sub-cultural community.Labeling theory is a framework toinvestigate any differential treatment thatmay appear in the criminal justicesystem and in the news reporting mediaregarding the involvement ofracial/ethnic minorities involved inand/or associated with violent crime.Conflict theory uses a macro-level ofanalysis to understand the conditionsthat can create a disproportionalrepresentation of minorities within thecriminal justice system from aninstitutional perspective. Theseconditions include laws created toprohibit any actions that threaten thosein positions of power and protect theinterest of the wealthy and the dominantruling class. Existing inequality helpscreate a negative perception leading intolabeling theory. This in turn helps us tounderstand the labels that are attachedto different segments of society,especially those labels that involvecrimes committed by those in the urbanlower class. The negative perceptions ofracial/ethnic minorities can create


negative outcomes; the expectations thecommunity and institutions hold for ageneralized group can create morenegative activity than normal based onthe expectations the community holdsfor that general group following the self-fulfilling prophecy perspective. Thenegative image the media createstowards minorities can help createnegative acts from the segment of societynegatively labeled by the larger society.

Methodology and DesignTo conduct this research, I obtained thearrest reports from the Grand RapidsPolice Department for the year 2001.The arrest reports were for violent crimesdefined as assault, robbery, willful killing,sexual assault, and murder. Thesecategories were selected with theassistance of Captain Rex Marks of theGRPD, who suggested them hasmeaningful and appropriate categories.These statistics were separated andcategorized by race/ethnicity andcompared to news articles in the localnewspaper, the Grand Rapids Press. Thestudy evaluates if minorities are over-represented in violent crime news articlesrelative to the number of crimescommitted by minorities for the year of2001 in Grand Rapids. The third data setused in this study was a questionnairewhich provided an understanding ofhow individuals in Grand Rapidsperceive different groups and theirlikelihood to commit violent crimes.

In gathering the data for this study, Iencountered a few problems that I didnot anticipate. In gathering the GRPDstatistics used in the study, I have noknowledge as to weather thoseindividuals who were arrested wereactually found guilty of the crimecharged. This occurred because casesmay still be pending at the time the datawere collected from the GRPD The filesused in the study were only ofindividuals arrested for crimes, but maynot have been incarcerated for the crime.

Forty-five violent crime news articlesin the Grand Rapids Press were foundand retrieved from the internet sitewww.Mlive.com, which retains archivesof old Michigan newspapers. Thewebsite’s search engine was used to findthe violent crime news articles for thetime frame of the study, 2001. Due totime and financial constraints of thestudy, it was not possible to take intoaccount other mediums of news such astelevision or other printed press. Theseother news sources would have giventhe study a deeper perspective on howminorities are presented in news to thelarger public.

A questionnaire instrument was thethird data set used in this study. Thisinstrument was designed to explore theperception of both racial/ethnicminorities as well as Caucasians onissues such as violent crimeperpetrators, media coverage anddistortions, and their attitudes towardsminority stereotypes towardscommitting such crimes. Due to theextent of this research and the limitedlength of time, the sample populationsurveyed turned out somewhat narrowin scope. The questionnaire’s samplepopulation primarily included, but wasnot limited to, Grand Valley StateUniversity (GVSU) students. Thisoccurred because I am a GVSU studentand had greater access to students as asample population. Another drawbackof having mostly college students isthat students tend to be aware of thetactics used in the questionnaire toassess discrimination amongst thegeneral population towards minorities;the students know how to disguise anynegative feelings or stereotypes theyhave about minorities.

When administering the questionnairein the general community, it becameapparent how difficult it is to survey theLatino community. Since thequestionnaire was in English someunskilled factory workers in Grand

Rapids could not complete the survey.The flaw resulted from the languagebarrier many Latinos face in the U.S. – acritical factor taken for granted by theresearcher. The length of the survey alsomade it unfavorable for workers, whowere on lunch break at the factory.Clerical workers avoided me or wouldtake the questionnaire and return itincomplete or untouched. Futureresearch would include English andSpanish surveys and appropriate time tocomplete the instrument as well.

