Crime and punishment 2 initial observations In societies with racial ethnic hierarchies Minority groups are always likely to be perceived as more deviant criminals The criminal justice system virtually always arrests convits and incarcerates minorities as a significantly higher rate Perceptions of criminality racial ethnic minority groups are perceived to be more aggressive dangerous or violent A dimension of white privilege The normal groups behavior not as harshly perceived and or judged as the other groups behavior Labeled and stigmatized as criminals Entire minority groups get judged more harshly because of the stereotype Blacks and hispanics especially Immigrants often stigmatized as dangerous criminals Research shows they commit fewer crimes The arabization of terrorism Studies of racial perceptions and crime Quillian and Pager 20021 compared neighborhoods with identical crime rates People believed the crime rate was much higher if they were more young black men living in the neighborhood They also found that whites living in multicultural areas fear crime more when they think blacks and hispanics live nearby Experiments Video experiments Harley and Eberhardt Race ethnicity and crime structural inequality Search arrest and incarceration rates much higher for minority groups The police disproportionately target and concentrate resources in areas with higher percentages of minorities Disproportionate search arrest and incarceration rates are forms of structural inequality Closely linked to structural inequalities in wealth education housing and political power justice Traditional or color blind police practices historically overt intentional discrimination extremely common Likely to be formally color blind today Color blind practices have disproportionate outcomes Perpetuates structural inequalities among race ethnic groups beyond criminal It is legal to deny felons jobs housing government benefits race ethnic incarceration rates Whie the black imprisonment rate has decreased black people are still five times as likely as white people to be imprisoned Highest lowest blacks hispanic and white NYC stop and frisk policing blacks latinos than whites Crime and incarceration in the U S A fundamental paradox Crime rates plummeted Incarceration rates skyrocketed race ethnicity are central to these trends Crime rates in the US have increased then decreased Mass incarceration The New Jim Crow Part 1 White backlash Response to civil rights movement anti war movement urban riots US crime rates significantly increasing Southern strategy exploit racial politics to win over white voters Crime became highly racialized fear of african americans Politicians call for a return to law and order All out war on crime Frequent use of dog whistle messaging about race Part 2 War on drugs The New Jim Crow continued Dominant cultural and political theme of the 1980s 1990s Emphasized by both political parties Accelerated by the crack epidemic further racialization of crime War on drugs fought under the guise of color blindness Three strikes and you re out laws Harsher sentences for crack Mandatory minimum sentencing Overwhelmingly impacted african americans far more like y than any other race Part 3 mass incarceration Unprecedented levels of incarceration Devastating impact on many african americans communities Families schools employment housing health Significantly expanded structural inequality IN SHORT Mass incarceration emerged as the new system of racial dominance and control Hence The New Jim Crow Critique of the new Jim Crow argument The new jim crow argument got much right Mass incarceration did impact blacks far more than any other group The war on drugs was highly racialized this was an updated system of color blind racism HOWEVER the new jim crow may have inaccuracies Evidence shows that the war on drugs was not the primary reason for incarceration The argument focused too much on federal policy and federal imprisonment 87 of all inmates are in state prisons Far more are in state prison for violent crime than drug crime State prosecutors appear by driving up incarceration by seeking more and longer jail sentences Two final issues White collar crime Prosecutions at a 20 year low Example no one went to prison over the 2008 financial scandals How is this related to race ethnicity Response to opioid vs crack epidemic More compassion less focus on punishment Purdue Pharma no one been criminally prosecuted Framed more as a public health rather than criminal issue Race ethnicity and health disparities Minority groups and health risks Members of race ethnicity groups are more susceptible to Chronic diseases heart disease hypertension diabetes etc Childhood health problems Higher infant mortality Lower life expectancy Racism and discrimination themselves to contribute to health disparities Structural and symbolic level Blacks have the highest rates of diabetes African americans have the highest infant mortality rates Asians have the highest life expectancy Explanations for race ethnic health disparities Conventional explanation 1 SES and Educational disparities Health disparities should be eliminated when comparing groups with the same SES and educational attainment Key research finding race ethnic health disparities persist even after taking SES and educational attainment in account Disparities are NOT simply the result of lower SES and educational achievement African americans are always on top with diabetes and heart disease but hispancis have a higher life expectency than whites Explanations for race ethnic health disparities continued Conventional explanation 2 unhealthy behaviors of minorities Smoking drinking poor diet lack of exercise Key research findings mixed Whites show higher levels of some types of unhealthy behavior heavy drinking Some minorities have higher levels of some types of unhealthy behaviors less Are unhealthy behaviors solely about individual choices or does social context smoking and drug use exercise and an unhea thy diet play a role An alternative sociological explanation neighborhood context Theory of constrained choices not everyone has the same access to healthy choices Disadvantaged neighborhood contexts impact many opportunities that influence health outcomes Less access to supermarkets and fresh produce Less access to parks sidewalks and affordable recreation centers Less access to healthcare facilities High prevalence of liquor stores and fast food Underachieving
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