Victimization, White

Timothy Griffin

Members of all races have been victims of crime in the United States. However, disproportionate attention and societal concern are often invested in crimes against Whites. The socially constructed image of the White victim and disproportionate attention to crimes against Whites are often incongruous with the statistical realities of race and criminal victimization. Take, for example, the social construction of the child abduction victim. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it is a dramatic microcosm of the racial imbalance in mainstream America's perspective on crime and race. In the past quarter-century, numerous policies that memorialize famous victims have been enacted in response to horrific crimes against children. Among these are the Missing Children Act (Etan Patz and Adam Walsh), sex offender registration requirements (Jacob Wetter ling and Megan Kanka), habitual offender laws (Polly Klaas), and the AMBER Alert system (Amber Hagerman). More recently, a majority of states have ...

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