Crime and the Native American

It is believed that Native Americans have a high frequency of criminal behavior and in addition are subjected to great discrimination by the criminal justice system, as are other minority groups. This book explores the data and research that has been conducted on criminal behavior in Native Americans in order to see whether these beliefs are indeed valid. To prepare this book the author researched and read all published articles on criminal behavior in Native Americans. Chapters are grouped into five sections. Part 1 covers the personal and social conditions of Native Americans and the frequency of crime and alcohol. Part 2 explores crimes and misdemeanors, murder, child abuse and neglect. Part 3 examines theories of Native American criminal behavior, social structure, and social process theories. Part 4 covers the criminal justice system, Native American policing, law and the courts, prisons and probation, and discrimination in the criminal justice system. Part 5 provides three individual cases and three major conclusions drawn from research and commentary in this book. The reader is also provided with sample table forms of arrest rates, homicide rates by age, and rates of incarceration of various racial and/or ethnic groups. The causes of criminal behavior in Native Americans may differ from the causes of criminal behavior in other ethnic groups, and the useful preventative strategies may correspondingly differ. This text examines the extent to which those possibilities may be true.