Crim- 411 Midterm
Article: Creating Racial Disadvantage: The Case of Crack Cocaine Policy and policymakers
-African Americans, represent about 12 percent of the U.S. population, now comprise over 50 percent of new prison admissions, a rate of incarceration 8.2 times that of Whites. -At the federal level, over 90 percent of those convicted for using or selling crack are African American. -Extraordinarily harsh penalties for possession and sale of crack appear to be a permanent part of the political landscape -Easy to portray crack as a "Black" drug without sounding racist because the most visible sales occurred in Black urban ghettos, and the most visible sellers were Black.
Video: Afraid of Dark
-Culture -Stereotypes (black males and females) -Our standards (fatherhood, black women) How our perceptions shape crime -violence and crime rates in certain neighborhoods -justifying police brutality and incarceration rates with the notion of "black on black crime" and fear
Article: Creating Racial Disadvantage: The Case of Crack Cocaine The Media
-Federal officials actively encouraged the media to focus attention on crack as a drug arising from the Black urban ghetto -Media willingness to cooperate because crack was the hottest combat reporting story to come along since the end of the Vietnam war. -Media heavily influenced by the government. Footage provided by law-enforcement organizations. Escalated the issue -Government officials promoted the idea that crack dealers posed an imminent threat to the nation -Fear induced rhetoric: "folk devils"
Typical Offender Portrait
-Many associate "crime" with African Americans -The perception of crime is associated with "Street Crime" -Many citizens overestimate the prevalence of crime due to: •Personal experience •Vicarious Experience •Media images
Article: Creating Racial Disadvantage: The Case of Crack Cocaine Policy and policymakers
-Reagan punitive drug war to appease middle class suburban voters and republican party -October 28, 1986, $1.7 billion "Drug-Free America Act." -prison capacities would be doubled and users, as well as dealers, would be incarcerated -five-year minimum prison term for first-offense trafficking of five grams of a mixture containing cocaine base (crack) and a ten-year minimum for fifty grams. -1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act: simple possession of cocaine base, with no evidence of intent to sell. A first-time offender, under the new law, receives at least five years in federal prison
The Color of Law chapters 1-4
-Redlining -Blockbusting -Government backed segregated housing -Overpopulated minority neighborhoods with inadequate housing -Creation of white suburbs -African Americans excluded from mortgage loans assistance, middle class white neighborhoods, predominately white neighborhoods -African Americans banned from being seen in town after dark
Chapter 2: Picture of the Typical Offender
-Shaped by TV news & newspapers -Usually feature African American males or Hispanic males as offenders -Usually feature whites as victims -Leads to presumptions that such cases are typical
Article: Are we still talking about OJ? Black Protectionism
-The media's gravitation toward a high profile (celebrity) case -Black population's gravitation towards a member of their community being treated unfairly -Opened conversation for discrimination and unfair treatment of African Americans in the court system and portrayed a picture of 2 CJS
Why systemic racism is still a problem
-employment: the number of black people employed is noticeably lower compared to whites and hispanics -due to covid unemployment rates rose for all groups but continue to be higher for the black population -black Americans are underrepresented in high-paying jobs -black Americans are underrepresented in the highest echelons of government -black Americans have historically earned far less than white workers -Lower incomes mean that the poverty rate for Black families is twice that of white families (household wealth lower) -One of the contributing factors to the household wealth disparity is student loans (black women getting degrees and maybe also having to take out loans for school)
Video: Greensboro Four
-four guys at a&t university -segregated diner -sat in a restricted section for African Americans -gained media attention -non-violent protests (sit-ins across NC) -fought against discrimination and showed courage, principles, and persistence
Racial Hoax
-intentionally directing law enforcement and media towards "stereotypical" criminal groups -wastes law enforcement resources
Chapter 1: Problems with Criminal Justice Data on Race and Ethnicity
1. Some is self-report; some isn't 2. Hispanics sometimes counted as white 3. Native American Complexities -Multiple jurisdictions (native and nonnative) -Underreporting to tribal authorities -Underreporting to federal authorities 4. Data on race/ethnicity varies nationally
Sources of Criminal Justice Data
1. Uniform Crime Report (UCR) 2. National Crime Victims Survey (NCVS) 3. Police-Public Contact Survey 4. National Prisoner Statistics (NPS)
What are possible reasons that explain why the media coverage of missing person cases do not reflect the current reality?
