...The Racial Disparities and Incarceration of Juvenile Delinquents Mario M. Tate University of Memphis Abstract The criminal justice system has had to enact harsher treatment due to the erratic and unpredictable nature of juvenile delinquents who refuse to follow the law. The age ranges for juveniles that are being considered in this study are 12-18 years old. I want to address the ever growing problems of racial disparity and incarceration of juvenile delinquents, who tend to not have any other options, but being arrested and are preyed upon because of their racial make-up. Single parent households, lack of education, supervision, and economics are some of the contributing factors which have lead many juveniles down the road to their deviant behavior. Data has been collected to try and understand the reasons for the defiant behavior of juveniles, so advocates may assist them in remaining with their families; through constant monitoring and evaluations of behavior and actions of our children they may stand a significant chance of growing up to be prosperous and productive adults. Also increased funding through the Juvenile Justice Prevention Act will help local state and county municipalities’ kick-start programs to assist today’s youth. Keywords: juvenile delinquents, incarceration, racial disparity, juvenile justice, racial discrimination, jail, juvenile courts The history of juvenile delinquency and racial disparity has gone hand in hand for a very long time and...
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...in the criminal justice system. Racism is actually discrimination against a group or individual based on color, social and financial status. It is something that occurs more than we notice. Many scholars believe that racism play a more important role in targeting and sentencing process in the criminal justice system and this is something which should not happen in any country no matter what. In order to understand the role that racism plays in the criminal justice system we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing in the court. There are various publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which unwillingly get people into the system. Though these are two major components of the discriminatory acts that exist within the criminal justice system, it does not actually begin with these institutionalized methods. It is the laws and crime control policies that create discrimination in the system. It has been witnessed that in some instances these laws and policies are set in favor of the white people and in opposition to the black ones. In this paper, a detailed discussion has been done on the racial disparities in criminal justice system along with its adverse effects to the community. Moreover, this paper also contains the strategies that would help to avoid racism and maintain equality and righteousness. What is meant by Racism and Prejudice? When racial...
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...Racial disparity in u.s prisons MBOGO .W. APOLLO (MOI). Professor: Institution affiliated Date: Racial disparity in prisons in America can be conceptualized as a situation where the population of a specific group of people is the most in the criminal justice system as compared to the general population. Prisons in U.S.A are a significant constituent of the criminal justice system. The main function of the American prisons is to protect society from violation of law, to rehabilitate also punish the law breakers in order to assist them to be responsible members of the society. The prisons in the state continue to grow in order to meet the demands of the correctional and the criminal justice system in general. However, the trend in the justice system, especially in the prisons, is characterized by ethnic disparity. This normally compromises the level of justice dispensation. It has been a controversial issue for several decades among the prisons in the state. Some individuals seem to defy the concept of existence of disparity in the justice system. They believe that it does not exist. For instance, statistics that were presented by Marc Mauer proved that if the argument that there existed racial discrimination in the prisons, then the extraordinary rise in the American prisons in the past three decades would be explained in six fold increase. This to him would eventually lead to incarceration of two million Americans. For instance, “one in every eight African –American...
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...Criminal Justice Society has shown racial diversity among communities. Racial disparity can be found in the criminal justice system. A system designed to be fair and equal to individuals is not existent. Racial diversity can be found at the time of arrest to the time of sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the diversity in sentencing. Case studies will be discussed throughout this paper. Leaders of criminal justice are not exempt of racial diversity. Racial diversity has changed over the years, but racial diversity remains strong in sentencing minorities. Diversity is not biased of offenses. Racial diversity can be seen in the smallest of charges, such as a traffic stop to the most serious sentence of the death penalty. Most of the sentences are because profiling an individual of minority. African Americans are likely to be the targeted racial group. Hispanic individuals are likely to be another racial group profiled for harsher sentencing. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system should always be considered a violation of ideas of the forefather’s of this nation as equal treatment under the laws of the United States Constitution. Many reasons for racial disparity can be identified in the sentencing process. The sentencing process is a difficult process, and adding racial bias may create a simpler way for criminal justice leaders to sentence an offender or make the sentence more difficult to decide. Racial discrimination is a large part of the United States...
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...03-Banks.qxd 1/30/04 4:52 PM Page 57 3 Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System ETHICAL BACKGROUND It is generally agreed that discrimination based on ethnic origin is morally wrong and a violation of the principle of equality. The equality principle requires that those who are equal be treated equally based on similarities, and that race is not a relevant consideration in that assessment (May and Sharratt 1994: 317). In other words, it is only possible to justify treating people differently if there exists some factual difference between them that justifies such difference in treatment (Rachels 1999: 94). Equality is a nonspecific term that means nothing until applied to a particular context. Thus, in a political context, equality means equal access to public office and equal treatment under the law, and equal treatment extends to equality in terms of job hiring, promotion, and pay. Race refers to groups of persons who are relatively alike in their biological inheritance and are distinct from other groups (American Anthropological Association 1997: 2). Ethnicity is a cultural phenomenon referring to a person’s identification with a particular cultural group (Hinman 1998: 403). Race is socially constructed, and the notion that persons “belong” to a particular race was developed in the last century based on the belief that there was a biological basis for categorizing groups of people. Biologically, however, the term race has no meaning, yet society...
