Race and crime

Race is one of the correlates of crime receiving attention in academic studies, government surveys, media coverage, and public concern.The racial disparity of blacks (African Americans ) and other ethnic minorities creates inequality in the criminal justice system. Many factors come into play upon deciding why a person who committed a crime will go to jail, how they are treated by law enforcement, and the extent of their punishment. Several causes of racial disparity have been tested by experts in the sociological field. A majority of their results find that a lack of financial means and low social status enables minorities to commit these crimes. Legislative decisions often favor to give blacks and other ethnic minorities more time in prison than their white counterparts.

Racial Disparity

The term racial disparity can be defined when the proportion of a racial or ethnic group within the criminal justice system is greater than the proportion of such group within the general population. African Americans and Whites have opposing viewpoints about the criminal justice system. People of color are more likely to be racially profiled, stopped, and harassed by the police. Whites believe the criminal justice system works for them , while people of color believe that the system works against them.[1] Racial disparities in the criminal justice system worsened after 1980 due to political developments. The Bush and Reagan administrations strived to cease what was known as the "War on Drugs." Drug and crime control policies led to a mass incarceration and imprisonments of African Americans.[2]

Factors of racial disparity

There are two factors that help determine racial disparity: legal and extralegal factors. Legal factors include the crime seriousness and a prior criminal record. These are substantial reasons because they pertain to an individual's criminal behavior. People who commit serious crimes or commit crimes repeatedly deserve to be subdued by police attention, longer conviction sentences, and harsher punishments by corrections. An extralegal factor refers to things that should not influence criminal justice policy. Extralegal factors single out a specific group of people such as race, class, ethnicity, or gender.[3]

Causes of racial disparity

Causes of racial disparities that result in an increase of violent crime among African Americans and other minorities are explained to be caused by their social status. Poverty or a lack of financial means creates a disadvantage for these minority groups. [4]

Legislative Decisions

The belief that African Americans and other ethnic minorities commit more crime than Whites can be relieved as a myth. This myth process begins within the legislative stage. The actions of the police, courts, and corrections influences legislative decisions. This process of the criminal justice system defines crime and the punishment set forth from criminal behavior. The media often interrupts the criminal justice activity by broadcasting celebratory cases. The police enforce the law and investigate the crime to ultimately apprehend a suspect. The court system determines guilt and hand down some form of punishment. The correctional facilities and programs administers the punishment to the offenders.[5]

Arrest and sentencing

Racial disproportionalities in the criminal justice system have brought attention to the people in the United States. Through the use of media outlets, more and more Americans are viewing the injustice of race and its role in crime. Of the 12 percent of African Americans in the U.S. general population, 51 percent are prisoners. The Sentencing project has shown an increase in the number of blacks in criminal justice control.[6]

The ratio between whites and blacks in prison is significant and have only increased over the years.[7]

Races

African Americans

The crime among African Americans deal with oppression from White Americans since slavery days. White America does not realize the problem blacks face in America, because they are not seen as an equal human being. The act of crime is associated with evil and blacks are believed to commit crime the most because of their skin color.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Russell-Brown, Katheryn (2009). The Color of Crime (Second ed.).
  2. ↑ Tonry, Michael (1994). "Racial Politics, Racial Disparities, and the War on Crime". Crime and Delinquency. 40: 475–94.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Matthew (2016). Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice.
  4. ↑ Ulmer, Jeffery T.; Harris, Casey T.; Steffensmeier, Darrell (2012-09-01). "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Structural Disadvantage and Crime: White, Black, and Hispanic Comparisons*". Social Science Quarterly. 93 (3): 799–819. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00868.x. ISSN 1540-6237. PMC 4097310Freely accessible. PMID 25035523.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Matthew. "The Construction and Reinforcement of Myths of Race and Crime". Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 16 (2).
  6. ↑ Daly, Kathleen; Tonry, Michael (1997). "Gender, Race, and Sentencing". Crime and Justice. 22: 201–52.
  7. ↑ Morris, Norval (1988). "Race and Crime: What Evidence is there that Race Influences Results in the Criminal Justice System?". Judicature. 72: 111–3.
  8. ↑ Davis, John (1976). "Blacks, Crime, and American Culture". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 423: pp. 89–98. JSTOR 1041425.

Bibliography

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