This article examines the generality of citizens' views concerning racial profiling across several contexts. More specifically, the research investigated whether citizens' perceptions regarding the widespread nature of racial profiling and their belief whether this profiling is justified converged when considering the practice in diverse settings, such as during traffic stops, in retail establishments, and at airports. Using data from a nationally representative poll with an oversample of Blacks and Hispanics, the results of the structural equation model analysis supported the supposition that perceptions regarding racial profiling across contexts form one latent construct. The perceptions of airport, traffic stop, and consumer racial profiling—in the context of widespread nature and justification—form two general latent measures. These perceptions differ based on race, age, sex, and income.
Asquith, J.L., & Bristow, D.N. (2000). To catch a thief: A pedagogical study of retail shoplifting. Journal of Education for Business, 75, 271-276.
3.
Batton, C., & Kadleck, C. (2004). Theoretical and methodological issues in racial profiling research. Police Quarterly, 7, 30-64.
4.
Bock, R.D. (1972). Estimating item parameters and latent ability when responses are scored in two or more nominal categories. Psychometrika, 37, 29-51.
5.
Buerger, M.E., & Farrell, A. (2002). The evidence of racial profiling: Interpreting documented and unofficial sources. Police Quarterly, 5, 272-305.
6.
Christoffersson, A. (1975). Factor analysis of dichotomized variables. Psychometrika, 40, 5-32.
7.
Dabney, D.A., Dugan, L., Topalli, V., & Hollinger, R.C. (2006). The impact of implicit stereotyping on offender profiling: Unexpected results from an observational study of shoplifting. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33, 646-674.
8.
Dabney, D.A., Hollinger, R.C., & Dugan, L. (2004). Who actually steals? A study of covertly observed shoplifters. Justice Quarterly, 21, 693-728.
9.
Del Carmen, A. (2008). Racial profiling in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall.
10.
Engel, R.S. (2005). Citizens' perceptions of procedural and distributive injustice during traffic stops with police. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42, 445-481.
11.
Engel, R.S., & Calnon, J. (2004). Comparing benchmark methodologies for police-citizen contacts: Traffic stop data collection for the Pennsylvania State Police. Police Quarterly, 7, 97-125.
12.
Engel, R.S., Calnon, J.M., Tillyer, R., Johnson, R., Liu, L., & Wang, X. (2005). Project on police-citizen contacts: Year 2 final report (May 2003-April 2004). Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Police.
13.
Farrell, A., McDevitt, J.M., Bailey, L., Andersen, C., & Pierce, E. (2004). Massachusetts racial and gender profiling study: Final report. Boston: Northeastern University, College of Criminal Justice, Institute on Race and Justice.
14.
Feagin, J.R. (2001). Racist America: Roots, current realities, and future reparations. New York: Routledge .
15.
Gabbidon, S.L. (2003). Racial profiling by store clerks and security personnel in retail establishments: An exploration of "Shopping while black ." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 19, 345-364.
16.
Gabbidon, S.L., Craig, R., Okafo, N., Marzette, L., & Peterson, S.A. (2007). The prevalence and nature of consumer racial profiling experiences among students at historically black colleges and universities: An exploratory study. Unpublished manuscript.
17.
Gabbidon, S.L., & Higgins, G.E. (2007). Consumer racial profiling and perceived victimization: A phone survey of Philadelphia area residents. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 32, 1-11.
18.
Gabbidon, S.L., & Higgins, G.E. (in press). Profiling White Americans: Exploring "Shopping while White." In M. J. Lynch, E. B. Patterson, & K. Childs (Eds.), Racial divide: Race, ethnicity and criminal justice. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
19.
Gardiner, B. (2000). Racism at the airports. Network Journal, 7, 18.
20.
Government Accounting Office. (2000). Better targeting of airline passengers for personal searches could produce better results. Washington, DC: Author.
21.
Gumbir, V.K. (2007). But is it racial profiling? Policing, pretexts, and the color of suspicion. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing.
22.
Halter, K. (2002). Flying while brown. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 21, 85-86.
23.
Harris, D.A. (1997). Driving while Black and all other traffic offenses: The Supreme Court and pretextual traffic stops. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 87, 544-582.
24.
Harris, D.A. (1999, June 7). Driving while black: Racial profiling on our nation's highways. New York: American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved January23, 2001, from http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/15912pub19990607.html
25.
Harris, D.A. (2002). Profiles in injustice: Why racial profiling cannot work. New York: The New Press.
26.
Higgins, G.E., & Gabbidon, S.L. (2007, November). Consumer racial profiling and negative emotions: An exploratory study. Paper presented at the annual American Society of Criminology meeting, Atlanta, GA.
27.
Holbert, S., & Rose, L. (2004). The color of guilt & innocence: Racial profiling and police practices in America. San Ramon, CA: Page Marque Press.
28.
Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
29.
