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Criminal Justice: Racial discrimination
Student’s Name:
Robert Owono Awono
Institutional affiliations:
American Public University
Course Code:
SSGS300
Instructor Name:
Robert K Amato
Due Date:
07/25/2021
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