1. Views/money: unfortunately media is ruled by the views. The trend of what is newsworthy when it comes to missing persons has a particular look "young, white, female" 2. African American families reporting a missing person to law enforcement often gets the response that they ran away (intentionally) In reality, the majority of missing persons are part of the minority but the majority of missing persons in media are white
Problems with Immigration Enforcement
1.Immigration is federal law 2.Usually enforced by federal government 3.Can be enforced by local agencies (complicated process) 4.Being undocumented isn't a crime but a civil offense 5.Local enforcement invites discrimination and damages police-community relationships 6.Strains local police resources
Problems with Racial and Ethnic categories contin.
1.Multiracial Americans 2.The uses of these categories 3.Preferred labels within groups 4.Diversity within racial and ethnic groups 5.The politics of racial and ethnic labels
Chapter 1: The Colors of America: Racial and Ethnic Categories Problems
1.Not biological 2.Official forms are inconsistent 3.Hard to classify those who are mixed race 4.Categorizations are social-political not based on anthropology or science 5.Not Logical
Chapter 2: Media and Crime
21st Century reality in Media and Crime are Racial Hoaxes
Discrimination
Behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group.
Interracial Crime
Crimes between people of different races, hate crimes
Disparity
Difference not always about discrimination
Contextual discrimination
Discrimination found in particular contexts or circumstances
Chapter 3: Explain how inheritance perpetuates inequalities
Generational wealth creates an economic gap between people who have it and the ones who don't. This leads to disproportionate educational and job opportunities
Video: Tulia Texas
In the video Tulia, the undercover agent Tom Coleman had a spotless record in his law enforcement career and personal business dealings and his word was taken for face value after the massive incarceration of the African American population in Tulia Texas on the backing of drug procession and distribution -harsh sentences -questionable evidence -gained media attention -Coleman's past questioned his creditability -Lawyers came to help people who were wrongly arrested
Article: Racial Hoaxes Playing the Race Card
Racial Hoax: fabricating a crime and blaming someone because of their race or falsely accusing someone of crime because of their race -plays on racial stereotypes -Majority involves white accusing black (harsh crimes) -still current -not considered a crime (no punishment for accuser no help for the accused)
Article: Race, Residence, and Violent Crime: A Structure of Inequality Residential segregation history, policies and practices and violent crime today
Residential segregation history: -blockbusting, redlining -Keeping African Americans out of middle class neighborhoods and keeping middle class African Americans in lower middle class - Inequalities are outgrowths of structural arrangements (racial residential segregation) that favor whites and subordinate other racial groups -racist attitudes, market discrimination Policies and Practices: - Restrictive covenants (prohibit the purchase, lease, or occupation of a piece of property by a particular group of people) - FHA/Veterans Administration Lending policies (redlining, minimum unit and lot standards) - Whites inability to live near minorities Violent Crime Today: - Violence is heightened in neighborhoods that are highly disadvantaged and residentially unstable - Significantly higher violent crime in black neighborhoods than any other (2-3x's higher in minority neighborhoods compared to white neighborhoods)
Chapter 3: Social Capital and Cultural Capital
Social Capital: Network of friends, relationships, & contacts Cultural Capital: Education, knowledge, skills/trade - the potential of individuals to secure benefits and opportunities through their network. Tremendously impacts an individuals odds of becoming a victim or criminal
Discrimination disparity continuum
Systematic Discrimination -discrimination within entire CJ system Institutionalized Discrimination -disparities based on established policies Contextual Discrimination -discrimination in certain situations Individual Discrimination -discrimination by specific justice officials Pure Justice -no discrimination
Article: White Crime The Criminalblackman White Fear and White Racism
White Crime: whites are arrested more than any other racial group Criminalblackman: societies perception that crime is violent, black, and male -due mainly to media portrayals White fear and white racism: -black crime rates are the source of white racism -whites fear blacks living near them (subject to crime) -affirmative action. Whites fear losing their status and jobs to less deserving minorities -white fear of cultural dominance by black culture (the antithesis of American culture) -fear of losing majority stats (black revolt) -fear of racial revenge (rebellion) Unjustifiable reasons to fear African Americans and exhibit racist behavior
Chapter 3: Explain how the nature of poverty has changed in the U.S.