FindingsA survey instrument, which consisted ofa questionnaire, was developed with theaim to assess the public perception ofminorities in relation to crime. Thequestionnaire consisted ofapproximately thirty-six questions,developed with the assistance andadvice of Dr. Dennis Malaret. Morespecifically, the instrument was designedto assess the public perception in GrandRapids towards crime in general and, inparticular, crimes and its associationwith ethnic minorities.

The sample population in the studyconsisted of students at Grand ValleyState University, clerical workers andadministrators at a factory in the GrandRapids area, along with educators andstaff in the Grand Rapids Public Schoolsystem. The survey is utilized in thisstudy to evaluate if an over-representation of minorities in violentcrime news articles and a negativeperception of minorities exist in GrandRapids and if the two phenomena arecorollary.

The sample population wascomprised of 62% women and 38%men. The age of the participants are asfollows: 67% of the participants were20-29; 10% were 30-39; 5% were 40-49; 7% were 50-59; and 9% were 60and over. The racial composition of thesurvey group consisted of 64%Caucasian, 28% African American, and


8% Latino. The economic standing ofthe respondents was comprised asfollows: 10% reported making anincome under $10,000; 25% reportedincome of $10,000 to $20,000; 19%reported making $21,000 to $35,000;14% reported making $36,000 to$50,000; 3% reported $51,000 to$65,000; and 9% reported making over$66,000. Interestingly, a total of 7% ofthe respondents reported Don’tKnow/Not Sure and 9% simply did notrespond to this question.

In assessing some of the most salientfindings as reported by the Grand RapidsPolice Department data set, the researcherfound that for the year 2001, AfricanAmericans accounted for 56% of violentcrime arrests. Additionally, African

Americans comprised 45% of mentionsin news articles reporting violent crimes.On the other hand, Caucasian’s arrest forviolent crimes consisted of 29% of thecases and 30% of the news articlementions involving violent crime.Latinos, however, consisted of 10% of theviolent crimes arrests. Interestingly,Latinos appeared disproportionatelyoverrepresented amongst criminalinvolvement mentions in the media,comprising 21% of all mentions. Latinos appeared to be over-represented in newsarticles by over 10%, the highestpercentage of any racial/ethnic group thatwas over-reported. This phenomenon ofover-representation could have furtherimplications in that it can lead to bias bythe criminal justice system. Despite the

fact that not all minority groups are beingover-represented by the Grand RapidsPress news articles, the generalinstitutional practices can often lumpthese groups together. This can be causedby similar economic situations that canresult from occupational and/or residencysimilarities, or other media institutions,therefore negative misrepresentations ofone minority group can engender similarpatterns of bias towards other minoritygroups within this area of study.


Characteristics n= % of Sample Population

Gender 55Male 21 38%Female 34 61%

Age of Respondent 5520-29 36 67%30-39 7 10%40-49 3 5%50-59 4 7%60 and over 5 9%

Race/Ethnic Background 55African American 16 28%Caucasian 35 64%Latino 4 8%

Household Income 55Under 10,000 6 10%10,000-20,000 14 25%21,000-35,000 11 19%36,000-50,000 8 14%51,000-65,000 3 3%66,000 and over 5 9%Don’t Know/Not Sure 3 7%Did Not Answer 5 9%

Table 2

# of Articles %

African American 21 45%

Caucasian 14 30%

Latino 10 21%Asian and/or 1 2% Pacific Islanders

N = 46

Table #3: News Articles Reporting Violent Crime

Note: Percent totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding. (Grand Rapids Press, 2001)

