Social Structural Inequality And Crime

When people say they “want justice”, what do they want? How can we achieve justice as a community?

Social inequality is a problematic phenomenon that occurs all around the world and affects both the developed and developing nations. It is defined as “the unequal distribution of social, political and economic resources within a social collective” (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 205). Inequality is closely connected with social stratification, a system of social hierarchy that positions individuals and groups into categories according to social variables such as class or ethnicity (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 485). This stratification has a significant impact on the opportunity that an individual may have to move up the hierarchy of inequality (Gill 2017a).

Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.

Decades of failed public and private remedies for chronic disparities and disadvantages in communities of color invite us to reexamine systems and institutions that provide and restrict opportunity in new ways (Lawrence, K., 2011). The causes seem to be intertwined being poor equals, equals a poor education, equals lack of employment, and ultimately equals an increased rate of crime.

Racial and ethnic discrimination leads to anger and frustration that in turn can promote criminal behavior (2). On average African Americans and Latinos are much poorer than

Neighborhoods with higher poverty, ethnic diversity, and population instability are associated with higher rates of crime and delinquency. All of these things contribute to the breakdown of social cohesion and informal social control (O’Brien, 2006), creating an unlikely environment for early childhood development and optimal outcome.

Inequality between races in the U.S. seems like a distant, long forgotten thing of the past. However, the gaps between the varied races in the U.S. are just as real as they were before. Asians are perceived as smart hard-workers with cruel parents, hispanics are identified as lazy illegal immigrants, whites are portrayed as dumb party-goers, and blacks are discerned as scary and evil thugs. The ways these races are viewed is extremely harmful to the way they are treated by society. These people tend to be treated badly starting at a young age, making the stereotypes they are accosted with harder to overcome. Stereotypes are taken to schools and jobs, causing imbalances almost everywhere, but the most damaging stereotypes are given to blacks, as they are treated like criminals

The purpose of this paper is to address residential segregation, why it exists, and how it relates to crime. Residential segregation is the physical separation of one or more groups based upon race and is more pronounced in suburban areas and inner city neighborhoods (Class Notes, 2014). Inner city neighborhoods are heavily populated with racial and ethnic minorities and tend to lack socially stabilizing resources such as adequate parental supervision, education, and long-term, stable employment (Walker, 2007). The conditions of poverty limit the opportunities for residents to escape inner city neighborhoods and create opportunities for the existence of crime and criminal behavior.

Racial inequality has been a problem plaguing this country since its inception. Even today we can see the extent of the issue in almost every facet of life. There is racial inequality within the workforce, resulting in a vast differential between incomes of different races. Racial inequality also lives within our health care system, meaning that millions of Americans are not covered by government issued health insurance, but the majority of those not covered belong to a racial minority. The most devastating place that racial inequality has managed to creep into is our education system, basically setting many American children up for failure.

The purpose of this paper is to first define intersectionality and how it is linked to issues such as class, race, gender and crime. Secondly, it will discuss why intersectionality is important to understand crime and justice. In order to understand the relationship between intersectionality and crime, a particular issue will be reviewed from the crime and delinquency issues of 2014. Out of the 52 articles, this paper will first look at the number of titles and abstracts that discuses race, class, gender or other social inequalities. Lastly, out of the 52 articles reviewed, five will be thoroughly examined and discussed that best address intersectionality and how these issues are link together.

“1]. How does social inequality impact people of different nationalities [ethnicities & races], classes, and genders in society.”

The relationship between Crime and less fortunate people cannot underestimated; it may just be the way the media has conditioned us to characterize what a criminal looks like and how they live their lives. There are many low income cities and crime rates widespread across America. One may say that people with low income have nothing to lose when they commit crime or depressed or desperate to the point that they will commit crimes for the profit of money. Even though crime is committed at all walks of life, one can still pose a question to know if crime is more likely to be committed by people with low income that those with high income.

“Many people living in poverty do not want to be living in poverty. In order to obtain a higher level of socioeconomic status, crime is seen as the only option.” (Wilson, 1987).

Poverty and the relationship it has to crime is a long standing sociological, humanists and historical phenomenon. From the plight of the third world to the violence soaked inner city streets of the 1980’s, the relationship of crime and poverty has been the source of a great deal of social commentary. In societies throughout the world and throughout history there has always been a traditional measure of deviance through relative income gaps. Both poverty and crime as well as their connections are heavily weighed topics of political and social discourse. Opinions in these areas contain a great deal of variance. The prejudices of the old guard from the professional police era still utilize association with poverty as a measuring stick for social deviance. Meanwhile, intelligent social science continues to give insight to factors such as social disorganization, socialization into violence, as well as, the far reaching impact political, economic and justice based policies have on those in poverty.

Society holds many structures that mould human performance and produce opportunities for some, but inequalities for others (Morrall, 2009). These structures in society are organized by the hierarchies of class, ethnicity and gender (Crossman, 2016). Due to having a society based on hierarchies, social inequalities are inevitable. Social inequality refers to the ways in which a group or individual of a certain social position may receive unequal opportunities or distribution of ‘goods’ such as education, income, living conditions and healthcare (Walker, 2009). These unequal opportunities may be given to someone because of their ethnicity, gender, income, religion or social class (Walker, 2009). For example, people in a high social class will be able to pay for their children to go to a good private school for a good education, whereas lower-class or working class people will struggle to afford the same education.