Premium
Gender and Race in the Theory of Deviant Type‐Scripts *
Author(s) -
Harris Anthony R.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1993.tb00302.x
Subject(s) - deviance (statistics) , underclass , dominance (genetics) , scripting language , race (biology) , sociology , imprisonment , criminology , psychology , social psychology , gender studies , computer science , mathematics , statistics , biochemistry , chemistry , anthropology , gene , operating system
The theory of deviant type‐scripts predicts that when historical and cross‐cultural levels of male dominance are high, the ratio of female to male involvement in deviance will be low. Best and Luckenbill recently claim (1990) to have tested this prediction using 1980 data from the United States. Their findings did not support the theory, but rather, contradicted it. In this analysis, serious problems in Best and Luckenbill's use of aggregate statewide measures of male dominance, homicide, and imprisonment are identified, as well as some weaknesses in the original theory. Using a superset of the same data, I extend and re‐evaluate the test. The current findings rebut Best and Luckenbill's conclusions and offer some unexpected support for the theory. New issues for the theory of deviant type‐scripts–as for any theory involving gender and race–are discussed vis‐à‐vis the emergence in America of a matrifocal black underclass.