The survey had some interestingfindings in terms of how minorities wereperceived by non-minority respondents.A direct question asked “which of thefollowing groups do you think is most likelyto be involved in violent crime?” and therespondents were given various choicesbetween racial/ethnic groups. From thisquestion, 41% of the respondents agreedthat African Americans commit moreviolent crimes; 30% selected Latinos;17% selected Caucasians; 5% selectedArabs; 2% selected Asian or PacificIslanders; 25% answered Don’t Know;and 12% did not select an answer. Whencompared to other racial/ethnic groups,African Americans and Latinos wereselected most often by the samplepopulation as being involved in violentcrime. In the questionnaire, questions 16through 21 stated “I believe violent crimesare committed by…” and different

racial/ethnic groups were inserted at theend of this statement. The respondentswere given the choice to strongly agree,agree, neutral, disagree and stronglydisagree. The responses given by thesurveyed population were as follow: 1%believed that Asians are more likely to beinvolved in violent crimes; 35%indicated Latinos; 54% indicated AfricanAmericans; 25% indicated Arabs; 43%indicated Caucasians; and 20% indicatedNative Americans. These findings clearlyshow that African Americans andCaucasians were identified as the groupsmost likely to commit violent crime. Thefinding from the sample populationagrees with the data from the GRPDarrest records: Caucasians and AfricanAmericans are the two groups who areperceived as and who commit the mostviolent crime in Grand Rapids. Arab andNative Americans had relatively high

perception of likelihood to commitviolent crime, according to therespondents, yet this group was notreported in any category indicatingcriminal activity in neither arrest reportsfrom GRPD nor Grand Rapids Press newsarticles. Any negative perception towardsArab Americans may have been triggeredby the aftermath of the September 11thattack on the N.Y. World Trade Centerand by other Arab vs. non-Arabs globalconflicts. Additionally, the instrumentwas administered less than two monthsbefore the second anniversary ofSeptember 11th, which could have hadsome influence in how the respondentsexpressed their feelings and beliefs.Similarly, perceptions towards NativeAmericans could have come fromexternal sources (i.e. media, Hollywood,distorted history, etc.) other than theGrand Rapids Press.


Note: Percent totals may not equal 100 due to rounding

Table #4: Violent crime for 2001 in Grand Rapids, Michigan*figures furnished by the Grand Rapids Police Department*

Sexual WillfulAssault Robbery Assault Killing Murder Total

African 330 90 16 7 5 448American 56% 58% 47% 70% 71% 56%

Caucasian 178 45 8 0 2 23330% 29% 24% 0% 29% 29%

Latino 56 14 8 3 0 819% 9% 24% 30% 0% 10%

Unknown 23 5 2 0 0 303% 3% 6% 0% 0% 4%

Total 587 154 34 10 7 792

As part of the questionnaire instrument,direct statements such as, “For the mostpart, I believe violent crimes are committedby Asians” were included. Theindividuals then had the opportunity toindicate how strongly they agree ordisagree with such statement at varyingintervals. Other questions (SeeAppendix, questions 17-22) includedattempts to evaluate how the individualbeing surveyed viewed other minoritygroups and whether the individual felt

these “different groups” are more likely tobe involved in criminality. Thisquestionnaire involved bold statementswith varying intervals of agreement ordisagreement to gauge how anindividual felt about other culturesand/or races. Attitudinal perceptions,either positive or negative, may notalways reflect an individual’s truthfulfeelings due to the fact that theindividuals may not consider themselvesas biased.

Biased or prejudice feelings may notbe forthcoming. For this reason,questions that clearly identified therace/ethnicity of hypothetical criminaloffenders were used along withquestions that did not specifyrace/ethnicity. These questions involveddifferences from the dominant group inGrand Rapids regarding social class,culture, and socialization and wereformulated to indirectly associateminorities. The realities of minority


Race/Ethnicity % of Sample PopulationAfrican Americans 41%

Arabic 5%

Asian/Pacific Islander 2%

Caucasian 17%

Latino 30%

Native American 0%

Don’t Know/Not Sure 25%Did Not Answer 12%

Table #5: Perceptions of Minority Groups Involvement with Violent Crimes

Multiple selections were possible, may not add up to 100.

