CJ 282 Exam #2 chp 9 and 12
What is the selection for the CJ system?
- A filtering/funnel process Individuals with the least resources and those with criminal histories are the most likely to be treated harshly by the CJ system.
What are the statistics on Jail Populations?
- About 59% of inmates reported monthly income <$1,000 - 29% of inmates reportedly unemployed in the month before their arrest - 14% of inmates reported being homeless in the year before their arrest - 12% of inmates lived in a foster home or institution while growing up
"When Prisoners Come Home" — Joan Petersilia
- Inmates are different from the general population - They have an overwhelming amount of need, but are usually met with an overwhelming neglect. Some of these needs are illiteracy, learning disabilities, mental illnesses/substance abuse, employment, etc.
What are the employment barriers?
- Legal and stigma A particular challenge due to: - Legal restrictions - Teaching, childcare - Some prison-trained jobs are legally restricted - Barber, beautician, nurse - Occupations require 'restricted' licenses - Poor work histories and education Those that due obtain employment face: Lower wages Underemployment Stigma of imprisonment
What is white collar crime compared to street crime?
- The criminal justice system's focus on the crimes of the lower-income classes obscures the far greater harm done by white-collar and corporate criminals. - White-collar crimes often cost substantially more (in terms of money and human life) than do street crimes. - Riemann asks us to consider why the term murder is not used for deaths caused by environmental law violations, failure to provide safe working conditions, poverty, or improper medical care.
What is mental illness and offending?
A person whose criminal behavior may be traced to diminished or otherwise abnormal capacity to think or reason as a result of psychological or neurological disturbance - Nearly 20% of offenders who have committed violent crimes and are under supervision of the correctional system have been diagnosed as mentally ill - Not all mentally ill offenders are violent or psychopathic
What is mental handicap and offending?
A person whose limited mental development prevents their adjustment to the rules of society - IQ <70 - About 5% of the prison population in this category - 2-3% of total U.S. prison population in this category - Victimization in prison
What is victimization and social class?
According to NCVS data, the less well-off are more often the victims of street. Poor (contrary to media images) are not preying on the wealthy, instead on each other
How can this be improved?
Ban the box laws Michigan works Offender Success (Part of Michigan Department of Parole/Probation) Job fairs at GVSU for returning citizens
Why do we have social class?
Capitalist politician-economic system — organized around idea and practice that people must compete with others in order to claim a share of value created by the society (getting a piece of the pie) - A fundamental consequence of our capitalist system is that some people will win a larger share of resources than others. - Idea that America is both competitive and fair is imaginary and misrepresents real life Many of the wealthy do not earn their wealth (they inherit it) - Those who do work earn from investments rather than their labor
What are the consequences to residents and communties who are "left behind?"
Decline in women's income Decline in men's and women's HS completion Decline in community solidarity decline in community paitpcate in voluntary organizations Increase in residents perceptions that their neighborhood is unsafe Increase in women's property victimization
What makes up one's social class?
Economic resources: income and wealth Social resources: ability of group members to benefit from relationships with others who can advance their interests. Political resources: direct and indirect forms positions as public leaders, voting, interest groups. Cultural resources: ability of social groups to mold popular consciousness by influencing the content of mass media and public communication. Lifestyle resources: degree to which group based patterns of learned behavior and beliefs are valued or devalued.
What are the civil disabilities?
Felony disenfranchisement — What is this? - Right to voice - 80% of state at eventually return the right - 10 states permanently disenfranchise felons - 1.4 million African American men cannot vote (13%) - Up to 33% in Alabama and Florida Other civil disabilities? - Right to hold public office - 19 states permanently restrict - Other rights/privileges - Jury service - Student loans - Driver's licenses - Holding government jobs
What are the housing and public assistance barriers?
How are these barriers? Legal restriction exists for housing - Drug and sex offenders particularly barred from various housing structures - Also restricted from things such as TANF and food stamps for drug offenders - Perceptual barriers also exist - Increase in background checks by landlords - Halfway houses or community correctional centers are supposed to help - "Transitional" residences - NIMBY is an issue
How can the system bridge the police community divide?
Increase participation and representation of blacks as criminal justice professionals may help - 1968: Racial disparities in ranked positions in police departments - Nicholas Alex's book 'Black in Blue' - Described how black American officers suffered from double marginality - Dealt with expectations from civilians that they should be lenient towards blacks to discrimination within the force themselves 1990-2000: Number of African American officers increased by 35% and number of Hispanic officers increased by 93% Hiring is necessary, but not sufficient condition for achieving the ideals of representative democratic police force (i.e., blue wall of silence) Social disadvantage in the community must be addressed body cameras.
