U.S. Criminal Justice and Racial Inequality: Analyses by Garland and Hughey
Summary
The criminal justice system is an integral part of the state’s functioning. Each country’s system has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on the cultural and historical background. The US justice system also has some problems that many researchers have analyzed. This review aims to explore and highlight the critical aspects of two papers that raise issues of US criminal justice and racial inequality.
Recent Radical Problems
For a more effective analysis of the problem, it is necessary to consider the criminal justice system in the context of different aspects. Garland (3) addresses recent radical challenges to American criminal justice in the chosen report. It includes calls for an end to mass incarceration, an end to police funding, and a dismantling of systemic racism. These issues are considered in the global social and economic mechanisms of the country’s existence, giving a more objective and complete picture.
The author analyzes the social structures, institutions, and processes that led to America’s emergency penitentiary state, as well as its extremely high murder rate and social unrest. The critique of the research is formulated by a limited review conducted by the author, which includes the methodology. The author found that the current policy of the country in the aspect of criminal justice creates a high level of social disorganization and criminal violence.
Police, Violence, and Race
The second chosen work raises the theme of violence and the work of the police. In this paper, Hughey (2) analyzes the consequences of police profiling whites and beating and killing people of color. Moreover, the author reflects on concepts such as “race” and how one can define violence, namely, context and validity. In the work, one seeks to answer why and how violence is often directed at black and Hispanic populations and why many whites support such violence and government surveillance.
The relationship between police violence and race is analyzed as a continuous feedback loop. Namely, “race” produces violence and inequality, while violence and inequality (re) form “race.” The critique of this work lies in its methodology, namely, in the narrow consideration of the above terms. The article’s findings are that the concept of a racial group includes five main factors: ideologies, institutions, interests, identities, and interactions.
Works Cited
Garland, David. The Current Crisis of American Criminal Justice: A Structural Analysis. Annual Review of Criminology. 2023. Web.
Hughey, Matthew. ‘The Five I’s Of Five-O: Racial Ideologies, Institutions, Interests, Identities, and Interactions of Police Violence.’ Critical Sociology, 2015, 857–871. Web.