Statement Percentage of the Sample Population that Agree or Strongly Agree

I believe violent crimes are mostly committed by:African Americans 54%Arabs 25%Asian/Pacific Islander 1%Caucasians 43%Latinos 35%Native American 20%

Multiple selections were possible, does not add up to 100

Table #6

clustering in occupation (low-wageearning jobs), residency (low-incomehousing areas), and socialization(differences in gestures, speech anddress than the dominant class) wereused to identify perception of minoritiesby the sample population. Indirectquestions implicating thesecharacteristics were developed to assessthe sample population’s perceptions of aminority’s likelihood to commit violentcrime.

Questions indirectly involvingrace/ethnicity findings were much moresignificant. Interestingly, 69% of therespondents agreed or strongly agreedthat violent crimes are committed bythe poor. Of the population sampled,46% agreed or strongly agreed thatviolent criminals come from a culturethat encourages crime. Interestingly,39% of the sample population agreed orstrongly agreed that violent criminalslack the values of a traditional Americancitizen. We could make thegeneralization from these statementsthat the vast majority of the non-minority respondents believe violentcriminals are not raised within theAmerican culture and society, thus arelikely to come from other cultures andsocieties. Although minorities are notdirectly indicated, one can infer thatthese statements are referring tominorities.

In reference to media portrayal ofviolent criminals with regards torace/ethnicity, 38% of the sampledpopulation agreed or strongly agreedthat minorities were fairly portrayed bythe media, yet 56% of the same samplepopulation agreed or strongly agreedthat there is a bias in the way the mediaportrays crime.

Approximately 58% of the samplepopulation reported receiving theirinformation from television news, 38%from newspaper, 30% from personalexperience and friends, 23% fromfamily, and 12% reported as “Other” as



I believe violent crimes are more often committed by the poor 69%

Those who commit violent crime, do so because they come from a culture that encourages crime 46%

Those who commit violent crime, lackthe cultural values of the traditional American citizen 39%

Table #7


The news reporting media accuratelyportrays violent criminals in regards to race/ethnicity 38%

There is a bias in the way the media portrays crime 56%

Table #8

Where Does Your Information Come From? Percentage of SamplePopulation

Television News 58%

Newspaper 38%

Personal Experience 30%

Friends 30%

Table #9

their news source with no specificsprovided. A contradiction appears wherethe sample population feels thatparticular racial and ethnic groups areresponsible for violent crime (AfricanAmericans and Latinos), yet also that abias exists in how the media portrayscrime. Latinos, an ethnic group over-represented in the Grand Rapids Press, isconsidered to be a racial/ethnic grouplargely responsible for violent crimeaccording to respondents. In concludingthis section of the research, it isimportant to remark that this samplepopulation consisted of mostlytraditional undergraduate collegestudents at Grand Valley StateUniversity. A further elaboration of thisresearch would include incorporating alarger sample population where a morediverse sample population can be used.Such research will certainly help tounderstand the nature, extent, andcomplexity of the problem underscrutiny.

Concluding RemarksThe inequities concerning the disparitybetween arrest rates compared withpopulation rates for minorities is aprevailing problem in our current society.Minority over-representation in negativemedia depictions, traffic stop pretexts,arrests, and prison populations have ledto negative perceptions of minoritygroups by the general population.Contributing to the already seriousproblems facing minorities in terms ofnegative depictions by the media andnegative perceptions by the generalpublic (the labeling perspective process)is the continual clustering of minoritiesinto low-wage jobs and segregatedhousing areas in Grand Rapids. This inturn tends to reinforce (self-fulfillingprophecy) the negative perceptions of thegeneral public and media in theindividual and may lead to eventual classconflicts (as delineated by conflict theory)associated with income inequalities.

The study set out to examine minorityover-representation in violent crimenews articles relative to the number ofactual crimes committed in GrandRapids for the year 2001. Aquestionnaire instrument was alsodeveloped and administered withinGrand Rapids to evaluate publicperception of minority’s likelihood tocommit violent crime in Grand Rapids.These three instruments of researchposed some limitations in theformulation of this research.

