Culture And Public Administration: Test Essays Example

Question One

While it is true that people in a society should mutually co-exist in unison, the contemporary world has and continues to experience occurrence of cases where people from certain societal segments are discriminated. In various contexts of the United States, people of colour from specific ethnic groups, Muslims, and Middle East are marginalized in that they are treated as “others.” Definitely, “othering” refers to the process of identifying individuals who are thought to be different from the mainstream societal members (Dozler & White, 1977). As a result, othering process results in the emergence and continuity of persons who are deemed dominant and those deemed subordinates. In a nutshell, othering occurs as a form of marginalization that defines people based on the ethno cultural groups that they come from. Notably, there are various demands that have been served by “othering” people of color drawn from certain ethnic groups.
One of the demands that has been served by “othering” process is the fact that it has named and marked people or ethnic groups that are thought to be different from the mainstream societal members. A close analysis of the American society depicts the manner in which certain societal members are named and perceived to be black, even in cases where their color does not seem so. Precisely, “black” has evolved into a name that can be utilized in reference to citizens who are not of American descent. Davis, James in the article “Who is Black? One Nations’s Definition” offers an analysis of the manner in which even persons appearing white are referred to as black. This is a clear evidence that black is not determined by an individual’s color, but what the society has conceptualized and determined as black.
In addition, the “othering” process has served a demand aligned with the fact that it has enabled people to construct their identities in reference to the identities of others. In the American context, it is not surprising to find persons of certain ethnic groups being asked to proof their identity. Precisely, a significant proportion of immigrants drawn from the Middle East are often subjected to comprehensive searches aimed at ascertaining their identities. It is as a result of the othering process that such occurrences transpire in the American settings. With regards to this, it can be deduced that Middle Eastern Americans have been prompted to construct their own identities as “suspects” based on the interrogative encounters they face on a daily basis. On the contrary, Americans whites often feel more American than people of colour. In a nutshell, othering process creates an identity crisis, whereby those perceived to be non-American are discriminated and face a wider array of challenges that make their lives unbearable (Marvasti & McKinney, “Middle Eastern Lives in America.”).
Finally, the othering process has served the demand of ensuring that persons of colour from specific ethnic groups remain “hopeless” due to the circumstances that have befallen them as a result of the othering process. Due to the othering process, people of colour such as the African Americans have been manipulated to become dependent on the whites. In addition, othering process has resulted in political isolation, and economic dissertation of people of color. As a result, people of color have developed a growing loss of faith in the existing institution that are supports to nurture positivity and mutual co-existence. In fact, people of color emanating from different ethnic groups have developed the belief that their problems may never be solved by the government as it ought to (Hixson, Chapter One). In conclusion, othering process has acceded the demand of keeping people of colour isolated and discriminated.

Question Two

A close analysis of current policies depict the fact they are mainly informed by the dominant cultures. On a similar note, various problems that should be addressed by these policies stem from problems that are precipitated by individual or group choices. The dominant groups tend to perceive that problems are meant for the minority groups. This is evident by the fact that various social concerns are mainly felt by African-Americans and other ethnic groups of colour. Therefore, the social problems that face people of colour may not be solved by policies that are often developed by the dominant communities; whites (Castafieda & Zuniga, Section 2). In fact, policy programs and institutions initiated by the government are not a solution to social concerns that are mainly felt by people of colour. Instead, there is the need for a complete overhaul of existing policies, which will pave way for the development of other policies that can feasible address social concerns faced by minority groups.
Many at times, dominant ethnic groups especially the whites tend to propel the notion that social concerns that are often faced by people of colour emanate from personal choices taken by the people of colour. This is not the case in that challenges being experience across various settings are a result of various factors including societal, economic, and policy factors. According to Dozler & White (1977), the recent past has experienced the spread of problems across lines of class, and colour. This shows that problems and social concerns are not a result of personal choice, values, or inadequacies that exists in a given ethnic group. Instead, policies crated by the dominant group tend to advocate problems to the minority groups.
For this purpose, the scope of inequality may not be understood if policy awareness is not created. Understanding the manner in which dominant groups craft policies in their favour will lead to the eventual realization of the fact that inequality can be solved through the crafting of non-partisan policies. Non-partisan policies would assure that concerns of the dominant and minority groups are address on a mutual basis. Conclusively, non-partisan policies are rooted on truth; hence, can provide an enabling environment that would allow for the attainment of equality (Furman et al., 2009).

