Thesis on "Controversy of Race in Criminology"

Thesis 7 pages (2005 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Controversy of Race in Criminology

The objective of this work is to examine the controversy of race in criminology. The work of Walsh and Beaver (2008) entitled: "Biosocial Criminology: New Directions in Theory and Research" states that race

"...is an undoubtedly complex subject that remains in the fringes of acceptable discussion in civil society. Race becomes an even more sensitive topic when it is connected to biology, and especially when biologically-based racial differences are connected to differences between races in human traits and behaviors." (Walsh and Beaver, 2008)

Walsh and Beaver additionally state that the question of race as "Just a social invention....remains an open, scientific question or a 'dead organizing concept." (2008) Walsh and Beaver hold that there is a "disagreeable tendency to label those who do not follow the party line with respect to race as racists, which has led to an 'unproductive mix of controversy and silence." (2008)

Today's scientific information and evidence on the subject of race states that new findings show that humans "...differ genetically by 10% or more and asks the question of whether races also differ?" (Walsh and Beaver, 2008) if one were to attempt to make a call on the race differentials and to base that decision upon the statistical data available in today's judicial and court systems the differences in race would be found as astronomically and unbelievably different. However, there are those who state that today's criminal justice statistics are severely skewed as well as being disparate and disproportionate in nature.

I. The Facts

The work of Garland, Spohn, and Wodahl (2008) entitled: "Racial Disproportionality in the American Prison Population: Using the Blumstein Method to Address the Critical Race and Justice Issue of the 21st Century" state that statistics indicate that "racial/ethnic minorities, particularly black and Hispanic males, face a disproportionately high risk of incarceration in the United States." (Garland, Spohn, and Wodahl, 2008)

In fact, it is argued by Garland, Spohn and Wodahl that this is the most serious of all issues that criminal justice policymakers in contemporary times face and it is related as well that this determination was made through the assessment of the "negative impact that incarceration can have on individuals, their communities, and the integration of minorities into the nation's larger, social, economic, and political landscape." (2008)

II. The Statistics

At the ending of year 2005 there were "1,525,924 persons incarcerated in state and federal prisons; 40% of these inmates were black, 35% were white, and 20% were Hispanic..." (Harrison & Beck, 2006 in: Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) Otherwise stated, black individuals "...comprise about 12% of the U.S. population but two-fifths of the prison population." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008)

Garland, Spohn and Wodahl relate that for black males the disparities are "even more dramatic...and particularly for males in their twenties and thirties. In 2005, 8.1% of all black males age 25 to 29 were in prison, compared to 2.6% of Hispanic males and 1.1% of white males. Although the absolute numbers are much smaller, the pattern for females is similar." (2008)

It is additionally noted that the crimes that individuals who are of a racial minority are imprisoned for are different that those white individuals are imprisoned for having committed and stated as an example is that black and Hispanic individuals "were much more likely than whites to be imprisoned for drug offenses." (Garland, Spohn, and Wodahl, 2008) Twenty-four percent of the blacks and 23% of the Hispanics were imprisoned for drug offenses, compared to only 14% of the whites (Harrison & Beck 2006, in Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008).

III. Research and Limitations in Research on Disparities in Rates of Imprisonment

Overall, Garland, Spohn and Wodahl state that Black individuals are "incarcerated at 5.6 times, and Hispanics 1.8 times, the rate of whites." (Mauer & King, 2007 in: Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) One limitation noted in the research on prison-sentencing disparities is the differences based on geological locations however, it is stated that Alfred Blumstein in 1982 introduced a methodology for examining the disparities in prison sentencing regardless of location. The approach of Blumstein is one that determines "how much racial or ethnic disproportionality in incarceration can be explained by differences in arrests." (2008)

Research findings show that the disparities in sentencing and the disproportionality resulting from such sentencing renders impacts on society such as the greater portion of the minority race being unable to vote due to being imprisoned. (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) Garland, Spohn and Wodahl cite the work of Mauer (2002) stating that forty-eight U.S. states "...prohibit prison inmates from voting, and 13 states can ban felons from voting for life." (2008)

