Wanted Med In The Philadelphia Ghetto Case Study

1318 Words3 Pages

Introduction “On the run: Wanted Med in the Philadelphia Ghetto” by Alice Goffman (2009), explores the dysfunctional relationship between individuals in “ghettos” and the criminal justice system. Incarceration rates in the United States have increased seven times over 40 years among Black men with limited education (Goffman 2009:339). Incarceration leads to the discrimination and disadvantage of Black males; socially and economically (Goffman 2009:339). Additionally, increased incarcerations influence the amount of policing in communities. Subsequently, increased incarcerations of individuals from poor communities, results in increased policing in their neighbourhoods. Goffman (2009) focuses her study on the rate of incarceration and police …show more content…

She devoted around two to six days on 6th street and one day a week visiting members of the group who were in the jail (Goffman 2009:342). Field researchers are known to not only examine these groups over a period of time, but also choose social groups based on their research topic. After making a selection, the researcher finds a role to play within the group along with making observations (Neuman 2007:21). In addition to this, Goffman interviewed nine employees of the law including lawyers, a district attorney, probation officers, police officers, and a federal district court judge (2009:342). Instead of interviewing young men with direct questions; Goffman observed them and took field note’s; quoting, and paraphrasing the conversations of the men (2009:342). This method of collecting data was seemingly appropriate for Goffman’s study because interviewing the participants would have most likely made them feel as if though they were being questioned and pried for answers; which would have the potential of getting them in trouble. Observing them not only made it easier for Goffman to maintain her access in the group, but it made it easier for her to build trust among the participants. This trust is evident through the participants agreeing with letting her use her field notes in the likes of publishing them in future (Goffman

Show More
Related

  • A Rhetorical Analysis of Lockdown by Evans D. Hopkins

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    " With violence affecting so many lives, one can understand the desire driven by fear to lock away young male offenders. But considering their impoverished, danger-filled lives, I wonder whether the threat of being locked up for decades can really deter them from crime" (305). Hopkins is definitely not our stereotypical prisoner. Most generally, our view of prisoners is not that of someone who has this profound use of wording and this broad sense of knowledge.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Book Punished: Policing The Lives Of Black And Latino Boys

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys by Victor Rios is about the Latinos and African Americans in poor parts of the city joining gangs, do violence, and ending up in prison. It is also add how the police are handling the situation differently in these areas. The researcher is Victor Rios and the goal is to change how the police should handle in these poor communities and to have trust to prevent a crime that is unrelated with African Americans and Latinos. Additionally to develop new programs to help these young people out of prison to be productive, to be part of society, and to create a brighter future for these young people and their community. This is

    Read More

  • How Policing And Incarceration Affect Inequalities In Society?

    1802 Words  | 4 Pages

    The work by Victor M. Rios entitled Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness depict ways in which policing and incarceration affect inequalities that exist in society. In this body of work I will draw on specific examples from the works of Victor M. Rios and Michelle Alexander to fulfill the tasks of this project. Over the course of the semester and by means of supplemental readings, a few key points are highlighted: how race and gender inequalities correlate to policing and incarceration, how laws marginalize specific groups, and lastly how policing and incarceration perpetuate the very inequalities that exist within American society.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get Prison

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    The majority of our prison population is made up of African Americans of low social and economic classes, who come from low income houses and have low levels of education. The chapter also discusses the amount of money the United States loses yearly due to white collar crime as compared to the cost of violent crime. Another main point was the factors that make it more likely for a poor person to be incarcerated, such as the difficulty they would have in accessing adequate legal counsel and their inability to pay bail. This chapter addresses the inequality of sentencing in regards to race, it supplies us with NCVS data that shows less than one-fourth of assailants are perceived as black even though they are arrested at a much higher rate. In addition to African Americans being more likely to be charged with a crime, they are also more likely to receive harsher punishments for the same crimes- which can be seen in the crack/cocaine disparities. These harsher punishments are also shown in the higher rates of African Americans sentenced to

    Read More

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration of the Racial Undercaste

    3340 Words  | 7 Pages

    Throughout the semester, we have discussed many different issues that are currently prevalent in the United States, specifically those related to racial discrimination. One specific issue that I have developed interest and research in is that of institutionalized racism, specifically in the form of mass incarceration, and what kinds of effects mass incarceration has on a community. In this paper, I will briefly examine a range of issues surrounding the mass incarceration of black and Latino males, the development of a racial undercaste because of rising incarceration rates, women and children’s involvement and roles they attain in the era of mass incarceration, and the economic importance that the prison system has due to its development.

    Read More

  • Youth Control Complex Case Study

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, police and probation officers become involved in non-criminal justice matters at schools and in the community, often times by advising parents and students on academic matter. According to some of the boys in Rios book, probation officers served the purpose of punishing them by branding them criminal in front of the rest of the community, which prompted victimization by peers, stigmatization in the community, and rearrests for minor infractions. Eventually, the youth learned to manipulate the system and increasing recidivism. Rios also notes that some youth were being incarcerated through false accusations, police “step-ups”, entrapments, and forced testimonies that led many of the boys to declare a vow against everyone providing information to police, even when they were the victims. Also, the gang database accentuates criminalization, as it permits police to keep track of most at-risk juveniles and impose tougher policing and harsher sentencing.* In other words, police roles leak into other aspects of juvenile’s lives, which have led to an increase in criminalization. As a result, for many of the juveniles’ detention facilities have become preferred social settings because they provide the structure, and discipline, they don’t receive from their families and the

    Read More

  • Disparities In Criminal Justice Essay

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    The criminal justice system is full of inequality and disparities among race, gender, and class. From policing neighborhoods, and the ongoing war on drugs, to sentencing, there are underlying biases and discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system that impacts minority communities and groups. Fueled by stereotypes and generalizations, it is important to identify and discuss what crimes take place and who actually makes it up.

    Read More

  • Implicit Biases: A Critical View on the Criminal Justice System

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Young, white, upper-class males who engage in crime are significantly less likely to serve jail time or even be arrested, than their black male counterpart. That being said, lower class white males are more likely to be arrested than their upper-class white counterpart. Is money truly the root of all evil? NO, it’s not. It is however what drives both sides of the criminal justice system. Of course, those with a higher SES or less likely to be arrested in general but there is more to it. In class, we discussed the issues of privatized jail and the revenue they make only when filled to capacity. The “If you build it, they will come!” mentality is fully functioning in the prison part of the criminal justice system. Many police forces are set up with numbers in mind, and in order to be successful a certain amount of arrest must be made. The War on Drugs spurred this ideology as the higher amount of arrest led citizens to think that crime was being lowered. Additionally, those with high-class status can afford to be represented properly in the criminal justice system and do not have to fear the extra fines placed on prisoners or even those just convicted of crimes. VICE – Fixing The System showcased stories of returning citizens who faced the stigmas of jail, the fines of the court, and were lead back into a life of crime just to make ends meet. This vicious cycle leads back into the criminal justice system with these returning citizens being rearrested or by violation of parole/payment, due to financial

    Read More

  • The PEACE and Cognitive Interviewing Models vs. the Reid Technique

    1740 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many of today’s interrogation models being utilized in police investigations have an impact on false confessions. The model that has been in the public eye recently is the social psychological process model of interrogation known as the “The Reid Technique.” There are two alternatives used by the police today to replace the Reid Technique, one is the PEACE Model and the other is Cognitive Interviewing. These methods are not interrogation techniques like Reid but interview processes.

    Read More

  • The Death Of Eric Garner

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2014, the death of Eric Garner in New York City raised controversial conversations and highlighted the issues of race, crime, and policing in neighborhoods that tend to be poor and racially isolated. Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed after being tackled and held in a “chokehold.” According to the AP Polls in December 2014, “Police killings of unarmed blacks were the most important news stories of 2014.” The problem is that young black men are targeted by police officers in which they have responded with the misuse of force and policy brutality. It is evident that this issue affects many people nationwide. The civilians do not trust the police department and the justice system because they hold the perceptions that police officers are immune from prosecution despite their actions. In particular, black individuals, specifically black males, do not feel safe in the presence of police officers because they are not held accountable for their mistakes.

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Justice System

    4767 Words  | 10 Pages

    These authors’ arguments are both well-articulated and comprehensive, addressing virtually every pertinent concept in the issue of explaining racially disparate arrest rates. In The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System, Wilbanks insists that racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is a fabrication, explaining the over-representation of African Americans in arrest numbers simply through higher incidence of crime. Walker, Spohn and DeLone’s The Color of Justice dissents that not only are African Americans not anywhere near the disproportionate level of crime that police statistics would indicate, they are also arrested more because they are policed discriminately. Walker, Spohn and DeLone addi...

    Read More

  • Racial Inequalities in the Justice System

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to statistics since the early 1970’s there has been a 500% increase in the number of people being incarcerated with an average total of 2.2 million people behind bars. The increase in rate of people being incarcerated has also brought about an increasingly disproportionate racial composition. The jails and prisons have a high rate of African Americans incarcerated with an average of 900,000 out of the 2.2 million incarcerateed being African American. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 1 in 6 African American males has been incarcerated at some point in time as of the year 2001. In theory if this trend continues it is estimated that about 1 in 3 black males being born can be expected to spend time in prison and some point in his life. One in nine African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the rate of imprisonment for women is considerably lower than males African American women are incarc...

    Read More

  • Racialized Mass Incarceration in America

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States, the rate of incarceration has increased shockingly over the past few years. In 2008, it was said that one in 100 U.S. adults were behind bars, meaning more than 2.3 million people. Even more surprising than this high rate is the fact that African Americans have been disproportionately incarcerated, especially low-income and lowly educated blacks. This is racialized mass incarceration. There are a few reasons why racialized mass incarceration occurs and how it negatively affects poor black communities.

    Read More

  • Racism: Incarceration of a Household Member and Hispanic Health Disparities

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many Americans pretend that the days of racism are far behind; however it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way of viewing this institutional racism is looking at our nation’s prison system and how the incarceration rates are skewed towards African American men. The reasons for the incarceration rate disparity are argued and different between races, but history points out and starts to show the reason of why the disparity began. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination as well as the discrimination against African American students and their likelihood of going to prison compared to the white student. African American women are also affected by the discrimination in the incarceration rate. Many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates, and that African Americans are more likely to face discrimination from the police as well as being falsely arrested.

    Read More

  • Mass Incarceration Essay

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Oxford Index, “whether called mass incarceration, mass imprisonment, the prison boom, or hyper incarceration, this phenomenon refers to the current American experiment in incarceration, which is defined by comparatively and historically extreme rates of imprisonment and by the concentration of imprisonment among young, African American men living in neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage.” It should be noted that there is much ambiguity in the scholarly definition of the newly controversial social welfare issue as well as a specific determination in regards to the causes and consequences to American society. While some pro arguments cry act as a crime prevention technique, especially in the scope of the “war on drugs’.

    Read More

More about Wanted Med In The Philadelphia Ghetto Case Study

Open Document