Race, Crime, and the American Dream

Although strain and social control theories assign a central role to the influence of the American dream on criminal behavior, little research has examined its impact on African Americans. Furthermore, while the criminology literature is replete with studies of the influence of aspirations and expectations on behavior, few of these have exphasized the economic goals so central to the core tenets of the American dream. In contrast, this study is based on a sample approximately half African American and measures the American dream in economic terms. The findings indicate that African Americans maintain a stronger commitment to the American dream than do Whites, but the nature of its influence on behavior offers little support for social control theory among either Whites or Blacks. Its effect is, however, consistent with strain theory, but only among Whites. The implications of the inapplicability of both strain and control theories to African Americans are discussed.