Example Of Multiculturalism And Diversity In The Criminal Justice System Research Paper

Question 1

It is evident that the “War on Drugs” disproportionately affects the women and especially the women of color. The “war on drugs” greatly affects women and families who have been the victims of mandatory minimum sentences and criminalization of females addicted to drugs among other policies. Subsequently, the number of the women in federal prison due to the nonviolent drug offenses in noticeably increasing. Therefore, this illustrates that the “war on drugs” is in a way a war against women.
There are three main factors that have shown the association between the “war on drugs” and War on women.” According to Reagan (2013), there is a significant number of the women of color engaging in the drugs activates. This is because of the feminization of poverty and inadequate housing choices among the women of color. As a result, they inevitably live in drug infested and high crime areas. Therefore, even if they are not involved in the drug trade directly, they are found susceptible by association. The civil and criminal context provides measures to destroy the families living in such situations without addressing the causal roots of the problems (Bloom et a. 1994).
The second factor implicating the war on drugs to women is the dehumanization of women that can be traced back in the slavery days. African-American women have been experiencing tribulations such as rape, manipulation of the marital choices, and forced breeding. Currently, in the current days, women are experiencing victimization through limited means of reproductive control that has resulted in drug abuse. Therefore, the War on Drugs policies attempts to solve problems emanating from drug addiction through oppression and victimization of women of color.
The other reason the women are the victims of the War on Drugs is the fact that the volume of women in prison is increasing as a result of petty drug offenses. The research conducted by indicated that the proportion of imprisoned women for violent crimes is decreasing while the cases of women imprisoned for drug and property crimes are increasing. For instance, the percentage of incarcerated women increased from 5.7 percent in 1992 to 6.3 percent in 1993. This indicates that the policies associated with the War on Drugs are heavily victimizing women.

Question 2

It is clear that there are barriers that exist for an African-American woman to join the “all boys club” of American law enforcement. The first factor that makes it more difficult for African-American women to join “all boys club” is male’s perception and attitude of women (Yu, 2011). These women are disrespected, and pervasive negative attitudes from their male colleagues, however, this does not intimidate them. African-American women join law enforcement at a disadvantage, simply because of discriminations, racism sexual harassment, and disrespect. As law enforcement in American creates policies that aim to raise the number of African-American women in policing. The barriers and obstacles become harden (Yu, 2011). Therefore, there is a need for law enforcement agencies to be aware of the existing barriers that are within. As African-American women have found all through their history, changes take time, and the only solution left is their persistence to change the attitudes
Additionally, work-life balance is another factor that forms the basis of the position to be chosen. The obstacle continues to impede African-American women’s success in the law enforcement. The “all boys club” does not offer policies that promote a flexible work environment. The women are denied family-friendly care policies, and it becomes hard for them since they lack enough support of family obligations (Yu, 2011). Also, the agencies lack policies of supporting in raising a family. African-American women also experience a lack of pregnancy-friendly care policies in law enforcement agencies. Therefore, they tend to leave since there is insufficient support during pregnancy.
Racial discrimination is another obstacle that African-American women undergo. African-American women lack equality when it come matters of law enforcement. Discriminatory law enforcement treatment of African-American women remains one of the hardiest perennials in American life. They are not issued promotions. Promotions in the workplace are known as the sound definition of success (Yu, 2011). It is a key significance for African-American women to identify and acknowledge victories in their battle to attain gratitude, as well as fairness to law enforcement agencies.

Question 3

In comparison of both the white supremacist groups and the terrorist groups, the basic concept of the organization is underpinned on the religion roots. Both groups provide religion ideology that are fundamental to both Christians and Muslims. They are religious groups that aim to instil political reality among their targeted members.
In addition, both groups use the Holy Scripture such as Bible and Quran to provide rules and regulation to their targeted groups. Therefore, by applying the concept of the Holy Scripture, the actions committed by such groups seems to comply with the religious view hence justifying their actions to Christians or Islam correspondingly. The individual ability to commit or deviate from criminal activities strongly depends on the laws and regulations provided by the scriptures (Berlft & Vysotsky, 2006).
Both white supremacists groups and the terrorist groups formulate a common social ideology established for the purpose of struggle over power. These groups acquire social narratives or custom values to teach their members, Christian or Islam on which principles to follow. In this case, the members are conveniences and required to engage in the power struggle through adhering to the complex belief systems established by the groups.

Contrast

The white supremacy aims to make the Christian believe that they are superior to other people because of their race. On the other hand, the Islamic terrorist groups use the Islam to show them that they are superior to other people because of their religion.
The white supremacy is highly driven the political ideology hence seen as the Christian movement fighting for the political rights. Contrary, the Islamic Terror groups are more driven by the jihadist war rather than the political war.
The white supremacy groups are relatively unconventional to the Christian value because they are partially adhering to what Christian believes. On the other hand, the Islamic terror groups are the mainstream of the Islamic beliefs and culture.