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...Disparity and Discrimination Essay Ashley Gallegos CJA/344 10/23/2011 Jacquelyn Bradway In America disparity and discrimination has a strong presence in everyday life as well as in other countries around the world. Even though these are two different actions they have the same result showing others they are different and should be treated as such. When it comes to disparity its definition states that it is inequality in form or a difference. When it comes to discrimination its definition states that it is an action that treats someone inferior because of their race, sex, national origin or age. Do these actions take place in the world of criminal justice for example in law enforcement practices, court procedures or correction populations? Law Enforcement Practices Law enforcement is an admirable job and any individual who takes on this job role should be appreciated and respected. But what should citizens do when disparity and discrimination become intertwined and a part of the law enforcement job? An issue among law enforcement for decades has been racial profiling; this issue is the reason why many judicial consent decrees have been designed, to help start avoiding...
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...a larger extent from the colonial periods where it was sanctioned and heavy punishments were administered to the offenders. America being a country of long history, it has people from different races namely; Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans and Anglo Americans (Rhoads, 2005). The long struggle of these races against American racism has allowed them to be obliged in matters such as literacy, immigration, voting rights, owning citizenship, acquiring land and liberty. In reading American history, many people have suffered from racism and religious intolerance which led to xenophobic in 1938 (Price, 2004). This was mainly an attack which targeted the non Protestants such as the Jews, Italian Americans among others who were affiliated to the Roman Catholic. This people among other immigrants in America suffered from discrimination in the highest order during the early days when anti-discrimination legislations had not been passed. America has over the time structured its institution to suit the tendency of racism in various ways. Slavery was an issue characterized by racism and the Indian war. This was meant to discriminate some races against the Americans hence denying them opportunities and privileges in the American society. Other forms of racial discrimination in the American society included Native American reservation, racial segregation, and residential schools for the Native Americans. This form of racism was largely dominant in the American...
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...allowing drug usage and distribution to run rampant which can cause the society and the neighborhoods around the areas to become unsafe. Alexander discusses how there is no way around this issue and dismantling the system of mass incarceration is the only resolution; however if these poor neighborhoods were funded with government money, drug abuse can potentially become lower or even be stopped. Alexander is also discussing how a handful of reforms cannot be a solution to the problem. She argues that all the financial grants that are given to police departments for drug arrests and racial profiling should be halted. She believes that by halting the funding and supplies of mass incarceration are only scratching the surface of social reform. She believes there must be a change in the culture of law enforcement. By stopping mass incarceration Alexander believes that, that is the first step in racial integration. The costs of stopping mass incarceration are high for the government and prison systems. By stopping their reimbursements, drug related crimes may...
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... Disparity and Discrimination When we refer to disparity vs discrimination they are similar, both meaning lack of similarity and or inequality. Even though, in the criminal justice sytsem these words have diffenet meanings. These two terms have been evaluated within the criminal justice system, the dicrimination and disparity of ethic and racial groups have been recognized for a long time by some. At sometime or other disparity maybe the result of discrimination within the justice system in some situations. Disparity refers to the inequality in all aspects within the criminal justice system, for certain groups of individuals it conists og arrest to sentencing; this nearly will always refer back to ethic and racial disparity. Racial disparity is present within the criminal justice system as the porportion of an ethic or racial group is within the control of the system are greater than the the porportion of such groups within the general population ( The Sentencing Project,2008). Even though, it may not always be a relation to intentional discrimination racial disparity has been definately established within our justice system. Discrimination is defined as a distinction based on personal characteristics of an individual resulting in some degree of disadvantage to the indiviudual ( Law Encyclopedia, 2011). In order for us to better understand the similarities and differences between these two terms researchers have recently created the discrimination/disparity continuum...
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...three groups function together under the rule of law to maintain the law within society. Despite its important role, there is a sufficient amount of evidence that blacks and aboriginal people are over-represented in the criminal justice system. The logic behind this problem is that racial discrimination and profiling is present, or it is the result of the differential offending patterns of the minority. After researching, I believe that aboriginal and blacks are over-represented in the criminal justice system due to racial discrimination and profiling. My reasoning behind this is based on the collected data that supports the fact that racial discrimination and profiling is apparent in the criminal justice system. Racial discrimination and profiling is most associated with the police, and that is strictly because they are the first contact with the suspects, victims, citizens, and the offenders. I also believe that the causes of the problem and the potential solutions are the same for both aboriginal and black people. The only variable that might alter the causes of the problem, and the potential solutions is the location in which the aboriginal and blacks live in. This being said, racial discrimination and profiling are without doubt the primary attributes in the over-representation of aboriginals and blacks in the criminal justice system. Although I agree with the fact that certain minority youths contain a greater involvement in delinquent behaviour. This does not provide an...
