Running head: CULTURES’ OR SUBCULTURES
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CULTURES’ OR SUBCULTURES
8-1 Project Three
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University
A country like the US has diverse communities that have largely worked together with no problem but there are instances where the idea of just and fair judicial system goes against the ideals of the different cultures. People drawn from different cultures have different set of values, faiths, and beliefs that can result in people having different point of views. The criminal justice system should always work with the idea that most of the clients they serve come from different point of views which then calls for better tolerance for one another. Issues of racial profiling, police brutality, and corruption in the courts are not in the US context. Some cultures and subcultures also believe that some operations that the CJ professionals. For this reason, different cultures and subcultures have in the past clashed with the criminal justice professionals as they felt the criminal justice professionals are not acting in the interests of fairness and justice in their service for the people. In this paper, the perception and views of the African Americans, Hispanic communities, and Asian Americans are discussed. Instances of cultural misunderstanding between CJ officers and the members of the different communities are also explored while highlighting ways in which the professionals in the CJ can mitigate the misunderstanding for fair and just provision of services.
African Americans
The misunderstanding between the African Americans and the CJ professionals is a matter of public knowledge and can be traced back to the Restoration Era and the Civil Rights Movement Era. African Americans, most of them, believe that CJ professionals, particularly, police and the court officials, racial discriminate them and set policies that target them and their culture in general. A 2018 report by The Sentencing Project show that CJ professionals have, during the execution of their duties, clashed or engaged in misunderstandings with the members of the African American community. The misunderstandings arising from unintentional or intentional actions of the officers from CJ system have strained the relationship between them and the African Americans. Some of the decisions are like the escalated stop and search operations, drunk driving charges, bail terms and sentencing, tampering of the evidence during prosecution process and what may seem to be unreasonable recommendations by the parole boards on terms of release. These decisions by the CJ professionals may be seen by the people of color as unreasonable, unfair, and unjust (The Sentencing Project, 2018). There are instances where the prosecutors have charged African Americans and placed high bail terms that seem unfair or set harsher terms for release compared to the terms set for the White Americans or Asian Americans. African Americans historically have deep seated hatred for the enforcement officers due to their harsher treatments of people of color in the past. The perception that the people of color on the criminal justice is that the officers are discriminative, unfair, and racially profile their community. Report published by Gallup group showed that African Americans lead in their negative perception of police and the entire justice system professionally. The problem of racial disparities in the US is partly responsible for the negative view of the criminal justice system by the African Americans.
Racial discrimination of the African Americans in the US is not new. Black Americans have always been seen from racial angle and they feel unwanted in the US. The present racial discrimination, especially which stems from the criminal justice system, is linked to the racial laws that were passed in the mid-nineteenth century. Statistics show that African Americans are overrepresented in the US jails and prisons when compared to their overall population size. A study on the death penalty in Texas showed the death penalty sentence in the criminal justice system is an outgrowth of the legacy of slavery as more than half of the citizens put on death sentence since 1930 are blacks. The study further revealed a disproportionately large number of Black Americans on death row compared to their total population. When black and whites in death are compared in the past century, blacks were convicted and given capital offenses for crimes that did not warrant death sentencing, such as rape and property burglary (Thompson, 2019). Soon after the passage of the first Amendment that abolished slavery in the US, the government started mass incarceration of African Americans as discriminatory laws such as Black codes that criminalize association between African Americans and the White Americans including banning Blacks from walking in the night. From then, African Americans have treated differently although the contemporary American society practice overt racism. When the slavery in the US was outlawed, prison management introduced chain gang in view to contain prisons in the Southern part of the country as majority of the blacks were in their facilities. The historical injustices and racial discrimination became the reference point to African Americans in their disdain for criminal justice system professionals.