Upper class
Inhibited by individuals who: - Enjoy large annual incomes - Control substantial wealth - Exert substantial influence over making and implementing laws and governmental policy - Are able to use their wealth and political power to shape the content of mass media - Live the kinds of lifestyles lauded in the popular media
Poor/lower class
Inhibited by individuals who: - Have little to no income - Own little material property and few or no finiacial securities - Enjoy little influence n over government or media - Often exhibit styles of speech, dress, and conduct that are viewed as maladjusted or dangerous
What was the "war on drugs"
Largely a war on minorities - Dramatically impacted the existing racial disparities in arrest and imprisonment - Even though African Americans are more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for drug offenses, they are not more frequent drugs users - Sentencing disparities of 100 to 1 between use and trafficking of cocaine and crack Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced it to 18 to 1 - Three strikes laws, truth in sentencing, and stop/frisk policies led to dramatic increase in incarceration of African Americans for drug-related offenses.
What is the history behind the criminalizing of African Americans?
Law has been used as a tool to blatantly deny the rights of millions of U.S. citizens, based solely on their skin color. Historical legal context - Justice policies/practices have created and enforced racial oppression. - Most Africans who came to North America did not have a choice — they were forced here under slavers - Slave codes were the first policies that denied rights Status as ⅗ a person - Jim Crow laws (1887-1965) protected institutional discrimination
What was the Conflict School of Criminology?
Laws are in place to maintain class divisions in society Instrumental Marxism - The state (e.g. police, laws, government) is a tool of the powerful elite Structural Marxism - The state mostly serves the powerful, but the lower class (e.g. proletariat) gets some support too
What is use of force in police?
Legacy historical interactions, policies, and practices have created a complex and challenging relationship between African Americans and the criminal justice system. Recent events and media coverage in the wake of Ferguson and Baltimore exacerbated pre-existing stereotypes. ⅓ of the individuals who have died while in police custody between 2003 — 2009 were African american. During the same time period, African Americans represented 13% of the population, but made up 28% of arrests and 325 of all arrest related homicides. History of the Black Lives Matter movement
What was the Contemporary Context (Post-Civil Rights Era)?
Legal protections led to a decline in blatant discrimination. - However, implicit racial bias within the CJ system has had a significant negative impact on the lives of African Americans that continues today. - In 1950, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment rates were about 70% white (reflective of the white population in the US) - By 2000, rates of arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment were closer to 70% black and Latino (make up only 13% and 19% respectively or 32% total) The Kerner Report (1968) - Attributed the riots to lack of economic opportunity for African Americans, failed social service programs, police brutality, racism, and the orientation of national media to white perspectives.
Inmate/Reentry Needs
Limited programs and still decreasing - Limited resources - Public opinion — "principle of least eligibility" - 1,600 inmates are released each day - ¾ history of substance abuse, 1 in 6 mentally ill, 2.3% HIV/AIDS, ⅓ unemployed - The average inmate has served a longer sentence, is more disconnected to society and their families, high higher rates of mental illness and substance abuse, is less educated, and unemployed, more likely to have been in custody previously, has young children, and has spent more time in solitary confinement with no human contact. - And overall, there is a lack of programs, job training, or education to address many of these issues. Why?
What are the individual barriers to success?
Missed opportunities Housing Financial barriers/obligations Employment civil disabilities Few mechanisms of relief Pardon Expungement
What are African Americans as offenders?
Overrepresented in both crime-related media coverage and in crime statistics - Twice as likely as their percentage of the population to be arrested (27.6% versus 13.2%) - Youth likely to experience highest levels of policing and criminalization - Inaccurate belief that African Americans are more likely to be criminals We know that African Americans are overrepresented in arrest statistics due to self-report data. - Statistics can be misleading and reflect: The power and privilege of dominant groups to criminalize the behaviors of racial minorities Drug laws specifically have historically targeted minority groups Criminalization of marijuana was in response to the second wave of Hispanic migration Criminalization of opium was in response to Chinese immigrants The over-policing of poor and minority communities The acceptance of stereotypes about criminality
What is the prevalence of incarceration?
Prison has become so commonplace that it has become "part of a cultural attitude which seems to treat incarceration as a rite of passage" The prevalence of incarceration is particularly stratified by race, gender, age, and educational attainment ⅓ of black men with less than a college education have been to prison Recent birth cohorts of black men are more likely to have a criminal record than 22.4 percent than have military experience 17.4 or a bachelor's entree 12.5% "Social inequalities have deepened as a result," making the "prison system an important new feature of American race and class inequality"
What is under policing?