Question 4

Below are the steps that the criminal justice system can take to counter religious radicalism without isolating communities or religious individuals. The first step is to challenge the ideology that support terrorism and those who promote it. This is a fundamental part of preventing radicalisation since it challenge the ideology and disrupt the ability of terrorist act. The communities and the criminal justice system enable understanding of and challenge to terrorist ideologies. Therefore, criminal justices support the experts by drawing on and misrepresent theology and places which require a detailed response.
The second step is protecting vulnerable people; extremism is not an event but a process. The criminal justice system can intervene to prevent vulnerable communities being drawn into terrorist-related acts. Therefore, the system should come up with programs that pre-empt but not facilitate law enforcement activities. The system will make sure that the behaviors and opinions of the communities remain unchanged.
The third step is to support sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation. The way criminal justice systems with certain sectors vary. The priority areas that the government should consider are faith, education, health, animal justice and charities. However, some sectors like faith have been at the frontline to help criminal justice systems to tackle radicalisation.

Effectiveness of the steps

The step of challenging the ideology that support terrorism and those who promote it helps the criminal justice to communicate their policies successfully in regions of controversy. Additionally, the step helps the organizations and the communities to challenge the terrorist ideology better. The step also discourse some of the theological claims made by modern terrorist groups. Finally, the step disrupts the activities of supporters for terrorism.
The second step protecting vulnerable people helps the criminal justice systems to create awareness and understanding to people with an aim of prevent them to involve themselves in terrorist groups. The step makes criminal justice systems have the knowledge and confidence in convincing vulnerable people terrorism-related issues.
The last step is made effective when worked alongside children and with schools. Schools are known to help in protecting children from extremist and violent views. Additionally schools help to safeguard children from gang violence, alcohol or any drugs substances. In school, children are taught in a way that is consistent with the law and community’s values. Therefore, the step becomes most effective since the innocent and accessible mind that can be radicalized are nowhere to be seen.

Question 5

Mandatory arrest law requires an officer to make an arrest to a person if the officer finds appropriate reason to believe that a crime has been committed. According to this law, the responding officer should conduct arrest as a preferred response. The law was established subsequently to the research conducted in 1984 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This research indicated the significance and effectiveness of the arrest on combating domestic violence (Hirschel et al. 2007).
Although the mandatory arrest statute has significantly contributed to the increase of the arrest, there are the reason that show insufficient effectiveness on reducing the domestic violence. First, the officers are more likely to arrest the offender if they stay at the crime scene than when they leave the crime scene. Studies have shown that the officers may not follow up the offender or acquire the warranty of arrest if the offender leaves the crime scene. Second, the mandatory arrest facilitates the dual arrest for violence involving the same sex couple. For example, if the violence incidence involved two male partners, the officers are likely to assume that it is a barroom fight and hence arrest both men. In such case, both men are considered equally responsible and thus the officer gets a reason to arrest both of them (Welch et al. 1993). Third, there are cases of gender bias when making an arrest. In some instance, police fail to arrest women and men in the same frequency regardless of the seriousness of the offense. Therefore, various implementation needs to be done to increase the effectiveness of the mandatory arrest.

References

Berlft, C., & Vysotsky, S. (2006). Overview of US white supremacist groups. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 34(1), 11-48. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/2484782/Overview_of_U.S._White_Supremacist_Groups
Bloom, B., Chesney-Lind, M., & Owen, B. (1994). Women in California Prisons: Hidden Victims of the War on Drugs. Retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/women_in_california_prisons-hidden_victims_of_the_war_on_drugs.pdf
Hirschel, D., Buzawa, E., Pattavina, A., & Faggiani, D. (2007). Domestic violence and mandatory arrest laws: To what extent do they influence police arrest decisions?. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 255-298. Retrieved from http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7284&context=jclc
Levine, D. R., Harris, P. R., & Wong, H. Z. (2002). Multicultural law enforcement: Strategies for peacekeeping in a diverse society. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=192933
Reagan, B. (1990). War on Drugs: A War against Women, The. Berkeley Women's LJ, 6, 203. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=bglj
Schmalleger, F. (2004). Criminal justice. A brief introduction.–8-th ed., update–Upper Saddle River, NJ. Retrieved from http://osx.lps.org/manila/tlarson/CJUnit01Slides1.pdf
Spalek, B., & Lambert, R. (2008). Muslim communities, counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation: A critically reflective approach to engagement. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 36(4), 257-270. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756061608000487
Thomas, P. (2010). Failed and friendless: the UK's ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’programme. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 12(3), 442-458. Retrieved from http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/8949/1/Paul_Thomas_Failed_and_Friendless_PVEpdf.pdf
Welch, D. M. (1993). Mandatory Arrest of Domestic Abusers: Panacea or Perpetuation of the Problem of Abuse. DePaul L. Rev., 43, 1133. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1276&context=wmjowl
Yu, H. (2011). An Examination of Eight Factors Influencing Women's Retention in Federal Law Enforcement. Retrieved from http://www.wifle.org/pdf/ResearchReport_DrHelenYuWIFLE.pdf