Hispanic Communities
Americans with Latin and Spanish America are approximately 18% of the total US population and are largely referred to as Hispanic communities. This subculture has also had their share of racial discrimination from the criminal justice system and have developed negative perception of the criminal justice professionals and the system. Hispanics have had unfavorable treatment from the police and have always been the target community when the enforcement officers mount war against drugs. Consequently, majority members of the Hispanic community have developed negative perception of the police, incarceration, and the court systems in the US (Peck, 2015). They hold the view that the police while in the line of duty treat them inhumanely while imposing unrealistic immigration rules on them. Majority of the Hispanics believe that courts set high bail terms and strict bond terms based on the systemic biasness and stereotypes. With this attitude, they have showed lack of trust in the police and the judicial system. The negative attitudes the Hispanic community have built over the years have influenced their behavior towards the members of the criminal justice system as they are unwilling to report crime or act as witness in the prosecution of accused citizens. Majority of them fear being asked about their immigration status or while other believe interactions with police may lead to their deportation.
Historical prejudice and racial profiling, just like in the case for African Americans, laid foundation for the current lack of trust and negative attitudes towards the officers drawn from the larger US criminal system. In the recent past, the number of Hispanic Americans serving prison or jails terms have significantly improved and the number is proportionately higher than their actual population size in the US. The number of Hispanics in prison in 2000 was 15% of the entire number of incarcerated citizens in the US as compared to 20% share of Hispanics in 2008 (Peck, 2015). As per 2019 prison statistics, the number of Hispanic inmates were double that of White American inmates (Carson, 2020) which is disproportionately higher when their actual population in the US of both Hispanics and White Americans is compared. There is clear overrepresentation of Hispanics in US prison which is likely due to discrimination based on cultural identity and race.
Racial profiling is based on the past stereotypes as there were several high-profile criminals in the US from Latin and Spanish America origin between 1960s and 1980s. The interaction of the criminal system with Latinos and Spanish American drug lords contributed to the racial stereotypes that have worked against members of the Hispanic community in the contemporary American society (The Sentencing Project, 2018). Another factor that has contributed to negative perception of the criminal justice professionals by the Hispanic community is the tough immigration laws that the US government put in place since 1980s. The tough immigration laws have given the enforcement officers free hand in checking the immigration status. The constant interaction with the police during these constant checks have made the members of the Hispanic community to feel that police are racially targeting them. Hispanics with no proper immigration status have always been arrested, charged, and in most cases deported. With many undocumented Hispanics, they community have been historically stereotyped as illegal immigrants. These legal practices that have been run by the criminal justice professionals are the reasons why the Hispanic community view CJ professional from negative angle.
Asian Americans
Asian Americans are perhaps the only American sub-culture in the US that have had cordial relationship with the criminal justice system. Unlike the African American and Hispanic communities, the Asian Americans’ negative perception on the CJ professionals is not widely reported. Asian community in the US are composed of the Americans whose countries of origin are in the larger Asian continent. These are Americans with Asian ancestry, and they could be American citizens or immigrants working in the US although they generally fall under ‘others’ when categorizing American communities. The Asian community in the US is regarded as important category as the initial immigrants were brought in the early 1980s to help with the development course of America, particularly as farmhands and miners in the American mining companies (Franklin & Fearn, 2015). The recent report shows that Asian Americans, in their majority, do not have issues with the criminal justice system and the police in particular. In fact, the US government have christened them ‘model immigrants’ because of the way they carry themselves (Wang, 2017). A recent poll involving several Asian Americans, specifically, Koreans and those from Indian ancestry, 27% of 450 interviewed hold the view that police departments did not offer equal treatment. In comparison with the Americans with Cambodian and Vietnamese descent, 5% of them have negative view of the police department. Wang (2017) reported that Chinese Americans are less likely to report unfair treatment from the police while members of the Indian descent are more likely to report when the police treatment unfairly. Generally, the Asian Community have positive perception of the police and the entire criminal justice system.
Research done on the treatments of Americans during arrests, prosecution, and incarceration based on ethnic considerations show that only 6% of the Asian Americans have been discriminated against by the official of the criminal justice system. In comparison to their huge population in the US, the majority feel that criminal justice system professionals are doing their jobs professionally and have not had issues with racial or ethnic discrimination (Franklin & Fearn, 2015). In a separate research, Asian Americans have been showed to be treated favorably well within the criminal justice system. Most of them, due to lack of criminal record among the members of the Asian Americans, the criminal justice has developed bias that Asian Americans are law abiding citizens and are therefore treated more moderately than those drawn from the Hispanic and African American communities (Johnson & Betsinger, 2009). Asian Americans offenders are likely to receive lenient terms either as bond or jail terms. They are also likely to receive departures and legal representation that significantly tilt prison or jail sentences in their favor or minimal incarceration. Asian Americans reputation as educated professionals and as successful business owners have played a role in their good reputation in the criminal justice system. Majority of the Asian Americans are successful professionals and business owners which have boosted their image in the context of the American society. They are also less likely to commit crimes as they take their children to school with minimal number of dropouts. These factors have limited the community members from interacting with the criminal justice system.
