Criminology Assignment

•  Use social structural theories to explain how the structure of U. S. society may cause minorities to be over-represented within the criminal justice system.  You should pay specific attention to social disorganization theory, strain theory, and culture conflict theory.

The structure of the U. S. society affects minority groups to a great extent fostering their over-representation within the criminal justice system. According to social structural theories, it is possible to identify the areas, which demonstrate how minorities are over-represented because of the dominant position of whites. For example, culture conflict theory gives an explanation for the over-representation of minorities within the criminal justice system because of their economic position and social status. Human behavior is formed by existing cultural norms and standards. Most minorities are poor. The criminal laws are focused mainly on the behavior demonstrated by the poor. For example, street crimes are committed mostly by the poor who come from racial minority groups. The types of crimes committed by minorities include robbery and burglary. The existence of cultural conflict is caused by racial conflict that comes from the times of slavery. Prejudiced attitudes affect the over-representation of minorities within the criminal justice system, which leads to an increased rate of arrests and incarceration. Hence, the over-representation of minorities is caused by discrimination (Walker et al., 2016). According to social disorganization theory,  high rates of crime among minorities in the United States can be explained by the existence of social inequality, which is reflected in poverty, unemployment, and poor opportunities for personal development and professional growth. Social disorder is addressed in U. S. society through the implementation of community policing and problem-oriented policing (Walker et al., 2016). According to social strain theory, the dominant set of social values and goals has a negative impact on minorities because of the gaps that exist between whites and blacks. Minority groups face racial discrimination because of the limited resources to achieve widely accepted social goals. As a result, they experience strain that makes them use illegal methods to improve their quality of life ( Walker et al., 2016). In general, the structure of the U. S. society is based on class division, which leads to the “control of legal institutions by those at the top o the class structure” (Shelden et al., 2015). In other words, racial and ethnic inequalities contribute to the reduction of the credibility of the U. S. criminal justice system which leads to the failure in treating everyone equally. Thus, black men and women are arrested by mistake and held in prison for long periods of time.

• Use social process theories to critique social structural theories.  Pay specific attention to differential association theory and labeling theory.  Explain why these theories may better explain the over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system. 

Social process theories can be used to critique social structural theories because of the impact of society on the increased crime rate among minorities. Crime is linked to the ability to learn delinquent behaviors from others. Social processes affect individuals’ intention to commit crimes. According to differential association theory, socialization plays a crucial role in the explanation of the over-representation of minorities within the criminal justice system. It becomes clear that if a person is affected by the antisocial behavior of his peers, he will be involved in criminal activity in the future.  Hence, criminal behavior demonstrated by a person can be justified through the analysis of the environment that fosters violation of the established rules, laws, and norms (Elam, 2010). According to labeling theory, people are involved in criminal activity because they are controlled by others who expect them to commit crimes. As a result, minorities in the USA are measured by norms that have been developed by the dominant group. Both differential association theory and labeling theory can be used to give an explanation of the issue of over-representation of minority groups in the criminal justice system. Actually, these theories may provide a better explanation of the over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system for the reason that they refer to social processes theories that are based on socio-psychological effects of social interaction. It is obvious that the explanation of the major process that affects crime occurrence contributes to a better understanding of criminality. Crimes can be viewed as the result of social interaction, which involves the interaction of people from different racial-ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Comparing social process theories to social structural theories applied to the issue of the over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system, it is possible to conclude that theories like differential association theory and labeling theory are more effective and persuasive in the identification of the destructive social forces. Hence, discriminatory social structures, increased poverty rate, racial inequality, and cultural conflicts are used to explore why minorities are over-represented in the U. S. criminal justice system (Elam, 2010). 

• Survey the various radical theories of crime as presented in chapter 9 of your textbook. Briefly use these theories to critique both social structural theory and social process theories.  Explain how radical theories of deviance can provide an alternative explanation of why minorities are over-represented in the U. S criminal justice system.

