Economic inequality describes the gap between the wealthy and the poor. Individuals are given a socio- economic status based on their social class. Jacob and O’Brien (1998) concluded that police killings are more associated with the economic gaps between whites and blacks. As a result, cities with more African Americans are often targeted by police violence because of the poor urban condition and the economic inequality (Jacob and O’Brien 1998). These urban conditions include poor living lifestyle, low income, low employment, unsanitary environment, and dangerous crime related habits. Therefore, underprivileged minority communities are perceived as extremely unsafe and dangerous because people who live in these communities often associate with gangs (Jacob and O’Brien 1998). These gangs and juvenile delinquents commit illegal activities based on a variety of different reasons. Lack of money and support from family members is the leading causes of crimes. It is common for poor families to lack essential resources for survival due to the concept of the poor economic inequality among the minorities (Jacob and O’Brien 1998). In addition, unlike the upper social class, the poor communities have a lot of unsolved issues such as gangs, prostitutions, and thefts that need to be fixed in order to guarantee more safety in the community (Harris 1999). The unsolved issues that reside along the minority community cause police officers to act differently based on assumption and natural instinct (Smith and Holmes 2003). Generally, ethnic minorities are at the bottom of the economic scale. According to Smith and Holmes (2003), the police overreact toward minorities because they naturally assume that the minority community pos... ... middle of paper ... ...lled by police officers reside in the lower economic communities (Jacob and O’Brien 1998). In addition, law enforcement would naturally use excessive force to frisk or stop a profiled suspect based on the assign stereotypes of the given ethnicity (Risse and Zeckhauser 2004). This concept contributes to the higher rates of police brutality among the minorities. Moreover, Research compiled by US Human Rights Network presented a pattern of innocent black killed by police officer in an unreasonable manner. Of the thirty black people killed by police between the months of January 1 and March 31st 2012, twenty were unarmed of any dangerous weapon, twelve were innocent, and eight were emotionally unstable (Dave 2012). The astounding findings were against the black racial groups based on racial profiling, which eventually lead to the idea of racial discrimination.
Research from Hanser and Gomila (2015) revealed that most minority groups “live in lower-class neighborhoods in large urban centers where the greatest concentration of law enforcement officers exists” (p. 340). Racial disparity and discrimination are common among juveniles who are born in the United States from immigrant parents, particularly those residing in lower-class neighborhoods where crime is prevalent. Minority juveniles will also find themselves facing various difficulties and challenges
The historical mistreatment, and oppression of African Americans lives remains an indisputable fact in the history of the United States. The “Black Lives Matter” activist movement focuses on the death of African American lives in the hands of police. The movement raises awareness for police brutality and injustices minorities receive in the United States. The movement calls for an end to Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and police militarization immediately. To begin my research I looked into the “Black Lives Matter” movement on various news sources. I then conducted research using academic databases, such as Opposing viewpoints in context. Lastly, I collected statistics from various reliable encyclopedias. The sources allowed me to narrow my subject and develop a good response. Minorities are discriminated by law enforcement, and the research will prove this.
Choudhury and Fenwick (2011) argue that as a result of increased policing and stop and searches, more members of minorities are subjected to prejudice and discriminatory views from law enforcement which has heightend distrust amonst minorities with the police force as laws are seen as being unlawfully implicated amongst members of their minority group as a result of their race of religious
Minority groups have always been underrepresented in police forces across the United States. One of the main reasons minority groups are underrepresented in police department is due to the negative interaction White officers have had with citizens of minority groups. According to McNamara and Burns (2008), members of minority groups feel police officers abuse of their authority by overstepping the boundaries of procedural laws, which dictates how the police are to use their powers. The conflicts between minorities and White officers has caused many individuals from minority groups to not be attracted to the police work. Moreover, individuals from minority groups do not apply for police work because they feel they would not be accepted in policing,
Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.