With the civil rights movement African Americans have more opportunities now within education, equal rights, economic empowerment, and government policy. however, poverty is still persistent because of an inadequate welfare system, lack of economic transformation, poverty culture "encouraging lack of effort" and the debate over social structure v. individual character
Hate Crime
a criminal act against a person or a person's property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias
Retreatism
a rejection of both goals and the accepted means of achieving them example: a homeless persons lacks the means and motivation to achieve goals
Social Construct
a social mechanism or practice that is constructed by society; essentially everybody in society agrees to treat a certain aspect a certain way regardless of its inherent value, e.g. the idea of gender, social class
What is the Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery in 1865 "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Innovation
an acceptance of society's goals but different means of attaining them example: dealing drugs or stealing to attain the wealth you want
Legal Consciousness
attitudes and views of individuals toward the law and how these attitudes and views influence individuals' willingness and ability to pursue legal remedies
Intraracial Crime
crime within same race
Systematic discrimination
discrimination at all stages of the criminal justice system, at all times, and at all places
Individual Discrimination
discrimination carried out by one person against another
Institutionalized discrimination
discrimination that is an outgrowth of the structure of society. Using neutral data or terms
Pure justice
no racial or ethnic discrimination at all
Video: Unequal opportunity race
our background, who are parents are, where we stay, among other things affect our position in this world. -economic divide -limited opportunities or more opportunities
Rebellion
rejection of societal goals and the established means of achieving them and actively attempts to replace both elements with different goals and means example: mass shootings. person may have felt isolated and found a way to get attention
What is Race
socially constructed categories based on physical differences -Often applied by a politically/culturally dominant group to a less powerful group
What is Ethnicity
the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition. -food, language, religion -Extremely complex ex. Hispanics v. Latinos
What is Mass Incarceration
the imprisonment of a large proportion of a population
Social Disorganization Theory
•Focus on inner cities •Holds that poverty conditions reduce influences that socialize people to be law-abiding •Values & behavior are passed on example: public housing projects and delinquency
Conflict Theory
•Holds that CJ administration reflects realities of social inequalities •Powerful groups use CJ system to maintain dominant position example: punishment for white collar crime (people of higher status) is less severe than punishment for blue collar crime (lower class status)
Culture Conflict Theory
•Holds that crime is a matter of definition and is common where there is less agreement on social values •Majority defines social norms and determines what is or is not criminal example: debate over abortion
Differential Association Theory
•Holds that criminal behavior is learned behavior. The more contact a person has with people who are already involved in crime, the more likely that person is to engage in criminal activity example: gang presence and activity in a neighborhood may influence young kids following them
Routine Activity Theory
•Shifts focus from offenders to incidents •Stresses role of daily routine(s) in either... •Reinforcing social control, thus preventing crime •Undermining social control, thus increasing crime example: an owner of a Television might be away from their home when a burglar decides to target the television for stealing. The television is the target and the owner's absence indicates the absence of a capable guardian, thereby making the crime more likely according to the theory.
Social Strain Theory
•each society has dominant values with acceptable methods of achieving goals •Not all can achieve these goals, or do so acceptably - creating social strain example: a person loses their job and turns to crime to make money
Chapter 1: The Crime and Immigration Controversy
"With few exceptions, immigrants are less crime prone than natives or have no effect on crime rates"
