Thesis (Ph.D.)--RAND Graduate School, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Racial profiling, in the context of the current study, concerns the association of racial and/or ethnic status with criminality and manifests in the traffic stop. The body of knowledge now available on racial profiling has documented well the incidence of numerical disparity of traffic stops between racial groups, with motorists of color subject to intrusion by the state at greater rates than White motorists (Withrow 2005). Criminologists then turned to ‘perception’-based research to examine what makes an individual ‘perceive’ he has been racially profiled. I argue that the second wave of research is dominated by a narrow survey approach, concentrates on the microlevel police-citizen encounter, and lacks a theoretical grounding, particularly in race theory. The ‘perception’ orientation, I argue, discursively diminishes the experiences of communities of color in their experiences with the state. The current study re-examines the two main components of the ‘perception’ based research -- personal and vicarious experience with the police – to extend our understanding of the meanings behind personal and vicarious encounters with law enforcement. The current qualitative study, based on more than two dozen in-depth interviews, informs our understanding of racial profiling on a number of levels. Citizenship emerges as a dominant narrative from my respondents, thus extending the effects of the racialized traffic stop effects beyond the particularistic police-minority relationship and into larger legal and political realms not anticipated in the current literature. I find that the ‘shadow citizenship’ identity imposed by the state through racializing and criminalizing processes like racial profiling is regularly rejected by people of color through various forms of resistance to racial oppression. A third important finding concerns the complication of ‘vicarious experiences.’ My respondents indicate that they do not summarily adopt views about the police but contextualize their own experiences within understandings of collective memory. Finally, because I engage racial profiling through the theoretical perspectives of Collins, DuBois, Feagin, and Foucault, among others, and frame my overall research approach using critical race theory, the salience of race in racial profiling processes is undeniably evident, contrary to the racial vacuum dominating the current literature.

Racial profiling, in the context of the current study, concerns the association of racial and/or ethnic status with criminality and manifests in the traffic stop. The body of knowledge now available on racial profiling has documented well the incidence of numerical disparity of traffic stops between racial groups, with motorists of color subject to intrusion by the state at greater rates than White motorists (Withrow 2005). Criminologists then turned to ‘perception’-based research to examine what makes an individual ‘perceive’ he has been racially profiled. I argue that the second wave of research is dominated by a narrow survey approach, concentrates on the microlevel police-citizen encounter, and lacks a theoretical grounding, particularly in race theory. The ‘perception’ orientation, I argue, discursively diminishes the experiences of communities of color in their experiences with the state. The current study re-examines the two main components of the ‘perception’ based research -- personal and vicarious experience with the police – to extend our understanding of the meanings behind personal and vicarious encounters with law enforcement. The current qualitative study, based on more than two dozen in-depth interviews, informs our understanding of racial profiling on a number of levels. Citizenship emerges as a dominant narrative from my respondents, thus extending the effects of the racialized traffic stop effects beyond the particularistic police-minority relationship and into larger legal and political realms not anticipated in the current literature. I find that the ‘shadow citizenship’ identity imposed by the state through racializing and criminalizing processes like racial profiling is regularly rejected by people of color through various forms of resistance to racial oppression. A third important finding concerns the complication of ‘vicarious experiences.’ My respondents indicate that they do not summarily adopt views about the police but contextualize their own experiences within understandings of collective memory. Finally, because I engage racial profiling through the theoretical perspectives of Collins, DuBois, Feagin, and Foucault, among others, and frame my overall research approach using critical race theory, the salience of race in racial profiling processes is undeniably evident, contrary to the racial vacuum dominating the current literature.

Much research has been conducted on the police-minority relationship, primarily from the view of the civilian. As central actors, the police view is noticeably absent from the research. I employed in-depth interviews and open-ended survey questions of patrol officers and sergeants in the Novad Texas Police Department about their views on the police-minority relationship and racial profiling. Through content analysis of the data, I examined two common themes that emerged from the discourse. The first was how "the past" was used to frame contemporary police-minority relations. The dominant narrative was that the historical police-minority relationship was something minorities should "get over" as those practices no longer applied to the current relationship. Counter views to this narrative acknowledged both past and present practices as influential. The second theme that emerged during the discussion of racial profiling was the primacy of socio-spatial control, encapsulated in one officer's comment about a "white boy in a no white boy zone." For many of the officers, control of predominantly minority and predominantly white neighborhoods meant that individuals who "did not fit" those respective spaces were subject to increased law enforcement attention. The frequency of the "white boy in a no white boy zone" scenario specifically, and not the reverse scenario that currently charges the debate surrounding racial profiling, suggests that the officers were more comfortable discussing the sensitive issue of racial profiling in this manner. Three additional areas were examined. The "out of place" doctrine evident in the officers' discussions of racial profiling creates a dilemma for the police officer because the doctrine may be considered both an effective police practice given current community policing initiatives and one that enforces the racial order in the United States. Secondly, statistical discrimination theory was employed by some of the officers to rationalize the targeting of minorities and minority space. Finally, some of the officers discussed the conflux of race/ethnicity with class, and viewed "profiling" of particular groups as based in socioeconomic status.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed Nov. 17, 2008). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Law, Policy and Society Program. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-105).

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 95 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-95).

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-95).

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