W7: Design Method: Non-Experimental or Quasi-Experimental
11
Criminal Justice: Racial discrimination
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Racial discrimination
Abstract
When there is justice in society, every person feels satisfied with the way legal actions are carried out in the community. Unfortunately, there are several instances of racial discrimination in the United States. Most of the racial discrimination in the United States ate directed towards black people. Although everyone is required to have equal treatment in the United States, achieving zero discrimination has always been difficult.
Understanding racial discrimination in the USA is vital as it makes it easy for one to identify ways to eliminate the criminal injustices resulting from racial discrimination. This will be essential since it will help to eliminate racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.
Introduction
When there is justice in society, every person feels satisfied with the way legal actions are carried out in society. The criminal justice community is when people are not discriminated against based on their skin color. Laws applicable are carried out uniformly such that every person is treated equally. When the laws are applied equally to every individual, it increases the trust in the criminal justice system. However, when there are biases in applying the laws, the criminal justice system becomes compromised. According to Kovera (2019), there are many disparities in the criminal justice system as black people are discriminated against by police officers based on their race. As a result, black people suffer more as compared to white people when they violate similar laws.
There is a lot of disparity in the criminal justice system of the United States. Many people suffer as a result of racial discrimination in the United States. People are discriminated against a lot in the administration of the policies. According to Donnel (2017), there is racial inequality in how criminal justice is carried out in policymaking. The criminal justice system discriminates against people based on their race. For example, police officers harass black people for minor mistakes which white people are left to walk freely even after making similar mistakes. Black people suffer because of the color of their skin.
Hypothesis/Problem Statement/Purpose Statement
Racial discrimination affects the outcomes of the criminal justice system adversely. How does racial discrimination affect the judicial criminal justice system? The study aims to identify ways in which criminal justice racial discrimination is practiced in the United States. It will also provide insights on the racial discrimination cases, which are helpful in the development of policies that can be helpful in the elimination of racial discrimination in society hence promoting equality among the citizens.
Literature Review and Definitions included in the research
According to Hinton, Henderson, and Reed (2018), there is much institutional racism against black people. Black people bear an unjust burden because of the racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system treats black people discriminatively, which makes them sentenced for criminal activities that they have not committed more often. Racist judges are usually asked to be in charge of the black people cases. Due to their racism, they end up acting unjustly in their ruling to deny black people justice. They suffer just as a result of their skin colour. Unfair court rulings against the black people in court because of racist judges indicate racial discrimination against the black people in the criminal justice system.
According to Mears, Cochran, and Lindsey (2016), there is significant racial discrimination directed towards minority groups in the USA. The blacks who are a minority in the United States are subjected to racial discrimination. There are many disparities in the treatment of the people, which results in discrimination of minority groups. There is little knowledge about the disparities in the sanctioning and processing of minorities. The minorities are treated poorly in some places, which extends to law enforcement and lawmaking processes. This is shown by a higher number of black people arrests than white people in the United States. Black people suffer more as compared to white people when they violate similar laws.
According to Taylor et al. (2018), African males are most likely to be discriminated against based on race. African American males are subject to racial discrimination daily. African Americans are treated wrongfully by law enforcement officers. They are mistreated in the process of enforcing the laws. The criminal justice system discriminates the black Africans as they are mistreated in the criminal justice process. Most of the people who suffer during the criminal justice system are mainly males. The discrimination of males is normally categorized into three; males who have been arrested before but never incarcerated, those who have never been arrested, and those arrested with some form of incarceration.
According to Hatey and Eberhardt (2018), racial discrimination results to fear. The criminal activities are related mostly to African American people, which leads to disparities in the criminal justice system. Hatey and Eberhardt focused on the US criminal justice process, particularly incarceration and policing. They argued that racial disparities could prompt fear and stereotypic associations linking African American origin to crime. Further, they suggest that instead of reexamining the criminal justice system, the statistics regarding disparities may instead offer the opportunity for justification and rationalization of the criminal justice system disparities. Hatey and Eberhardt propose three possible strategies through which data regarding racial disparities can be presented more effectively. First, they propose that future research test whether presenting data on disparities and describing how those disparities arose may be a more effective way of framing inequality. Second, they suggest that exposure to data regarding racial inequalities in the criminal justice process may reinforce implicit relations associating African Americans with violence, crime, aggression, and threat. Finally, they suggest that instead of prioritizing institutions, we should prioritize individuals as this perpetuates inequality.
Research methods/design
A qualitative research design was implemented during the study. Therefore, the data collected mainly involves identifying the effects of racial discrimination on criminal justice.
Questionnaires were issued out during the study to help collect relevant information, which was subjected to analysis and conclusion.
References
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues, 75(4), 1139-1164.
Donnelly, E. A. (2017). The politics of racial disparity reform: Racial inequality and criminal justice policymaking in the states. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), 1-27.
Hinton, E., Henderson, L., & Reed, C. (2018). An unjust burden: The disparate treatment of Black Americans in the criminal justice system. Vera Institute of Justice.
Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 183-187.
Taylor, R. J., Miller, R., Mouzon, D., Keith, V. M., & Chatters, L. M. (2018). Everyday discrimination among African American men: The impact of criminal justice contact. Race and justice, 8(2), 154-177.
Mears, D. P., Cochran, J. C., & Lindsey, A. M. (2016). Offending and racial and ethnic disparities in criminal justice: A conceptual framework for guiding theory and research and informing policy. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 32(1), 78-103.
Appendices
Questionnaire
What is your name ……………………………………………………….
Please indicate your gender………………………………………………
Age………………………………………….
Have you ever been racially abused? ....................................................................................................................................
Have you ever witnessed racial discrimination cases?.............................................
Do you think racial discrimination good?................................................................
What do you think can be done to eliminate racial discrimination? ................................................................................................................................
How does racial discrimination affect the judicial criminal justice system? ………………………………………………………………………………….
Annotated Bibliography
Mears, D. P., Cochran, J. C., & Lindsey, A. M. (2016). Offending and racial and ethnic disparities in criminal justice: A conceptual framework for guiding theory and research and informing policy. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 32(1), 78-103.
The authors of this article evaluate the history of poor race relations in America and their contribution to the unfair treatment of minority groups. The authors argue that there is limited knowledge regarding disparities in the sanctioning and processing of minorities. Remarkably, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive empirical research on the prevalence of disproportionalities, minority differences, and disparities in criminal justice. Consequently, this limited knowledge has resulted in a nation living in darkness with little light in some parts. This means that there is only a little knowledge regarding the poor treatment of minority groups in some places, while in other parts, there is no knowledge at all. These concerns have extended to law enforcement and lawmaking. For example, national statistics have indicated that the arrest rate amongst African Americans is 2.3 times higher than that of whites. The authors conclude by suggesting the need for the country's criminal justice to pursue fairness.
Taylor, R. J., Miller, R., Mouzon, D., Keith, V. M., & Chatters, L. M. (2018). Everyday discrimination among African American men: The impact of criminal justice contact. Race and justice, 8(2), 154-177.
The researchers evaluated everyday discrimination by criminal justice on a national sample of African American males. Previous research has shown these males are likely to be mistreated in the criminal justice process. There have been few studies that assess everyday discrimination amongst African American males. The authors used data from the National Survey of American Life to assess the various kinds of everyday discrimination experienced by African American
males in three categories. These categories include African American males who have been arrested before but never incarcerated, those who have never been arrested, and those arrested with some form of incarceration. The study revealed high levels of reported everyday discrimination.
Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 183-187.
The authors of this article focused on the US criminal justice process, particularly incarceration and policing. They argued that racial disparities could prompt fear and stereotypic associations linking people of African American origin to crime. Further, the authors suggest that instead of reexamining the criminal justice system, the statistics regarding disparities may instead offer the opportunity for justification and rationalization of the criminal justice system disparities. The authors propose three possible strategies through which data regarding racial disparities can be presented more effectively. First, they propose that future research should test whether presenting data on disparities and describing how those disparities arose may be a more effective way of framing inequality. Second, the authors suggest that exposure to data regarding racial inequalities in the criminal justice process may reinforce implicit relations associating African Americans with violence, crime, aggression, and threat. Finally, they suggest that instead of prioritizing institutions, we should prioritize individuals as this perpetuates inequality.
Stewart, E. A., Warren, P. Y., Hughes, C., & Brunson, R. K. (2020). Race, ethnicity, and criminal justice contact: Reflections for future research. Race and Justice, 10(2), 119-149.
The objective of this study was threefold. First, the authors explored the current state of the race–justice research regarding policing, sentencing, and victimization. They then explored the impact of income, communities, and families. They then concluded by providing two important directions for future research. First, they propose that future research should look into the impact of incarceration on neighborhood and individual processes, particularly civic engagement. Previous research has shown that aggravated incarceration affects the civic process by escalating political participation barriers amongst minority groups. Hence, these groups end up mistrusting the political and criminal justice systems. Second, the authors propose that future research should examine disparities at multiple points in the criminal justice process to determine both indirect and direct effects of race on the outcome of cases. This is because the criminal justice process has long been characterized by the disproportionate representation of minority groups at every stage.
Kurlychek, M. C., & Johnson, B. D. (2019). A cumulative disadvantage in the American criminal justice system. Annual Review of Criminology, 2, 291-319.
The authors of this article offer an overview of how minority groups are disadvantaged in life and extension the criminal justice process. The authors analyzed evidence from previous empirical research regarding prosecution, policing, and the courts. Further, they examined the relationship between these largely separate bodies of scholarship. There has been extensive research on unfairness in punishment; however, much focus has been on periodic disproportion in the stages of the criminal justice process from arrest to prosecution, and finally sentencing. The authors note that despite cumulative disadvantage theories in criminology, they do not adequately account for inequality in the criminal justice process. The authors conclude by calling
for future research focusing on the effects of life-course disadvantages on contact with the criminal justice process.