Quantitative Literature Review: Minority attitudes towards the police and public perceptions
Introduction-Background-Problem
Individuals who seem to be more unhappy with police are African Americans. But there is little to no factors that truly engage citizen's view of the police Brown and Benedict (2002). The specific parts on attitudes are reliable, but the literature seems to lead to mixed signals based on other variables Weitzer and Tuch (2002). Perceptions of the police includes factors like personal experience, vicarious experience and mass media. For example, public’s experiences with the police, what individuals learn from friends and/or acquaintances, and what's learned from the media Gallagher et al. (2001).
Definitions of Terms
The following 3 studies pertained to racial profiling-which is defined as police using race as a factor- along with an accumulation of other factors, (cooperation) in which causes an officer to react with suspicion and take action. In other words police cannot use racial or ethic stereotypes as factors in selecting whom to stop and search and police cannot use race or ethnicity to choose whether a person matches a specific description of a particular individual and/or suspect.
Variables
The independent variable will pertain to African Americans being stopped by police due to racial profiling and the dependent variable pertaining to the cooperation with police from African Americans in result.
Research Question
It is expected that African Americans being racially profiled will have a less chance of willing to cooperate with police. To investigate this, the following research question has been created; “Is there a relationship between how many times in the last year, (as an African...
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...ions of the police.” Policing 25:543-580.
-Weitzer, Ronald and Steven Tuch 2002 “Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class, and personal experience.” Criminology 40:435-456.
-Gallahher, Catherine, Edward Maguire, Stephen Mastrofski, and Michael Reisig 2001 The Public Image of the Police. Alexandria, VA: International Association of Chiefs of Police.
-Ramirez, et al., opt cit., p 59.
-Traffic Stop Data Collection Policies for State Police, 1999. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
-Akers, R., and Sellers, C. Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
-Ramirez, D., McDevitt, J., & Farrell, A. (2000). A Resource guide on racial profiling data collection systems: Promising practices and lessons learned. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
Harris, David A. ACLU. (1999). "DRIVING WHILE BLACK: RACIAL PROFILING ON OUR NATION'S HIGHWAYS" American Civil Liberties Union. Web. 18 May 2015.
There is dispute regarding what defines racial profiling. Critics ask Is it racist, or is a necessary part of law enforcement. Racial profiling is identified by Adele Cassola in her article as unjust whereas Denyse Coles argues that racial profiling is necessary and is not considered racism. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission “Racial profiling is based on stereotypical assumptions because of one’s race, colour, ethnicity, etc.” whereas criminal profiling “relies on actual behaviour or on information about suspected activity by someone who meets the description of a specific individual” (Facts Sheet, para 2). This definition is also shared by Casola but Coles considers them as the same. It is important to separate fact from feelings when discussing racial profiling; stereotypes are offensive, however identifying one’s race in a criminal profile does not make one racist.
For the past few years there has been an ongoing debate surrounding the issue of racial profiling. The act of racial profiling may rest on the assumption that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to commit crimes than any individual of other races or ethnicities. Both David Cole in the article "The Color of Justice" and William in the article "Road Rage" take stance on this issue and argue against it in order to make humanity aware of how erroneous it is to judge people without evidence. Although Cole and William were very successful in matters of showing situations and qualitative information about racial profiling in their articles, both of them fail at some points.
"The Reality of Racial Profiling." CivilRights.org. The Leadership Conference, 22 08 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. .
How Minorities Feel About Police According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships. The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated “If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990’s ripe for change.
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Myths are defined as stories that are made up by society that symbolizes values, ideologies and beliefs (Phillips, 2016). Myths are used by all cultures; myths are stories that are told to support social customs in societies. Crime myths are also created by telling stories (Victor Kappeler & Gary Potter, 2005). Myths about police officers have created false imageries of officers and their day-to-day jobs. Myths about the police have played an important role for decades now (Phillips, 2016). Majority of police myths are created by both the media and the police themselves. This paper will review Victor Kappeler and Gary Potters summary of police myths and outside sources will be used to support the myths listed by the authors.
In the United States of America today, racial profiling is a deeply troubling national problem. Many people, usually minorities, experience it every day, as they suffer the humiliation of being stopped by police while driving, flying, or even walking for no other reason than their color, religion, or ethnicity. Racial profiling is a law enforcement practice steeped in racial stereotypes and different assumptions about the inclination of African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American or Arab people to commit particular types of crimes. The idea that people stay silent because they live in fear of being judged based on their race, allows racial profiling to live on.
Williams, Reginald. A. Risse and Zeckhauser “On Racial Profiling: A Reply.” Utilitas 22.2 (2010): 228-31.
Racial profiling in America, as evidenced by recent events, has reached a critical breaking point. No longer can an African American, male or female, walk into a store, school, or any public place without fear of being stereotyped as a person of suspicion. Society constantly portrays the African American
Some Advocators argued that racial profiling has a major effect on society. In Arrest Development, James B. Forman Argues that, “Blacks are usually the victims of racial profiling; he also argues that unlike the Republican leaders, the Democratic leaders have publicly denouncing racial profiling. Forman believes that racial profiling, turn the police against minorities instead of for them; moreover racial profiling corrupts the effect of equal treatment under the law.” (qtd in Crime and Criminals, 2004).
In the past few years, racial profiling has become a very prominent issue in American society. In “Racial Profiling,” “Racial Profiling is a controversial and illegal discriminatory practice in which individuals are targeted for suspicion of crimes based on their ethnicity, race, or religion rather than on evidence-based suspicious behavior” (Para. 11). Many people are wronged because of this phenomenon and effects many of them in multiple ways. Racial profiling is effecting many people and it needs to be addressed.
Lilly, Robert J., Francis T. Cullen, and Richard A. Ball. 2011. Criminological Theory: Context And Consequences. 5th ed. California: SAGE.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, (5th Edition). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.