Gathering statistics from the GRPDarrest reports for the year 2001, theresearcher had no knowledge as towhether those individuals who werearrested were actually found guilty andimprisoned for the crimes. Additionally,a number of cases were still pending atthe time the data was recorded at theGRPD At the time the data wassubmitted by GRPD in the spring of2003, the number of cases ending inincarceration was omitted, making itdifficult for the researcher to knowwhich of those cases did result in actualincarceration. Thus, the files used in thisstudy consisted only of those individualswho were arrested for crimes, but whomay not have been incarcerated for thecrime.

The violent crime news articles usedin the Grand Rapids Press were gatheredfrom the Mlive internet site(www.mlive.com). Due to the scope ofthe research and time constraints, it wasnot possible to take into account othermediums of news such as television andother printed press. These other newssources may have shed light on howminorities are represented in news to thelarger audience.

The questionnaire’s sample populationwas limited to mostly Grand Valley StateUniversity students. Whenadministering the questionnaire in thegeneral community, difficulty was facedwith Latinos who only spoke Spanishsince the questionnaire was written only

in English language. It became apparentthat many Latinos could not completethe survey within the time frameallowed or simply could not respond toany of the questions because they couldnot read in English. Additionally, thelength of the questionnaire createdproblems with potential participantswho could not or did not find itpertinent to dedicate their lunch time toanswer the instrument.

Throughout this study, the researchersfound that Latinos are over-representedin violent crime articles relative to thenumber of violent crimes committed for2001 by a margin of about 10%compared to other ethnic/minoritygroups. African Americans were underreported by about 11% compared toLatinos. Given the opportunity, theAfrican American under-representationfound in violent crime may not havebeen such for other types of crime suchas drug violations, traffic stops, etc.Although my data did not display anover-representation for all minoritygroups, this does not necessarily meanother minority groups may not be over-represented in other criminal statistics ormisrepresented in other forms of mediain Grand Rapids. Here we leave anopened window to further research onthis area. The media looked at in thisstudy was limited to one form of mediaand further study into different typesand forms of media, including where inthe news it is being placed, could beused in order to have a clearerperception of how minorities are beingportrayed. Roughly 30% of all of thetotal violent crimes committed in GrandRapids for 2001 had a race/ethnicitydesignation as unknown and as a matterof speculation, it is possible that some ofthose individuals could have belongedto a Latino or any other race/ethnicitygroup.

Future research in this area wouldinclude a larger sample population and aquestionnaire developed in both English


and Spanish. Further research wouldattempt to expand on the number ofmedia sources used such as televisionand other printed press. Grand Rapidscan be used as a microcosm to becompared to a more macro-level ofanalyses (i.e. to a national level) to assessthe nature, extent, and magnitude of theproblem in Grand Rapids as well as inWest Michigan at large as compared tothe larger U.S. society.


AppendixPrivacy Statement: Your anonymity will be guaranteed. All information furnished in this questionnaire will be kept strictlyconfidential and will be used solely for this research purposes.

Please fill out this questionnaire as honestly and truthfully as possible. Since your name will not be asked, it is important that yourecord the answer that best suits your opinion. Please complete the entire form which will not take more than 12 minutes. This isnot a test, therefore NO answer is right or wrong. Thank you for your time and for participating in this research.

1. State your gender: ____ Female ____ Male

2. Among what age group do you fit in: ____ 20-29____ 30-39____40-49____ 50-59____ 60 or older.

3. Would you consider yourself primarily: ____ African American ____ Caucasian____ Arabic ____ Latino____ Asian/Pacific Islander ____ Native American____ Don’t Know/Not Sure____ Other (Please Specify:_____________)

4. In which geographical area do you live within Grand Rapids?____ North East (Specify __________________________)____ North West (Specify __________________________)____ South East (Specify __________________________)____ South West (Specify __________________________)

5. What is the highest level of education that you have completed?____ 8th grade or less ____ Some High School____ High School Graduate or GED certificate ____ Some College____ Associate Degree (2 years) ____ Refuse to answer____ Bachelor Degree(4 years) ____ Some Technical school____ Technical school graduate ____ Higher Education (MA/PhD)