Newburn (2011) stated, “Until well into the 1960’s while there were a few people from minority ethnic communities represented in sport, business, politics, and the civil service, there were no Asian police officers whatsoever” (p. 611). Some of the challenges that police recruiters may face when recruiting Asian-Americans are as follows: (1) language barriers; (2) cultural differences; (3) racist attitudes; (4) historical distrust; and (5) racial biases (Scaramella et al., 2011). Law enforcement agencies that are culturally and linguistically diverse are prone to be more effective in serving diverse communities. The underrepresentation of Asian-American police officers can negatively impact the solvability of violent crimes such as home invasions and arm robberies in Asian communities (Le, 2015). Asian immigrants are more willing to address criminal activities to Asian-American police officers as oppose to non-Asian-Americans (Cao, 2011). Reporting criminal activities to the police is beneficial for both the victim and the department. An offense report could either
This year there's been a lot of brutalities. In fact, there have been at least 500 people killed by the police officers this year. In this article, we are going to be talking about police brutality against African Americans. We are also going to talk about the differences and similarities of different cases that have been in the news this year. For example, the Sandra bland, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and the Walter Scott cases. Also, we're going to talk about how these cases have affected the African American community.
One of the most controversial issues today is the act of racial profiling. The most common form is direct, meaning victims are directly profiled, usually by the police. In this form, individual officers act on racial stereotypes against racial minorities, especially African Americans. Recent studies in New Jersey and Illinois have confirmed that minorities are disproportionately targeted by police officers, although minorities are almost helpless in reporting ‘color of law’ attacks. It is their word against a legal official and, in most cases, the minority victim does not receive justification because the officers are cleared of charges. Out of nearly 10,000 color of law complaints received each year by the Department of Justice, only about thirty police officers are actually prosecuted. According to a June 1999 study done by the American Civil Liberties Union, many states have denied that racial profiling occurs despite overwhelming evidence supporting it. The public wants to believe that police officers are doing their jobs righteously by protecting and serving; however, according to the study, most Americans can recognize the difference between racism and assertive, effective policing.
Harris, A.J., & Shaw J.A. (2000) Looking for Patterns: Race, Class, and Crime. Chapter 4(
Authors of this document had written an evidence that proves the tensions between the minorities and the police. In their article, there were unanswered questions of the behavior of the police. Statistics were involved explaining how characteristics of police and communities affect the incidence of filed complaints on police violence. There were two hypotheses on threatening minorities made relatively to complaints. These authors had made analytical theories behind
Police brutality is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States and it occurs everywhere. The reason why I chose this topic is because police brutality happens all the time in the United States and still remains unrecognized by many. Additionally, the public should be knowledgeable about this topic because of how serious this crime can be and the serious outcomes that police brutality can have on other police officers and the public. The job of police officers is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crimes. They are involved in very dangerous and stressful occupations that can involve violent situations that must be stopped and controlled by any means. In many confrontations with people, police may find it necessary to use excessive force to take control of a certain situation. Sometimes this makes an officer fight with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all cops in communities are great cops. At least once a year, the news covers a story about a person being beat by an officer. The article “Minority Threat and Police Brutality: Determinants of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints in U.S. Municipalities” by Malcolm D. Holmes from the University of Wyoming, uses the conflict theory to explain why officers go after minorities sometimes causing police brutality. It explains the police’s tension with African American and Latino males. Those minorities are the ones that retaliate more against police officers which causes the officer to use violent force to defend themselves.
Social Science Research, 38, 717-731. http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/tmp/9506051508484483171.pdf. Nielsen, A. L., & Martinez, R. (2011). Nationality, immigrant groups, and arrests. Examining the diversity of arrests for urban violent crime.
Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.
Protests around the world have taken place to fight for justice in the black community. The immense number of deaths of unarmed black men and women is a clear sign that they are more likely to be killed by police than white people. Physical violence and excessive use of force by the U.S. police towards African Americans are seen in the news regularly. “People, including police officers, hold strong implicit associations between blacks, and probably Hispanics, and weapons, crime and aggression," said Jack Glaser. Police brutality statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely to be murdered by cops than any other race. Racial disparity in the United States is a coherent reason for the increase of criminal injustice in the United
Police brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer.