Experts in the criminology field have searched for ways to comprehend criminal behavior by establishing a variety of theories. One of the most interesting theories is certainly the Conflict theory. Although, some criminologists refer to conflict theory as radical theory; there are a few differences that will be mentioned subsequently in this paper by defining both theories. It is also important to mention a summary containing a combination of the radical and conflict theory principles. The relevance and applicability of these specific theories will also be discussed as it is essential for the continuation of the same. Having a clear understanding of the conflict and radical theories’ roots, as well as its development, enhances the view of how …show more content…
Karl Marx was clear in his idea about capitalism, he described “capitalism as an exploitative system, meaning one in which workers are forced to work for capitalists without compensation” (Renzetti, Curran, & Carr, 2003, p. 184). The idea of having only a small percentage of the population who use and possibly abuse power is seen as unfair and corrupt. No one has to be an expert to notice that capitalist practices may just appear as a form of slavery. Indeed, in a capitalist society a perception of corruption may occur when there is a disproportionate distribution of wealth and resources that affect the majority of the population. Now, the question becomes: is there any way that government can fix this problem? The answer may be negative, maybe there is no answer in the near future. However, the criminal justice system can certainly take a few steps forward into addressing issues that affect the middle and lower class in the United …show more content…
(2015) mentioned a case of racial profiling as an example of conflict and radical theory in an attempt to explain how the power of a few can affect the majority. Racial profiling occurs when authorities, such as the police, focus their decision by labeling specific groups solely based on race or ethnicity. For example, to explain this practice, it could be said that racial profiling occurs when police unfairly stops a vehicle driver based on the physical appearance mostly targeting minorities. A negative perception is created among citizens about law enforcement using and abusing their power in a disproportionate manner, which is the motive that eventually causes conflict in the communities. Indeed, if people in the community feel that they have been the object of racism and they think they have been victimized by the powers above, then it would generate tension and dispute. Specially, in a country like the United States of America where freedom and equality are the foundation of a great nation and even the pledge of allegiance to the flag says liberty and justice for
In the United States of America today, racial profiling is a deeply troubling national problem. Many people, usually minorities, experience it every day, as they suffer the humiliation of being stopped by police while driving, flying, or even walking for no other reason than their color, religion, or ethnicity. Racial profiling is a law enforcement practice steeped in racial stereotypes and different assumptions about the inclination of African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American or Arab people to commit particular types of crimes. The idea that people stay silent because they live in fear of being judged based on their race, allows racial profiling to live on.
The justice system is in place in America to protect its citizens, however in the case of blacks and some other minorities there are some practices that promote unfairness or wrongful doing towards these groups. Racial profiling is amongst these practices. In cases such as drug trafficking and other criminal acts, minorities have been picked out as the main culprits based off of skin color. In the article “Counterpoint: The Case Against Profiling” it recognizes racial profiling as a problem in America and states, “[In order to maintain national security] law-enforcement officers have detained members of minority groups in vehicles more than whites”…. “these officers assume that minorities commit more drug offenses, which is not the case” (Fauchon). In relationship to law enforcement there has also been many cases of police brutality leaving young blacks brutally injured, and even dead in recent years, cases such as Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Freddy Gray just to name a few. Many of these young men were unarmed, and the police involved had no good justification for such excess force. They were seen as threats primarily because of their skin color. Despite the fact this nation is trying to attain security, inversely they are weakening bonds between many of its
Racial profiling in the dictionary is “the assumption of criminality among ethnic groups: the alleged policy of some police to attribute criminal intentions to members of some ethnic groups and to stop and question them in disproportionate numbers without probable cause (“Racial Profiling”).” In other words racial profiling is making assumptions that certain individuals are more likely to be involved in misconduct or criminal activity based on that individual’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling propels a brutalizing message to citizens of the United States that they are pre-judged by the color of their skin rather than who they are and this then leads to assumptions of ruthlessness inside the American criminal justice system. With race-based assumptions in the law enforcement system a “lose-lose” situation is created due to America’s diverse democracy and destroys the ability to keep the criminal justice system just and fair. Although most police officers perform their duties with fairness, honor, and dedication, the few officers who portray to be biased then harm the whole justice system resulting in the general public stereotyping every law enforcement officer as a racial profiler (Fact Sheet Racial Profiling). When thinking about racial profiling many people automatically think it happens only to blacks but sadly this is mistaken for far more ethnic groups and races such as Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, Native Americans, and many more are racially profiled on a day to day basis. Many people believe racial profiling to be a myth because they see it as police officers merely taking precautions of preventing a crime before it happens, but in reality racial profiling has just become an approved term for discrimination and unjust actio...
Racial profiling is the most idiotic and arrogant thing you can ever do as a person. Usually the people who are affected by racial profiling are minorities, however, any person can be a victim of racial profiling. Some may think that racial profiling is non-existent, however, I would like to bring the situation into focus and show that it is still in existence and has been observed in the past and now in the current year. Although, more than fifty percent of the time racial profiling is conducted it is against a man or woman of color; an African-American in other words. There are instances where a white person can be a victim as well. Trying not to say that there isn't any person out there that is exempted from racial profiling, because there isn't a single person who is just exempted from this cruel method of decision making. In my essay I will talk about racial profiling and what it is, however, you can't forget about where it happens and of course why. Several resolutions will be discussed in this essay to alleviate this problem.
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Racial tension has been part of America ever since the civil war. Today we have a different issue with race which is called racial profiling. Over the years the relationship between the police and community of color has gone bitter do to racial profiling. America’s society today tends to be tainted by racial profiling and stereotypes. These issues can cause great effects on our society. Racial profiling or stereotyping could diminish how a certain race is viewed. Racial discrimination can be a result from having racial profiling and stereotypes in our present culture. Today racial discrimination is used to approach citizens assumed to be criminals. This is called racial profiling. Although some argue that racial profiling is a necessary tool for law enforcement to protect our safety, it puts some people at a disadvantage while it privileges others. Overall racial profiling is bad for the economy, unconstitutional, and sets borderlines for different races.
Racial profiling is not a new activity but is now more widely seen on the streets and in social media which in turn has caused a negative impact on law enforcement and social unrest among minorities. In fact, "Carter indicates that the debate involving racial and ethnic profiling following the terroristic attacks opened the doors for the federal government to conduct more extensive routine enforcement and investigations which will probably get out of hand" [1].
Even the United States struggles with issues of racial discrimination despite being a society highly based on immigrants and multicultural diversity. On one hand, people frown on treatment based on race, whether that is on an individual or group level. On the other, people are tired and annoyed by the seemingly constant call of discrimination. All of these feelings culminate into the debate pertaining to the use of racial profiling. Likewise, there are some individuals that hold a certain level of acceptance in regard to racial profiling. However, what is lost in the process because of that acceptance? There are many components that need to be thought about in reference to the use of racial profiling. In addition, it can be viewed from varying perspectives, such as through the use of statistics, by looking at social norms and taking into account moral/ethical values. Although racial profiling has been denounced, its use has continued to come up repeatedly. Furthermore, it is very apparent that certain circumstances cause the use concept of racial profiling to resurface.
This paper will define the topic of racial profiling as well as the history, present day issues, how it may be dealt with in the future, and my opinion on the topic. Racial Profiling is the practice of targeting people of color or a certain ethnicity for investigation or arrest. History starts with the New Jersey State Police department of investigation of activities instituted the term racial profiling that we know today in order to raise awareness of the issue. Some of the current issues today with racial profiling have caused many problems for the criminal justice system entirely, hindering police efforts in communities and losing the reliability of the people. The future of racial profiling has been a debatable topic but though it may be impossible to get rid of entirely much progress has been made in controlling it. My opinion on the topic is that maybe more training in how to use discretion when making a gut feeling about a situation.
Racial profiling consists of innocent, those chosen because of their skin color and guilty citizens that are being unjustly targeted by law enforcement because of their race and /or ethnicity. Mainly Blacks, Hispanics, and people of color within the minority communities are targeted for such harassment by law enforcement. However, race is the key factor for racial profiling by police, which is unfair on so many levels that people of color are processed differently than white youths within the system. Racial bias, disparity, and racial profiling are considered as a violation of citizens’ rights, that started long before it was actually recognized as a violation, and taking place within the Juvenile Justice and Criminal System. Due to the
Conflict theory plays a major role when looking at racial profiling due to the fact of a patriarical society it looks at the power struggle and one of the reasons behind racial profiling is to keep society in “order” and the way it currently is , which is a society dominated by white males. For them to keep this power their needs to be a obvious distintion in majorities and minorities. Racial minorities are seen as a threat to the ruling class. Conflict theory states that the ruling class will crime control as a way to limit the minority threatening them , which is partially what racial profiling is about. “ Organizations will minimize strains on themselves by processing those who are politically weak and powerless, while refraining from processing those who are politically powerful.”(Chambliss and Seidman (1971, p. 269) (Petrocelli et al., 2002) Conflict theory looks for the problem to result in positive change. . Racial profiling would have never been a ground to appeal your sentence 50 years agao but today it is. Thus showing a positve change has already been
Conflict criminology strives to locate the root cause of crime and tries to analyze how status and class inequality influences the justice system. The study of crime causation by radical criminologist increased between 1980s and 1990s as this led to the emergence of many radical theories such as Marxist criminology, feminist criminology, structural criminology, critical criminology, left realist criminology and peacemaking criminology (Rigakos, 1999). In spite of critical criminology encompassing many broad theories, some common themes are shared by radical research. The basic themes show how macro-level economic structures and crime are related, effects of power differentials, and political aspects in defining criminal acts.
Criminology has evolved over history into becoming a discipline all its own, along the way it grew and developed from a multiple sources of disciplines to become an integration of various theories. Reasons that seek to explain crime and deviant behaviors has mirrored the time in which research was being conducted and as time continues to change it is to be expected more theories will arise to incorporate past theories to become ever more inclusive. It is important to understand this development from the formulation of theories, the evolution of, the determining factors in testing, particular process such as social learning that are upheld as strong empirically sound theories in order for scholars to continue to advance further studies. But it is unlikely crime will ever be solved completely, for in some instances it is a necessary evil, yet it can be hoped that with the knowledge obtained thus far and that to be discovered crime and deviance might be reduced, prevented and controlled in the future to come.
Criminology is the study of why individuals engage or commit crimes and the reasons as to why they behave in certain ways in different situations (Hagan, 2010). Through understanding the reasons or why an individual commits a crime, one can come up with ways to prevent and control crime or rehabilitate criminals. There exist a large number of criminology theories, some link crime to an individual or person; they believe a person weighs the cons and pros and makes a conscious decision on whether to commit or not commit a felony. Others see the society as having a duty to make sure that its members do not engage in criminal acts by providing a secure and safe living place. Some claim that some people have hidden or dormant characteristics that determine their reaction or behavior when confronted or put in particular negative conditions (Akers & Sellers, 2012). By understanding and studying these theories, together with applying them to people, psychologists and authorities can prevent criminals from committing or repeating crimes and aid in their rehabilitation. As many theories have emerged over time, they continue to be surveyed and explored, both individually and in combination in order for criminologists to develop solutions and eventually reduce the levels and types of crime. The most popular criminology theories emphasize on the individual, positivist and classical traits. This paper will explore the classical theory, which is among the earliest theories in criminology.
Criminology is the study of crime and criminals; a branch of sociology. More accurately, it is the study of crime as a social trend, and its overall origins, its many manifestations and its impact upon society as a whole. That makes it more a form of sociology than a law enforcement tool. But the trends it studies have a huge impact on the way the police do their jobs, the way society treats its criminals, and the way a given community goes about maintaining law and order. The writer will describe and give examples of the three perspectives of viewing crimes. The perspectives that will be highlighted are the consensus view, the conflict view or the interactionist view. Each perspective maintain its own interpretation of what constitutes criminal activities and what causes people to engage in criminal behaviors (Siegel, p.12).