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Synthesis Paper On Deviance

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Sophia Woolbert SOC 001 27 February 2023 Synthesis Paper 3 (Readings 5 & 32) Deviance refers to any behavior or action that violates the social norms or values of a particular group or society. Depending on the culture, context, and historical frame, what is considered deviant varies. Examining the norms of the group or society in question is crucial to determining whether a behavior is deviant or not (Rotondi 23 February 2023). When deciding what constitutes deviation, it's crucial to take the context and viewpoint of the group or culture into account. Crime is one of the violations of a norm that has been formally implemented into law. The role of deviance in Karl Marx’s conflict theory and its application to understanding crime trends strongly …show more content…

Various reasons why African American men are at a greater risk of experiencing incarceration include systemic racism, poverty, lack of access to education and job opportunities, and biased policing and sentencing practices. These elements contribute to a vicious cycle of disadvantage that may increase involvement in the criminal justice system. Obtaining stable employment is an essential component of successful reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals, as it can reduce the likelihood of recidivism and improve their overall well-being. But the stigma attached to having a criminal record, especially as a Black African American, seriously limits their options while reentering society and finding employment as pervasive racism and prejudice makes it extremely difficult. These collective studies conducted by sociologist Devah Pager in this chapter emphasize how the most dominant culture within our society, consisting of white males, continues to thrive through the criminal records of such participants and limit the opportunities of minorities, with or without a criminal record. The most salient principle of Karl Marx’s conflict theory supports this maintenance of power over minorities through marginalization and criminalization (Rotondi 23 February 2023). Employers continue to take into account the high trends of crime within the African American male population and hinder their ability to thrive in society, with or without a record that shows actual

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Crime, Citizenship, and the Court’s analyzation of Incarceration, Inequality, and Imagining Alternatives have revealed the prevalent racial profiling that exists in the African American community. Bruce Western emphasizes the prominent levels of incarceration in minority neighborhoods elaborating on the negative effects that these rates have on families, communities, and lifestyles. He reiterates that “incarceration deepens inequality because its negative social and economic effects are concentrated in the poorest communities” (Western, 297). When we analyze Fox News media portrayals of Martin, we could begin to understand why African Americans change their methods of transportation, clothing, and routines. These men adapt to the reality of racial profiling in fear that one day, they may contribute to the high incarceration rates within their communities.

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In the book, The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, readers are given a look at the long and extensive history of racism towards African-Americans. From there, the reader is shown how racism towards African-Americans has not gone away and is still very much common in modern society. Throughout the novel, Alexander argues and discusses how African-Americans are being discriminated against in the form of mass incarceration. “Mass incarceration refers not only to the criminal justice system but also to the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison” (Alexander 14). The War On Drugs can largely be put to blame for the increase in incarcerations.

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The fourth chapter explores how the system of mass incarceration affects African American communities both during incarceration and after being released with the title of being a felon. The fifth chapter is where the author explains the title of the book, being the idea of how the “Age of Colorblindness” has created a world where the discrimination is harder to witness from the outside since it is under the disguise of the criminal justice system. This chapter also compares the potential for harm in the modern system to the harm that came from the Jim Crow laws. The sixth and final chapter explores the ideas of how the status quo in society makes it harder to dismantle the system of mass

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Removing these obstacles that stop people from discriminating against other individuals who are trying to obtain housing, employment, financial aid and other things people need to live can lead to reduced recidivism rates and overall improvements in public safety and well-being. By considering the potential consequences of perpetuating societal exclusion through the retention of criminal records, this article encourages a critical examination of the role of criminal justice policies in perpetuating cycles of poverty and recidivism. Ashford's article prompts a multifaceted evaluation of the relationship between criminal records policies and the criminal justice system. By exploring the potential benefits and drawbacks of automatically expunging certain records after seven years, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of how criminal justice policies can impact individuals' lives and broader societal outcomes. Bloom, Tina, and G. A. Bradshaw.

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The writer projects that one-third of African-American population will be in prisons if the current trends continue. Alexander’s view that the current criminal justice system is discriminatory can be confirmed by the fact that whites are more likely to commit drug-related offenses than people of

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Alexander focuses on how African American communities have become more vulnerable to the arrests. Authorities will target these communities even though this is not where the crime is happening. Lastly, many people are labeled ‘felons’ for life, even though they have only committed one victimless crime. Michelle Alexander summarizes her opinion by saying, “We have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it.” Even though America has taken many small steps to move forward from segregation, black individuals are locked up behind bars and will struggle for the rest of their lives to escape from the ‘felon’ title.

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Mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow and has led to the oppression and disenfranchisement of whole generations of young black men. Between 1980 and 2000, the inmate population in the United States skyrocketed from 300,000 to well over

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Annotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.

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Though they are no longer trapped in a literal sense, many ex-convicts are held from moving forward and changing their lives for the better. The new level in the social hierarchy, the undercaste, is one that is seemingly inescapable. In the undercaste, the ladder of opportunity is non-existent due to the laws, rules, and regulations that prohibit them from moving past their time incarcerated. The system authorizes discrimination against those released from prisons in voting, employment, housing, education, public benefits, and jury service. The inability to escape the “undercaste,” the prison label, and the demonization of the Black man has stopped the American dream from being realized for Black Americans.

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African Americans are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and sentenced to harsher penalties compared to their white counterparts for similar offenses. The over-policing of African American communities, racial profiling, and biased sentencing practices contribute to the lack of opportunities and a cycle of incarceration. Reforming the criminal justice system by addressing racial bias, implementing alternatives to incarceration, and focusing on rehabilitation can help create a more equitable society and provide opportunities for individuals to reintegrate successfully into their

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Michelle Alexander, similarly, points out the same truth that African American men are targeted substantially by the criminal justice system due to the long history leading to racial bias and mass incarceration within her text “The New Jim Crow”. Both Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Michelle Alexander’s text exhibit the brutality and social injustice that the African American community experiences, which ultimately expedites the mass incarceration of African American men, reflecting the current flawed prison system in the U.S. The American prison system is flawed in numerous ways as both King and Alexander points out. A significant flaw that was identified is the injustice of specifically targeting African American men for crimes due to the racial stereotypes formed as a result of racial formation. Racial formation is the accumulation of racial identities and categories that are formed, reconstructed, and abrogated throughout history.

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Not having access to programs that could provide support and relief to a person after they were imprisoned causes them to lack the ability to become functioning citizens and better themselves. They are willing to commit crimes in order to make ends meet, which causes their ‘high rates of recidivism”. By committing crimes to support themselves after being failed by the justice system, African American people are painted as having criminal and violent tendencies. Mass hysteria about crime arises which “invoke[s] the society-must-be-defended logic” (Brown and Baragainer 213). Therefore, people of

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As far as crime is concerned, it is defined by the law. Deviance is unexpected behaviour, but not exactly considered criminal. Many consider crime as a social problem – a problem as defined by society, such as homelessness, drug abuse, etc. Others would say crime is a sociological problem – something defined as a problem by sociologists and should be dealt with accordingly by sociologists. This essay attempts to discover the boundaries between these two and ultimately come to an appropriate conclusion.

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