The various radical theories of crime can be used to critique both social structural theory and social process theories, applied to the issue of over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system. According to supporters of the radical theories of crime, the factors like class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age can affect the behavior of individuals, while the criminal justice system responds to the effects of these factors in its own way. Radical theories of crime criticize social structural theories that are based on the assessment of the negative aspects of societal structures, including poor family organization, poverty, income inequality, race discrimination, which generate criminal behavior. Hence, radical theories of crime are more effective in determining the major causes of crimes committed by minorities. As a result, these theories tend to critique both societal structural theories and social process theories, highlighting the role of the demoralizing impact of the existing economic system in the United States, its structure, and development. Unequal distribution of wealth and power are the key reasons for minorities’ delinquent behavior, which leads to their involvement in criminal activity (Shelden et al., 2015). Besides, radical theories of deviance give an alternative explanation of the phenomenon of over-representation of minorities in the U. S. criminal justice system. In fact, radical theories of deviance consider the actuality of crime commitment and the application of laws to ensure justice. There is a close relationship between various control institutions in establishing the proper control over crime rate growth. Deviance is defined as the behavior of an individual which violates the established social norms and standards, and which is disapproved by society. For example, the Marxist theory of crime, which refers to radical criminology assumes that crime occurs due to continuous class struggle. Radical criminology is focused on criticizing traditional criminologist views on the explanation of crime and deviance, which place emphasis on individualistic approaches. Hence, radical theories of deviance locate crime and deviant behavior in the context that provides the powerful classes of society with an opportunity to establish their own definitions of deviant behavior based on power relationships. Thus, minority groups are over-represented in the criminal justice system because of the deviant behavior that is defined by powerful classes of society as illegal acts which lead to crime (Shelden et al., 2015).

• Finally, apply one of these theories to the first op-ed included with this assignment.  The author in the first op-ed is suggesting that the United States is not a color-blind society – do you believe that this is true?  Use theory and evidence to support your argument.  Feel free to either agree with or critique the author’s opinion.

Applying one of the theories to the suggestions of the author that the United States is not a color-blind society, it is necessary to explore the key facts used by the author and draw relevant conclusions. The theory selected for this discussion is the labeling theory, which was developed by French sociologist Émile Durkheim (Shelden et al., 2015). According to this theory, crime cannot be viewed as a violation of the established rules, laws, and regulations as any criminal activity outrages society. The labeling theory of crime is based on the fact that crime is a socially constructed act. The United States is not a color-blind society, according to labeling theory. American society is not color-blind because of the existing social inequality that affects minority groups, which are viewed as powerless compared to the dominant group. Although the U. S. education system is focused on claiming that the USA is a color-blind country, which does not differentiate races, there are many cases in which African Americans are experiencing racial stereotyping. For example, “black men who worked as undercover cops were occasionally shot to death by white colleagues” (Stapples, 2009). In fact, a color-blind ideology that has been promoted in U.S. society is based on the fact that race should not be considered when making decisions. Nevertheless, this approach affects the identities of minorities, leading to continuous inequalities and stereotyping. Hence, the author’s opinion regarding the nature of the U. S. society is true. The United States is not a color-blind society because people do not ignore race in the decision-making process. In the criminal justice system, minorities are over-represented because of the existing racial inequalities. The existence of color-blind policies reduces the negative impact of the racial ideology, but there are still many failures that lead to the absence of color-blindness. Although many white Americans believe the United States is successful in becoming a color-blind society, there are still many examples of racial stereotyping experienced by African Americans and other minority groups. The use of labeling theory allows explaining why the United States is not a color-blind society. A color-blind society is impossible because of the failure to recognize race and eliminate racial tension (Shelden et al., 2015).

References

      Elam, P. (2008). Explaining Recidivism: The Impact of Program Integrity on the Success of African American Male Offenders. ProQuest.

      Shelden, R. G., Brown, W. B., Miller, K. S., Fritzler, R. B. (2015). Crime and Criminal Justice in American Society: Second Edition.Waveland Press.

      Stapples, (2009). “Even Now, There’s Risk in “Driving While Black”

      Walker, S., Spohn, C., DeLone, M. (2016). The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America. Cengage Learning.