Residents of communities like Ferguson and Baltimore argue that police I often decline to protect their basic human rights Residents in these areas often feel like they need to protect and police their own neighborhoods Leading to a reliance on gangs to provide both protection and resources Promotes an informal "code of the street"
What are the perspectives on social class and crime?
Social interactionist — approaches argue that if it were not for thebiased nature of the justice system, the poor would appear just aslaw-abiding as the affluent. Structural outcomes — perspectives generally argue that poorcommunities will suffer from higher rates of criminal street crimes, aswell as being victimized by business and corporate crimes, just as they suffer from disproportionate levels of other problems
What is the coercive mobility theory?
Socially Organized Neighborhood ——-> Informal Social Control: able to prevent crime in their neighborhood; supervise children, etc. Socially Disorganized Neighborhood ————> Weak Informal Social Control: unable to prevent crime in their neighborhood; supervise children, etc
What is the impact of incarceration on communties?
Some neighborhoods experience an absence of up to 20% of cult males on any given day due to incarceration. - Young male residents cycle in and out of jail/prison - Causes disruptions to their families and communities - Displaces the economic contributions that they were making to their families - Causes macro effects to neighborhoods since businesses do not want to invest in high incarceration communities; loss of jobs in these areas - Declines in marriage rates and family formation for entire communities - Tears apart the social fabric that is effective for combating crime aka informal social control - Means that high rates of incarceration contribute to increases in crime
What is over-policing and stop/frisk policies?
Strategies that aim to proactively go looking for and prevent crime, not just respond to crime "Stop and frisk" strategies: aggressively stopping, arresting, and detaining suspicious persons - Terry v Ohio - Reduced standard of probable cause down to "reasonable suspicion" for a "stop and frisk" - Aka Terry stops Pros - Crime reductions Cons - The role of implicit bias in officer's decisions to 'stop and frisk,' racial discrimination - Stop and frisk policies disproportionately impact non-white individuals - Floyd v. City of New York (2013) ruled that it is a violation of the constitution - Increase in citizen complaints and citizen police tension
What is the historical context?
The first major legal breakthrough came with the passing of the 1886 Civil Rights Act and the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the constitution. - The civil rights movement began during the period of Jim Crow laws Major court decisions and legislation include: - Plessy v. Ferguson (upheld separate but equal) - Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (struck down separate but equal) - Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1968 (Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in hiring, promoting, and firing.) - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Outlawed discriminatory voting practice adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests)
Riemann — the Rich get Richer and the Poor get Prison
The system is 'designed to fail' - Riemann describes the phenomena as a "Pyrrhic Defeat Theory" comparing it to be a "military victory at such a cost in troops and treasure that it amounts - Believed that CJ system "makes it more likely those who end up in jail or priison will be from lower class for similar crimes beacvsue the poor are more likely to be arrested, charged, coinvicted, etc compared to the rich. Street crimes are treated more harshly than white collar crimes.
What are policing practices?
There is both over and under policing of minority neighborhoods Both cause these already distressed communities further damage, isolation, and increased crime
What is the definition of crime and social class?
Unequal distribution of wealth creates unequal distribution of political power and law-making - Law markers reported net worth that is significantly higher than average American households. While there is agreement about some policies among the rich and poor (i.e. murder, rape, theft, etc.) resource-advantaged groups implement definitions of crime and justice to ensure elitism-caused harms to rarely be treated as crime - Thus, white collar crime is rarely punished as criminal - Street crimes or crimes by the poor are more likely to be punished
What is African American Victimization?
Violent Victimization - Rates of violent victimization contradict what we "think" we know about victimization (similar to whites rather than higher) Likelihood decrease with age Hate Crime Victimization - Hate or bias crimes generally target members of historically disadvantaged groups - Hate or bias crimes generally target members of historically disadvantaged groups - African Americans face the greatest victimization as a result of hate (three to four times more likely than other racial groups)
Deinstitutionalization
What does deinstitutionalization mean? - The massive release of mental patients from mental hospitals and their return to the community. - Mid-1950s-today - New drugs allowed patients to manage psychological problems while maintaining residence in the community. Transinstitutionalization - Offenders released from mental hospitals and are often found in other institutions such as jails and prisons
What are Social class and politics?
While some unevenness of wealth distribution is inevitable in competitive market societies, just how uneven this distribution will be is the result of political forces. - Government policies can intensify or mitigate class inequalities - Government policies can increase or decrease the criminogenic consequences of economic inequality.