Incidents of Cultural Misunderstanding
Incidents of cultural misunderstanding between the members of different communities and the criminal justice system could be due to language, religion or one’s beliefs, illiteracy levels or deaf that can lead to communication breakdown. African Americans have had misunderstandings with the professionals in the criminal system, and mostly most of them are due to the language barrier (Greene-Moton & Minkler, 2020). With many police swoops in the street, when they arrest African Americans during their duties, most of them speak in slang or street language that is barely understandable to the police officers. With the communication breakdown due use of slang or different accent, there are to be forced into police vehicles or handcuffed before someone who understands them can intervene and help bring understanding between the police and the civilian. An article cited an incident where an African American male adult was arrested for sexual assault. As he tried to ask for an attorney, he said, “Why don’t you give me a lawyer dog?” which was misunderstood to be asking for a lawyer in the form of a dog. The suspect wanted to ask for an attorney but adding their slang/hood language ‘dog’ at the end distorted the message (McWhorter, 2016). The language barrier can result in serious misunderstandings making criminal justice professionals be viewed in a negative light.
Religion and one’s belief are another area where there is serious misunderstanding between members of the public and the criminal justice system officers. Religious stereotypes in the US criminal justice system are rife and have often led to harassment of citizens from a specific religion. For instance, citizens who subscribe to Islam religion have been discriminated against and are top priority suspects in active-shooting incidents or investigations of terrorist activities. Denial of bail because a defendant belongs Islam community, for instance, is unjust on the defendant’s part. Muslims, in many instances, have been stereotyped as terrorist apologists since many terrorist attacks in the US in the past were committed by criminals that subscribed to the Islam religion (Spalek et al., 2017). Police officers often double check documents and seek further confirmation when they confront American citizens who are Muslims. There should be an understanding that not all Jews, Christians, or Muslims are guilty, or innocent based on past crimes committed by individuals belonging to their religion. Just like religious misunderstanding, there has been differences based on one’s literacy levels.
There are arguments that criminal justice system bases their recruitments on higher education standards and one’s ability to speak and write well. This criterion has seen many talented Americans whose level of education does not allow them to join the criminal justice system as workers. Discrimination against illiteracy levels fortifies the cultural differences that exist in the country. Literacy levels also determine the effectiveness of communication between the criminal justice system professionals and the members of the public. Witness with low literacy levels cannot help the investigation process and may mislead the investigative officers to make decisions that cause misunderstanding between the accused and the CJ officers.
One’s disability status, such as deafness, can be a source of misunderstanding between the members of the community and the criminal justice system. Structures within the criminal justice system to be compliant with the needs of people living with disability. Proper facilitation like the use of sign language interpreters should be accorded at every stage of criminal justice processes. The existing criminal justice framework does not provide for effective participation for defendants with disabilities. Enforcement officers within the criminal justice system should understand how disabilities may affect compliance as there have been circumstances where officers escalate situation when person with mental disorder fail to comply with the police orders. Incarcerated individuals with hearing problems or are completely deaf are often put in solitary units to protect them against aggression from other inmates but this act can affect their mental health. People living with disabilities in the justice system face difficulty finding counsel, lack of proper structures that accommodate their disabilities and complex regulations in prison departments
Practices that may create cultural sensitivity in criminal justice professionals
Understanding the public by law enforcement professionals ensures that the differences between the criminal justice and the public can be bridged and relationships improved for better service delivery in the criminal justice system. Opening communication channels to the community, open patrols in conjunction with the community members, and public participation forums will effectively reduce misunderstanding (Miller & Vittrup, 2020). Understanding of the public help build understanding and remove barriers for collaborative efforts.