Question Three

The fact that the United States criminal justice system is flawed is not a secret. This is can be accredited to the massive inequality that is evident in the administration of justice for various ethnic groups. Researches carried out in the recent past indicate that people of color are three more times likely to be incinerated than whites. On another note, people of colour are often likely to receive harsher sentences that the whites. This analysis shows that there exists certain policy-lags that tend to precipitate the occurrence of inequality in the United States criminal justice. It is on this basis that I would suggest a wider array of policy changes that would limit the occurrence of such flaws. One of the most pertinent policy changes that I would advocate for in our criminal justice system is on sentencing (Benavides, Chapter 7). As such, I would advocate for policy changes that would change the system of sentencing. Precisely, I would advocate for policies that focus more on helping crime victims rebuild their lives. I would advocate for policies that focus less on incineration as the main mode of sentencing.
Certainly, any form of crime results in breakdown of the social contract. Therefore, incineration does not allow the crime offenders to amend the social contract that is broken by the offender. Current policies only focus on providing justice for the offended. An effective criminal justice should also guarantee justice for an offenders who are harmed by the crimes that they commit. It is as a result of focusing more on justice for the offended that results in inequality in the justice system (Furman et al., 2009). Focusing more on the need to only provide justice for the offended at the expense of the offender favours inequality in that the dominant groups are the ones tasked with developing laws on sentencing. As such, harsh sentencing that are mainly intended at limiting the chances of progress by the minority groups who are more likely to commit crimes. In a nutshell, if I was to be given a chance, I would advocate for scientific crime prevention that do not limit justice to offender sentencing or incineration.
Adopting policies that would focus more on scientific modes of crime prevention would have a positive impact on inequality that is based on race and ethnicity. The positive impact aligns with the fact that such a positive policy shift to scientific methods of crime prevention will ensure that offenders are helped to rebuild their lives despite the fact that they have committed crimes. Due to the increasing evidence that people of colour are more likely to commit crimes, my policy change would ensure that the people of colour who are liable for committing certain crimes get the chance to rebuild the broke social contract. In fact, such a policy shift would ensure that crime offenders get life altogether; hence, access to various opportunities such as political power, which would assure that they enjoy equal competing opportunities (Bonilla-Silva & Glover, Reading 8). Certainly, this would assure that crime offenders whether of dominant or minority descent get equal chances of redeeming their lives and sense of worth. In conclusion, current policies applied in the criminal justice system do not guarantee equality in that they centrally focussed on sentencing as a means of punishing crime offenders. This does not offer a platform where offenders can access opportunities; hence, precipitating the inequality amongst the sentenced; mainly the people of colour and the dominant groups; mainly the whites.

References

Benavides, A. (Chapter 7). Cultural Competency in Hispanic Communities. Pg. 101-118.
Bonilla-Silva, E. & Glover, K. (Reading 8). “We are all Americans”: The Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the United States. Pg. 97-109.
Castafieda, C., & Zuniga, X. (Section 2). Racism. Pg. 56-63.
Davis, J. Who is Black? One Nations Definition. Pg. 50-58.
Dozler, C., and White, G. (1977). The More Things Change, the More they stay the same: A Framework for Effective Practice with African Americans. Pg. 108-125.
Furman, R., Negi, N., Iwamoto, D., Rowan, D., Shukraft, A., & Gragg, J. (2009). Social Work Practice with Latinos: Key Issues for Social Workers. Soc Work, 54(2), 167-174.
Hixson, J. (Chapter 1). Developing Culturally Anchored Services Confronting the Challenge of Intragroup Diversity. 9-42.
Marvasti, A. and McKinney, K. “Middle Eastern Lives in America.” Pg. 238-245.