Kline, R.B. (2005). Principles and practices of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York : Guilford.
30.
Mac Donald, H. (2003). Are cops racist? How the war against the police harms black Americans. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.
31.
Meehan, A.J., & Ponder, M.C. (2002). Race and place: The ecology of racial profiling AfricanAmerican motorists. Justice Quarterly, 19, 399-430.
32.
Micucci, A. (1998). A typology of private policing operating styles . Journal of Criminal Justice, 26, 41-51.
33.
Miller, J.M. (2007). Conceptualizing the hijacking threat to civil aviation. Criminal Justice Review, 32, 209-232.
34.
Milovanovic, D., & Russell-Brown, K. (2001). (Eds.). Petit apartheid in the U.S. criminal justice system. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
35.
Muthen, B.O. (1983). Latent variable structural equation modeling with categorical data. Journal of Econometrics, 22, 48-65.
36.
Muthen, B.O. (1984). A general structural equation model with dichotomous, ordered categorical, and continuous latent variable indicators. Psychometrika, 49, 115-132.
37.
Muthen, L.K., & Muthen, B.O. (1998). Mplus users' guide, 3rd edition. Los Angeles, CA: Muthen and Muthen.
38.
Muthen, L.K. & Muthen, B.O. (2006). Mplus users' guide, 5th edition. Los Angeles, CA: Muthen and Muthen.
39.
Onwudiwe, I.D. (2005). Defining terrorism, racial profiling and the demonisation of Arabs and Muslims in the USA. Community Safety Journal , 4, 4-11.
40.
Patrick, P.A., & Gabbidon, S.L. (2006). Bowden v. Caldor: A case study of the intersection of racial animus and private security misconduct . Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 4, 51-64.
41.
Persico, N., & Todd, P.E. (2005). Passenger profiling, imperfect screening, and airport security. The American Economic Review, 95, 127-131.
42.
Petrocelli, M., Piquero, A.R., & Smith, M.R. (2003). Conflict theory and racial profiling: An empirical analysis of police traffic stop data. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 1-11.
43.
Ramirez, O., McDevitt, J., & Farrell, A. (2000). A resource guide on racial profiling data collection systems: Promising practices and lessons learned. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
44.
Reitzel, J., & Piquero, A.R. (2006). Does it exist? Studying citizens' attitudes of racial profiling. Police Quarterly, 9, 161-183.
45.
Reitzel, J., Rice, S.K., & Piquero, A.R. (2004). Lines and shadows: Perceptions of racial profiling and the Hispanic experience. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32, 607-616.
46.
Rice, S., & Piquero, A.R. (2005). Perceptions of racial profiling and justice: Does race matter. Policing, 28, 98-117.
47.
Rice, S.K., Reitzel, J.D., & Piquero, A.R. (2005). Shades of brown: Perception of racial profiling and the intra-ethnic differential. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 3, 47-70.
48.
Ruiz, J.R., & Woessner, M. (2006). Profiling, Cajun style: Racial profiling and demographic profiling in Louisiana's war on drugs. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 8, 176-197.
49.
Russell, K.K. (1999). "Driving while black": Corollary phenomena and collateral consequences. Boston College Law Review, 40, 717-731.
50.
Russell, K.K. (2001). Racial profiling: A status report of the legal, legislative, and empirical literature. Rutgers Race & the Law Review, 3, 61-81.
51.
Schmitt, E.L., Langan, E.L., & Durose, M.R. (2002). Characteristics of drivers stopped by the police , 1999. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
52.
Smith, E.L., & Durose, M.R. (2006). Characteristics of drivers stopped by the police , 2002. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
53.
Smith, M.R., & Petrocelli, M. (2001). Racial profiling? A multivariate analysis of police traffic stop data. Police Quarterly, 4, 4-27.
54.
Taylor, J., & Whitney, G. (1999). Crime and racial profiling by U.S. police: Is there an empirical basis? Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, 24, 485-510.
55.
Tyler, T., & Wakslak, C.J. (2004). Profiling and police legitimacy: Procedural justice, attributions of motive, and acceptance of police authority. Criminology, 42, 253-281.
56.
Walker, S. (2001). Searching for the denominator: Problems with police traffic stop data and an early warning system solution. Justice Research and Policy, 3, 63-95.
57.
Weitzer, R. (2000). Racialized policing: Residents' perceptions in three neighborhoods. Law and Society Review, 34, 129-155.
58.
Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S.A. (2002). Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class, and personal experience. Criminology, 40, 435-456.
59.
Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S.A. (2005). Racially biased policing: Determinants of citizen perceptions. Social Forces, 83, 1009-1030.
60.
Williams, J.D., Harris, A.M., & Henderson, G.R. (2001). Consumer racial profiling: Bigotry goes to market. The New Crisis, 108, 22-24.
61.
Withrow, B.L. (2006). Racial profiling: From rhetoric to reason. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
