Inter-Racial Offending Models: A Response to Reidpath and Diamond
| Published date | 01 August 1998 |
| Date | 01 August 1998 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486589803100206 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Inter-Racial Offending Models:
AResponse to Reidpath and Diamond
Frank Morgan*, Anna Ferrante"', Rod Broadhurstt
and
Nini Loh*
We
present acritique
of
apaper on inter-racial offending
by
Reidpath and
Diamond (1998). That paper draws
upon,
but misrepresents, three
publications
by
researchers
at
the Crime Research Centre, University
of
Western Australia. Our critique provides anecessary clarification
of
the
contents
of
the originalresearch
and
includes abriefdiscussion
of
its context
and
purposes. While
we
point out anumber
of
conceptual
and
numerical
errors in the Reidpath and Diamond paper,
we
are more interested
in
advancing ideas on the role
of
modelling in criminology. Modelling exercises
needto be closelylinked to substantive explanation
and
theory
if
theyare
to
avoid sterility.
Introduction
Reidpath and Diamond (1998) recently drew upon and criticised research
published in two statistical reports and abook by researchers at the Crime
Research Centre (CRC),University
of
Western Australia (Broadhurst et
al 1993; Broadhurst et al 1994; Harding et
al
1995). These publications dealt
with the question
of
inter-racial crime in the context
of
an extended discussion
of
Aboriginal deaths in custody and the history of Aboriginal involvement
with criminal justice.
Reidpath and Diamond's critique
of
this research alleges that it was
motivated by adesire to investigate racial 'motives' in offending.1They claim
that the purpose behind the reporting
of
astatistical difference by the CRC
researchers is to infer aracially motivated relationship. They persist with this
claim even though the CRC authors specifically warn readers that racial
motives for offending cannot be inferred from the available data or from the
kind
of
analysis undertaken. 2
The CRC research explored inter- and intra-racial offending and
victimisation based on Western Australia
(WA)
Police Service crime victim
reports available for the first time in 1992 (Broadhurst et al 1993). Abasic
question was whether or not offending in
WA
was, as observed elsewhere,
characterised by high rates
of
intra-racial offending rather than inter-racial
offending. The research showed that offending in
WA
does cluster in just such
away. In other words, offending by Aboriginal offenders is more likely to
involve Aboriginal victims than expected by chance. Similarly,
non-Aboriginal offending disproportionately involves non-Aboriginal victims.
From apreliminary description
of
data with respect to inter-racial offences
in 1993, and from successive improvements to measures presented in the 1994
and 1995 CRC research, Reidpath and Diamond infer three 'models'
of
*Crime Research Centre, University
of
Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
tSociology Department, University
of
Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
196
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