Cultural Perspective on Crime

Cultural Perspectives on Crime

Minorities are over represented in the criminal justice system because they are targeted during drives to reduce hooliganism , juvenile drug offenses and crime . Then there are biases against them during prosecution , trial and judgment . Finally , the minorities get harsher sentences than their white counterparts (Davis . A 1998

In my opinion the minorities are over represented in the criminal justice system because of prejudices within the system . Way back in 1991 , in LA , police officers beating Rodney King were captured on video Rodney was a black man and

this evidence supported the claims of the Afro-American community that cases of police brutality were a norm . The prejudice in the system was further exposed when in the trial court the jury did not find the four officers guilty of wrongdoing . This case helped to justify the claims that there was a bias in the justice system and that it was very difficult for colored persons to get justice . This form of discrimination it is alleged is found in the entire justice system

In reality what has happened is that there is a failure of judges , even elected officials to correct the injustices in the criminal justice system . In addition , the criminal justice policy makers have also failed to redress injustice (Lochner .L , 2003 . The result is that minority groups in general and black and Hispanic Americans are targeted and victimized by law enforcement agencies . When charging for crimes is done it is the colored persons that are targeted . To add insult to injury colored law abiding citizens are regularly challenged because of racial profiling and police bias

This prejudice has permeated almost everywhere . When the cop is patrolling his attitude towards colored people for the purpose of prosecution and penalty to the treatment of colored by the prosecutors and judges . The essential point is that all individuals should be treated in a similar manner . This is what the Constitution requires the justice system to do

What is the consequence of such police action ? The prison inmates are mostly Hispanic and blacks . There are communities of blacks who have actually fallen apart and have dispersed because a large part of the youth has been lost to prisons . This has fostered a belief in these people that the law enforcement system cannot be trusted and should not be supported (Cole . G Smith . C 2004 . This belief has reinforced the prejudice in the law enforcement agencies that colored communities are beds of lawlessness and so should be punished and incarcerated

How is this prejudice reinforced ? There are law enforcement policies and tactics that target blacks and Hispanics , moreover , there is the issue of racial profiling . In other words the blacks and Hispanics are usually the targets of suspicion . What happens is that on the basis of bias and suspicions the blacks and Hispanics are blamed for most of the crimes in the area , and ultimately jailed

This system is well ingrained in prosecution . At every step the blacks and Hispanics are...