African American Males and Disparity in the Justice System

Within our umpire dust thither is a large disagreement in the midst of the total build of Afri sens Ameri force out males dungeon indoors our society and living at heart our prison walls. African Americans males argon often faced with overcoming environ affable, economic and sociological in equalities fleck growing up as well as a deficiency of hazard. M either of these issues etiolatedthorn in item plump to un-proportional numbers of African American males being incarcerated. In admittanceal prejudicial behaviors by the judicial residential district may also be a broker in the disproportionate incarceration statistics.More resources should be allotted at the community aim to provide for disadvantage minorities to succeed in life and avoid participating in criminal activities, as well as providing resources for education of those inside the governance to assail prejudice and effect change. accord to the bailiwick Association for the Advancement of Colored mes s (NAACP) African Americans comprise n proterozoic 1 million of the 2. 3 million incarcerated state and 1 in 6 morose men suck been incarcerated as of 2001. As can be seen these numbers be disproportionately higher past for their white counterparts.One of the main conditions stated by the NAACP as a causal factor for this dissimilitude is related to inner city abomination evaluate that be prompted by neighborly and economic isolation. There is subatomic luck for employment and high drop rates amongst inner city African American males. A study by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences indicates that employment for chthonic educate African American males was n early on 25% while the incarceration number is around 40% showing that they ar more likely to be incarcerated then employed.When pris matchlessrs atomic number 18 then released at that place is attach recidivism when there is no employment opportunities and the daily round repeats. In addition the famil y structure suffers as resources argon decreased as family members argon imprisoned. Studies have shown that children who p atomic number 18nts are imprisoned are more likely to be victims or abhorrence themselves, have little educational opportunity and frequently live in poverty, all which lead to increased relish for criminal action mechanism in the future.Lack of opportunity is forefront in the variation in the midst of whites and African American levels of incarceration. The book The placement in b wishing and white Exploring the Connections amidst Race, Crime and Justice states that Minority y bulgehs are often from areas plagued by poverty, high unemployment and underemployment, family dysfunction, wretched education, and crime. The minority youth is therefore, marginalized, and such marginalization engenders delinquent acts (Jones-Brown, Markowitz, 2001. p172).By segregating minorities, primarily African Americans, into these areas without providing opportunity we perpetuate the problem by providing little to no opportunities for legitimate advantage. The indites indicate that the privation of entranceway to friendly and economic opportunities and the mountment of sociablely desired symbols of success in a flash leads an individual to gain those items by socially unacceptable means such as criminal activities. This general theme of the consequences of unintegrated communities is shared by Loury in his school Race, Incarceration and American Values.Closed and move social structures-like racially homogenous urban ghettos-create contexts where pathological and dysfunctional cultural forms emerge, precisely these forms are neither intrinsic to the population caught in the structures nor independent of the behavior of the heap who stand outside them. (Loury, 2008. p 33. ) In this case the author is clearly pointing out that it is the situation that creates the criminal non any overt difference in the individuals themselves.There is no born propensity for criminal activity just a lack of social and environmental resources available to individuals living in these areas to allow for success based on achievement. These areas have developed as an awkward reminder of our one time overtly prejudicial society that casted African Americans as inferior, lazy beings with little or no ability to learn. The path to participating in criminal activities for many African American adolescent males frequently lies in interest in multitude activities.In an article authorise Poverty, Broken Homes, Violence The Making of a Gang Member the authors state a strong correlation in the midst of the lack of opportunity and gang involvement. Risk factors admit many that are prevalent in the before mentioned ghetto like areas such as having gang members in the family already, histories of sexual or physical outcry, growing up in poverty, having gateway to weapons and medicates, and a lack of success in some other areas of li fe, such as school (Mueller, 2014).Gangs frequently form a surrogate family for adolescents in poverty in love urban areas as well as providing a certain level of protective covering from other criminal elements. other bar which African American males face is one of negatively derivative intervention inside the rightness remains. It is assumed that part of the reason for the disparity between whites and African Americans at heart the prison systems is related to the war on drugs. According to the NAACP African American are 12% of the population of drug users, 38% of those arrested and 59% of those convicted.These overwhelming numbers of assents would lead us to believe that African American are committing more drug crimes stock-still the percentage of drug users is actually dismount then their white counterparts. Sentences for African Americans convicted of drug crimes are almost equal to the totality of time that white males would spend in jail for violent crimes. Accor ding to author of the New Jim Crow this inequality in the justice system is a modality to keep minorities from achievement while appearing to have put aside prejudice. It can be argued that our prison system in fact serves the purpose of a fomite for social control.The long-run make of conviction separate felons from the general population for life, excluding them from add effectively in mainstream society. Once they are released, they are often denied the right to vote, excluded from juries, and relegated to a racially segregated and subordinated existence. done a web of laws, regulations, and informal rules, all of which are powerfully reinforced by social stigma, they are confined to the margins of mainstream society and denied access to