6. Which of the following categories best describes your household income from all sources?____ Under $10,000 ____ $10,000 to 20,000 ____ $21,000 to 35,000 ____ $36,000 to 50,000 ____ $51,000 to 65,000 ____ $66,000 and over____ Don’t know/not sure

7. What kind of work do you normally do? That is what is or was your job called?____ Operators ____ Precision production craft____ Educators ____ Professional occupations____ Technical ____ Support occupations____ Farm laborer ____ Sales____ Administrative ____ Social Worker ____ Service occupations ____ Non-profit organization____ None of the above ____ Managerial occupations____ Other(Specify________________ )


8. Are you currently working? _____Full-time(35 hours or more)_____Part-time (1-34 hours)_____Out or work for more than one year_____Out of work for less than one year_____Homemaker_____Student_____Retired

Question 9, 10, 11 asks you about what is your perception of violent crime in the Grand Rapids area. As you read the followingquestions and/or statements, please indicate whether you STRONGLY AGREE, AGREE, DISAGREE, OR STRONGLY DISAGREE.

9. There is a serious violent crime problem in Grand Rapids, acts of violence against individuals injuring or harming the victimsuch as rape, assault, murder, armed robbery, and so on.____ Strongly Agree____ Agree____ Disagree____ Strongly Disagree____Don’t Know/Not sure

10. What area of Grand Rapids do you consider suffers from the highest number of violent crime?____North East (Specify _____________________)____North West (Specify _____________________)____South East (Specify _____________________)____South West (Specify _____________________)

11. What types of crimes occur in the specified area? Please check all that apply.___Assault ___Burglary ___Robbery___Murder ___Theft___Rape ___Larceny ___Hate Crimes ___Other (Specify____________________)___No crime at all

12. To the best of your knowledge, which of the following groups do you think is most likely to involved violent crime?____ African American ____ Caucasian____Arabic ____ Latino____Asian/Pacific Islander ____ Native American____Don’t Know/Not Sure____Other (Please Specify:_____________)

13. How serious would you say is violent crime in your neighborhood?____Very serious problem____Serious problem____Somewhat a problem____No problem at all____No comment


14. Where does your information come from? _____News, _____Newspapers, _____Movies, _____Statistical reports, _____Personal experience_____Friends_____Family_____Other(Specify____________)

15. What kind of violent crimes do exist in your community?___Assault ___Burglary ___Robbery___Murder ___Theft___Rape ___Larceny ___Hate Crimes ___Other (Specify____________________)___No crime at all

For the following statements please indicate to what extent do you Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagreewith each statement

16. For the most part, I believe that violent crimes are committed by Asians.

Strongly Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree

17. For the most part, I believe that violent crimes are committed by Latinos/Hispanics.


18. For the most part, I believe that violent crimes are committed by African Americans.


19. For the most part, I believe that violent crimes are committed by Arabs.



20. For the most part, I believe that violent crimes are committed by Caucasians.


21. For the most part, I believe violent crimes are committed by Native Americans.


22. On the average violent crimes are more often committed by the poor.


23. Those involved in violent crime do so because of cultural deficiencies on the part of the perpetrators.


24. Those who commit violent crime, lack the cultural values of the traditional American citizen.


25. Those who commit violent crime, do so because they come from a culture that encourages crime.


26. Those individuals, who commit violent crime, do so because they are too lazy or lack motivation to find jobs.


27. On the average violent crime is due to poor socialization and/or lack of social skills by the perpetrators.



28. Do you know any one who has ever been the victim of violent crimes?_____YES _____NO

29a.Have you ever been the victim of violent crime?_____YES _____NO

29b.If yes, what crime were you the victim of?

___________________________________________________

The following questions pertain to the media and its depiction of crime

30. I believe the news reporting media presents fair and accurate portrayals of minorities in news reports and stories.


31. The news reporting media accurately portrays violent criminals in regards to race/ethnicity.


32. There is a bias in the way the media portrays crime.


33. Minorities are often unfairly represented by the media.


34. Minorities are often overlooked by the media in regards to crime.


35. There is no bias in how the media portrays minorities


36. Any other comments or statements you would like to add?


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