The work of Mauer (1999) entitled: "The Crisis of the Young African-American Male and the Criminal Justice System" reports the following statistics:

(1) 49% of prison inmates in the U.S. are African-American as compared to their 13% share of the overall population;

(2) Nearly one in three (32%) black males in the age group 20-29 is under some form of criminal justice supervision on any given day -- either in prison or jail, or on probation or parole;

(3) as of 1995, one in fourteen (7%) adult black males was incarcerated in prison or jail on any given day, representing a doubling of this rate from 1985; and (4) a Black male born in 1991 has a 29% chance of spending time in prison at some point in his life. The figure for white males is 4% and for Hispanics 16%. (Mauer, 1999)

Garland, Spohn and Wodahl (2008) cite the work of Clear and Rose (2003) who note that the "...political exclusion caused by incarceration can undermine the legitimacy of political activism and weaken "...the capacity and willingness of individuals to engage in civic citizenry." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) it was argued in the work of Blumstein that if there was not discrimination existing in the criminal justice system after the arrest phase that blacks and whites "would be imprisoned for a crime in the exact distribution as they were arrested for that crime." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008)

Stated for example is that if 35% of individuals arrested for murder were black then expectations would be that 35% of all individuals sent to prison for murder would therefore be black individuals. Blumstein used the equation as follows in his study:

Figure 1

Blumstein's Equation

Ratio of expected black-to-white incarceration rates

based only on arrest disproportionality

Explained disproportionality =

Ratio of black-to-white incarceration rates actually

Observed.

Source: Garland, Spohn, and Wodahl (2008)

Stated to be an interesting discovery in the study of Blumstein is the fact that "the degree of incarceration disproportionality for violent crimes that could not be explained by disproportionality at arrest was 2.8% for homicide, 5.2% for aggravated assault, 15.6% for robbery, and 26.3% for forcible rape." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) the percentages stated for property crimes were "33.1% for burglary and 45.6% for larceny/auto theft." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008) There was an unexplained disproportionality for drugs at 48.9%. (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008)

In Blumstein's 1993 follow-up study the "distribution of prisoners by crime had changed significantly since the earlier study, with drug offenders increasing from 5.7% to 21.5% of all prisoners" [however] despite the upsurge in prison populations...the racial disproportionality of incarceration rates remained stable at a ratio of approximately 7 to 1." (Garland, Spohn and Wodahl, 2008)

The statistics are clear as can be seen in the following chart which has been adapted from the work entitled: "Racial, Ethnic and Gender Disparities in federal Sentencing Today."

Figure 2

Racial and Ethnic Composition of Federal Offender Population

Source: (USSC.gov, nd)

The work of Olatunde C.A. Johnson (2007) entitled: "Disparity Rules" states that Congress in 1992 made is a requirement that states receiving federal juvenile justice funds bring about a reduction in racial disparities in the confinement rates of minority juveniles." (Johnson, 2007) Stated as the problem with this provision is that required is the "reduction of racial disparities regardless of whether these disparities were motivated by intentional discrimination or justified by 'legitimate' agency interests." (Johnson, 2007)

Johnson states that this standard, referred to as the DMC standard (disproportionate minority contact) standard is "...a partial response to the failure of constitutional and statutory standards to discourage actions that produce racial disparity." (Johnson, 2007) Johnson states that the reason that racial disparities warrant public intervention is

"...because of the continuing role of public policy and institutional practices in generally racial inequality. As public institutions develop and implement social policy -- provide education, reform welfare, develop sentencing policy, operate juvenile justice systems -- they make decisions with racial effects that are often predictable and easily observable." (Johnson, 2007)

These public practices while not "causing' the racial inequity tend to "...exacerbate persistent and deeply embedded patterns of racial inequality." (Johnson, 2007)

Summary and Conclusion

While there are those who deny that racial and ethnic disparities and disproportionality exists in today's criminal justice system, the basis of this work has been statistical… READ MORE

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