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...Patterns of Discrimination in Police Agencies Lauren Raven CJS/221 Alan Hazel 3-15-2015 Patterns of Discrimination in Police Agencies Experiences with social institutions and law enforcement agencies shape the worldview by influencing community-police relations through individual and group perception. The patterns and existence of institutionalized discrimination, contextual discrimination, and individual discriminatory behaviors within the criminal justice system carry considerable influence on public perception of police departments. The effects of social class, race, and ethnicity on citizen opinions of how law enforcement agencies operate include instances of corruption, systematic discrimination, and general misunderstandings of cultural diversities. Institutionalized discrimination describes a wider pattern of events regarding discriminatory practices incorporated into processes, procedures, and organizational structure (Walker, Spone, Delone, 2012). An example may include policies that permit judges to consider employment or domestic history in their decision making process.Whether these occurrences are due to prejudice or racism, or are the result of a general lack of consideration for the needs of various social identities, they essentially indicate a problematic system. Pure justice provides restorative justice for victims and their rights, yet attains an unbiased, unprejudiced...
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...number that was reported in a few decades ago. Despite its lower number than that reported among male offenders, the rate of increase in the number of female offenders has grown more than 10% every year since 1985 (Mumola and Beck, 1997). This rate is much higher than the rate of increase reported for male offenders, which is only 8% every year since 1985. It has been determined that female offenders are put in jail for non-violent offenses and the prime violations that they commit are associated with the distribution and possession of prohibited drugs. This mode of unlawful behavior has been reported to be related to gender and analysts have described that female offenders commit these crimes in order to earn money for them to survive. It has been estimated that approximately 1.3 billion individuals who are living in extreme need are women (UNDP, 2000). Such condition is strongly related to their inability to receive any form of education as well as training courses hence rendering them under-qualified for most of the available employment. Simultaneously, the trends of globalization and alteration in governmental laws have resulted in more problems for women because gender inequalities were exposed. One example can be observed among governments that do not provide unemployment insurance of single mothers or female heads of households. The merged effect of gender and racial discrimination may also hinder the retrieval of women to economic resources, including loans, credit and...
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...not all individuals have benefited from that wealth. Throughout society, African American communities have become marginalized, with areas of poverty, high crime rates, discrimination and few opportunities for advancement. These areas are often locations where racial and cultural minorities live. Racial disparities exist within the criminal justice system and have shown many problems of inequality between the white and black race. In addition to having inequality within the criminal justice system, the criminals also have impacted their family members in different ways due to being incarcerated. The media has misrepresented African Americans by emphasizing African Americans participating in crimes while ignoring crimes committed by whites. People in society are assuming that only black people commit crimes, which is unfair because the incidences of people committing crimes are about equal between the races. Racial disparity favors white people over black people in the criminal justice system. Therefore, society must reevaluate the way society portrays who commits crimes, and where they are committed. Throughout many decades of history, black people had been discriminated against and treated as second class citizens in American society, even though they participated equally in the workforce. Discrimination has happened from slavery until present times. For example, during the 17th century until 1865, slaves were viewed as inferior people because it was a popular notion that...
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...RUNNING HEADER: American Prisons 1 The American Prisons and Judicial Systems Megan Pierce English Composition 122 Professor Angela Temple September 23, 2013 American Prisons 2 There’s no question about the about the racial disparity in America’s prison system. More than 60 percent of people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For black males in their thirties, one in every ten is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the “war on drugs,” in which two thirds of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color. Guerin, P., Harrison, (2011) Washington, D.C: Bureau of Justice statistics. American prisons have a disparity of minority inmate population. Is this trend due to a higher rate of minority crimes, or the manner in which the judicial system operates? Some people have negative views about the people in the inner cities where disproportionate numbers of impoverished and African Americans live. Robert Right, an evolutionary psychologist believed the high rate of young African American men in prison is due to their adaptation to poverty. Conservatives think poverty is due to African American sub culture that is pathologic. Harvard professor James Wilson claimed, “The reason why it is called an underclass is that its members have a bad character: they mug, do drugs, and desert children.” (Miller,1996). There is a recurring idea that the inner...
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...the right of unrepresented minorities. Books such as Too Kill a Mocking Bird spoke to the prejudices of a community. Movies such as Roots illustrated the hardship of the slaves. From the Roman’s persecution of Christians to today’s rap song lyrics about economic disparities the plight of the minority has been fought for millennium. This research examines the struggle of minorities within the juvenile justice system and the differential rates of adjudication and length of sentencing between the white majority and the black minority juvenile offenders. During the course of this research, additional insights were gained from an internship at a youth correctional center as well as drawing on my own personal experience as a refugee from Gabon. The findings of my research demonstrate that minority offenders do receive harsher sentences than the whites, and that there are several factors contributing to higher rates of juvenile delinquency among African Americans; primarily education and community. To consider the struggle of minorities is important because it creates awareness that the maltreatment of a minority group by the dominant majority often ends in violence and destruction. If we can understand what cause the inequality better, then mankind can live more peacefully and prosperously. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to have a mentor and a RC like Mr. Doug Brown and an advisor Dr. Jackie Burns to help me write my capstone. Mr. Brown served as a facilitator helping to clarify...
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