the mainstream economy.They are legally denied the ability to obtain employment, housing, and public benefitsmuch as African Americans were once forced into a segregated, cabin class citizenship in the Jim Crow era (Alexander, M. 2010). An other issues related to the disproportionate numbers of African American males within the prison system are related to previous acts. over again we essential look to the lack of opportunity in youth as a leading cause for juvenile detainment. According to the Juvenile Justice information metamorphose socioeconomic class plays a region in detainment.In delinquency matters indigent children roost within the system because the courts are un willinging to release these children back to the environments they came from as contrary to children with means. The child welfare system, public schools, and neighborhood police presence are unified so that few meaningful distinctions can be make between myopic children and those who present a true insecurity to the community (Birkhead, 2012). The involve of early interactions with the justice system can negatively impact a person for life.As adults persons who are know within the criminal justice system are more likely to be convicted of crimes as well as face up harsher sentencing as repeat offenders. This utilize may not appear prejudicial as it is appropriate to face harsher sentences for repeat offenders, except is prejudicial as to how the person became a repeat offender in the depression place. The above issues point to discrimination at a structural level not an individual one, tho there are structural cases of discrimination that may assist individual discrimination such at the Stop and F risk law.This law allows officers to stop, point and physically frisk someone they deem suspicious. One of the main problematic issues of this devote is one of oversight there are no governing rules as to what constitutes doubt besides individual officers feelings. While this practice has led to some arrests, they are numerically insignificant and have been deemed unconstitutional but not illegal. According to the American civilised Liberties Union 85 percent of those halt were found to have not attached a cri me or have any contraband on their persons.The ruin of this practice has far reaching implications as in it has served to foster feelings of mistrust between police officers and the minority population, specifically African American youths. Identifying issues and making changes to treatment of African American males, or any other minority, within the judicial system is a project undertaken by the Sentencing chore. They define illegitimate or unwarranted racial disparity as the dissimilar treatment of alike situated people based on race (201, p1. ).There goal is to acknowledge the set up of disparity building at each phase within the criminal justice system and its cumulative effects on an individual. They encourage communication within the system i. e. law enforcement, lawyers, judges, prison military force and parole workers to develop plans to reform individuals while working towards a systematic change. Through research they have turn to the film for cultural competency t raining within the judicial system and have made it a requirement. They also address issues pertainingto treatment of early delinquency, severity of crime as well as severity of sentencing. The Project allocates resources for research into other sentencing alternatives that have demonstrate success over incarceration. In addition to looking at the treatment of individuals within the system they provide guidance to insurance makers in regards to investments in communities. They project low-income areas in providing education and employment opportunities, access to wellness commission, including mental health care, and substance abuse treatment.Through research the project has identified that un equal opportunities for access to resources negatively affects the low-income individuals and their families. Simply changing the criminal justice system itself will not singularly decrease the disparity between the numbers of African Americans incarcerated in comparison to their white cou nterparts. Change must begin in the communities. Outreach programs started as early as birth are prerequisite to effectively create change. One root word who sees the fatality for this change and has answered the call is the Harlems Childrens Zone.This group services nearly 17,000 children throughout the Metropolitan area. They begin with providing parenting classes, which outlines the unavoidableness for proper nutrition and health care as well as courses on other parenting issues with a focus on the at risk child. They provide accept schools with longer school days as well as tutoring programs for those unable to attend. Resources are also available for crisis intervention, access to mental and physical health care, offering help in obtaining services such as food stamps, as well as assistance in forming community actions groups to bit crime and drugs.The group also provides afterschool programs including jejune groups, fitness, educational, and classes on maintaining a he althy lifestyle, and access to community gardens. Although our society has made prominent strides in the area of equality, with more African Americans holding important positions, negative differential treatment persists. Poverty laid low(p) communities where there is little opportunity and the prevalence of gang activity increases the likelihood that African American youths will grow up to enrol in criminal activities leading to incarceration.The prototypic step towards change is understanding the need for increased resources in poverty stricken areas to provide access for at risk youths to community centers, hot meal programs, and unassailable afterschool venues. The second step is making these projects a reality. Although the government had earmarked 10 million dollars for neighborhoods to develop similar programs to the Harlems Childrens center on project it is not enough, resources must be provided by individual states, communities and persons to combat poverty and provid e resources for children.In addition equality in how individuals are treated within the system must continue to be addressed by groups like the Sentencing Project. By early intervention and continued education and support we can move towards equality and light the numbers of African American males disbursement their lives within the criminal justice system. The long-term benefits of these actions will be felt by individuals as well as the community at large with decreased crime and access to the rich resource of an educated youth.