Revisiting the generality of public opinion on racial profiling: a statewide study of white perceptions

Abstract

Within the last two decades, scholars have studied public opinion on racial profiling in multiple contexts, yet there have been limited studies that have examined whether public opinion on racial profiling is consistent across these unique contexts. Using a random sample of White adults from Pennsylvania, we studied whether perceptions on the discriminatory nature of racial profiling, and the perceived effectiveness of this practice in airports, retail settings, and traffic stops, form two distinct latent measures. We found that perceptions of racial profiling as discriminatory are general across these multiple contexts; the same was found to be true for perceptions of effectiveness as well. These latent measures also had different correlates by age and gender.

Keywords::

• racial profiling
• structural equation modeling
• discrimination, public opinion

Notes

^1. To avoid skewed data by age, we used ordinal level categories.

^2. One reviewer suggested that we change education into dummy variables and examine each individual educational level. When this was attempted, it resulted in severe multicollinearity problems; thus, we chose to keep the education measure as ordinal. These results are available on request from the lead author.

^3. To avoid skewed income data, we used ordinal level categories.

^4. In addition to this fit statistic, we also used the weighted root mean of the residual. Because, to our knowledge, no specific standard has been established yet, we do not report these values. They are available from the first author on request. We also considered the WRMR in model fit as well.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

George E. Higgins

George E. Higgins is a Professor in the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville. He received his PhD in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. He is currently the editor of the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. His most recent publications appear or are forthcoming in Journal of Criminal Justice, Deviant Behavior, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Youth and Society, and American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Shaun L. Gabbidon

Shaun L. Gabbidon is a distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. He is the author of more than 100 scholarly publications including l1 books. His most recent book is the co-authored work, A Theory of African American Offending. His recent articles have appeared in Journal of Criminal Justice, Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice & Behavior, and Police Quarterly. He currently serves as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the SAGE journal Race and Justice: An International Journal.