Crime Reflection Paper

Everyone has their own beliefs system, but do we shape these beliefs or do these beliefs shape who we are. Growing up, not everyone experiences the same things. Growing up I had created my own belief system. Over time this belief system has changed. I personally believe that belief is built upon ones social culture which is considered a belief. This social culture shapes my perspective on how I view life. How I view what is right from wrong, how I see what normal and what is seen as taboo to me. The nature of crime is very vague. Depending on ones beliefs, crime could be defined as any act prohibited to one’s cultural environment. For instance a criminal act can be viewed wrong and against ones social norms in one society, but can be viewed

This means depending on your race in some areas of America you could possibly be sentenced differently. I view this action as completely immoral. Growing up in a multicultural area I saw everyone as the same with equal opportunities. This was not the real world. We live in a society where cocaine and crack are technically the same drug that produces the same chemical affects, but yet sentencing for crack is harsher. Interesting enough, crack is associated with poor minorities especially blacks while cocaine is associated with whites of upper status. This is not only for drugs, but other crimes as well. It has been proven that black offenders serve 10% longer sentences than white offenders( ). The reason behind this is that “prosecutors are about twice as likely to file charges against blacks that carry mandatory minimum sentences than against whites” ( ).It is interesting enough to realize how people even view people of certain races or ethnicity. Just to think that if you look a certain type of way there is a possibility of being be searched because of your physical appearance. This is all wrong. Just because you look a certain way or depending on the pigment of your skin you are more likely to be a viewed as a possible criminal. There should be no reason why there are studies that show that blacks and hispanics are more likely to be pulled over and having their vehicle search( )