Diversity training ensures that cultural differences and stereotypes are eliminated. The United States is made up of citizens with diverse backgrounds. There is a need for diversity training to foster understanding and reduce the cultural differences that can bring misunderstanding between criminal justice professionals and the community. Diversity training in the criminal justice system and society may help change stereotypes and personal biases and reduce discrimination while laying a ground for fair and just criminal justice procedures (Cox, 2019). Professionals in the criminal justice system often interact with the public to shape the public’s opinion and views of the department and educate them on the importance of being law-abiding citizens to bring crime rates down. Procedural justice helps bring positive changes in the system that can respond to the needs of the public better (Hollander-Blumoff & Tyler, 2008). Principles of procedural justice include fair treatment, transparency, and equality in employment opportunity, and impartiality. Procedural justice allows for fairness and helpful interactions between the criminal justice professionals and the communities, make the community feel part of the system/government, and improve collaborative efforts with the police department which enhances their legitimacy.
There is need for the public to understand that the legal authority of the police to bring social order to society through the provision of ways to solve conflicts that arise in society. Police legitimacy gives police a monopoly in handling situations such as public unrest and arresting of criminals. Police legitimacy makes the criminal justice system viewed in terms of public trust and confidence, willingness to defend the law, and belief that their actions are lawful, ethical, and moral. Police legitimacy brings public trust and confidence while encouraging public collaboration in criminal justice activities
Diversity in the hiring of employees for the criminal justice systems helps bring equality in the system while ensuring that the hiring procedures are merit-based while ensuring the minority members of the society are also considered in employment. A diverse workforce in the criminal justice system brings about a sense of belonging to many members of the society as they can see people who share the same background in the system ‘representing’ them (Mondal, 2020). In a diverse criminal justice system, diversity in hiring can lead to a sense of belonging to the immediate community where there are criminal justice offices while, on other hand, criminal justice system benefiting from the knowledge of people with different worldviews bridging the gap in cultural differences within the criminal justice system.
References
Cox, C. (2019). Policing a diverse society: the community-based rationale for multi-agency working. In A. Pycroft & D. Gough (Eds.), Multi-Agency Working in Criminal Justice 2e: Theory, Policy and Practice (REV-Revised, 2, pp. 105–120). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvq4c0j8.12
Greene-Moton, E., & Minkler, M. (2020). Cultural competence or cultural humility? Moving beyond the debate. Health promotion practice, 21(1), 142-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839919884912
Hollander-Blumoff, R., & Tyler, T. R. (2008). Procedural justice in negotiation: Procedural fairness, outcome acceptance, and integrative potential. Law & Social Inquiry, 33(2), 473-500. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00110.x
Lee, S. J. (2015). Unraveling the” model minority” stereotype: Listening to Asian American youth. Teachers College Press.
McWhorter, J. (2016). Talking back, talking black: Truths About America’s Lingua Franca. Bellevue Literary Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EC5pdKPXIG0C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=McWhorter,+Could+Black+English+Mean+a+Prison+Sentence&ots=a0KHZzVh7i&sig=FPp916HBsntmvoqfKAYq9rdV1Hc
Miller, C., & Vittrup, B. (2020). The Indirect Effects of Police Racial Bias on African American Families. Journal of Family Issues, 41(10), 1699–1722. https://doiorg.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1177/0192513X20929068
Mondal, S. (2020, September). Diversity Hiring: 6 Steps To Hiring More Diverse Candidates. Ideal. https://ideal.com/diversity-hiring/
Peck, J. H. (2015). Minority perceptions of the police: A state-of-the-art review. Policing: an international journal of police strategies & management.
Spalek, B., Davanna, T., Crabtree, S. A., & Husain, F. (2017). Muslim communities, crime, victimisation and criminal justice. In Islam and social work (second edition): Culturally sensitive practice in a diverse world (REV-Revised, 2, pp. 173–188). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t89fm9.12
The Sentencing Project (2018). Report to the United Nations on racial disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/
Thompson, H. A. (2019). The racial history of criminal justice in America. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 16(1), 221-241.
Wang, H.L., (2017). On Police Treatment, Asian-Americans Show Ethnic, Generational Splits. Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/18/524556485/on- police-treatment-asian-americans-show-ethnic-generational-splits
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