Race and the Criminal Justice System in the United States: Part 1

Abstract

Racial disparities can be found not only throughout the procedures, policies and institutions of the criminal justice system but also in the differences in social and economic standing in American society. Criminal justice and punishment, as it will be referred to, can be viewed as a vehicle of social control help to explain the disproportionately massive reach of its consequences in the lives of black Americans (majority male). This sociological perspective of social control theory frames both how structural barriers encourage the prevalence of offending and victimisation of crime in black communities and reinforce them during and after imprisonment or contact with law enforcement. The present articles seeks to describe and analyse the existing literature on how race and ethnicity matters in criminal justice outcomes, in addition to examining the inverse—how the difference in criminal justice outcomes of blacks and whites influence their social mobility and standing, economic status, communities and families. The implications of the findings discussed the will be addressed in the conclusion (Part 2).