Structural Injustice In The Criminal System Can Occur Due

In today’s society, announcing one’s aversion towards people different from them is the fastest way receive ridicule. In general, society has progressed to a point where being xenophobic, racist, and sexist is socially unacceptable. Despite this progress, society still suffers from the effects of racism, xenophobia, and sexism. Why is that? The answer has to do with the fact that while explicit expressions of these behaviors are seen as unacceptable, implicit associations still permeate our society. These associations lead to implicit bias. Implicit bias is readily becoming the most pervasive form of bias in our society. It contributes to both micro and macro-level inequalities, and raising awareness of implicit bias is crucial in order to suppress its effects on society. This paper will start with a discussion of what implicit bias is. This will be followed by a discussion of the effects of implicit bias. It will conclude with a discussion of how implicit bias can be combatted.

Ever since the 1970’s, the number of mass incarcerations in the United States has increased by 700 percent. In many of these cases, African-Americans and other racial minority groups are seemingly more likely to become arrested and convicted compared to whites. Statistically speaking, one in eight African-American men in their twenties are currently in prison. As derived from the articles What Is Implicit Bias? and Mass Incarceration and People of Color, implicit biases have affected the reasoning for individuals in the criminal justice system. Police officers, judges, and jurors are prime examples of this. In addition, policies that blatantly target African-Americans and other racial minority groups are a result of implicit biases. Not only are public sector employees affected by implicit biases, everyone is affected by implicit biases. My results from taking the Implicit Association Test have supported this claim.

discusses the results of a Implicit Association Test which measures a persons automatic association between mental representation of objects in the memory. Nearly 88 percent of the white race who took the Implicit Association Test show inherent racial bias. They have found when white people carry a implicit racial bias that they subconsciously prefer white people over black people in areas such as employment and academic. People don't even realize that they have a subconscious biases against a certain race. Which can affect how they interact with them. America still has a problem with race, The Civil War ended many years ago but the war between races still exist . Once we acknowledge the truth behind inherent racial bias we can move towards

The population at large in the United Stated is very different than the population of the prison system. Racial inequality in the criminal justice system is often ignored because it does not affect most people. If there is to be a change in racial inequality, this issue is one that must be addressed. According to Inequality and Incarceration, “497 out of 100,000 Americans are imprisoned.” This means there is “less than one percent of people” in the United States that are imprisoned. This may seem like an insignificant amount.

The 13th Amendment to the American Constitution is celebrated and known as the amendment to end slavery. The amendment provides that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution, Amendment 13). What is often overlooked is that this amendment abolishes slavery, unless you are a criminal. After the Civil War, this loophole was wildly used by slave owners, as they would convict African Americans of minor crimes to then use them as slaves again. This exception to the amendment is continually used today in the American prison system. The Criminal Justice System in America contains significant flaws that are detrimental to society. A few of these flaws lie within the actions and ideals of the prison system, the policies and laws surrounding the criminal justice system, and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The Implicit Association Test or IAT is a valuable tool that those in the criminal justice system use; often times during the hiring process candidates will be required to complete the IAT so that hiring officials can see if they have any unconscious bias. The IAT is still relatively new in terms of psychological research only being created in the 1990’s by psychologist Anthony Greenwald (Kaufman, 2011). Individuals who take the race portion of the test are shown pictures of Caucasian and African-American males or females, then are given positive or negative words that they associate with each race as fast as possible. After taking the test it measures the unconscious bias that everyone has deep down (Kaufman, 2011).

Black people comprise 40% of the U.S. prison population, despite the fact that only black people are only 13% of the total U.S. population (Sakala, 2014). This disparity is influenced by numerous factors, one being implicit bias. The racial discrepancy in criminal justice is an indirect reflection of implicit bias in criminal justice practices at multiple levels of the system. Implicit bias refers to the unconscious assumptions and prejudices held by individuals. As law enforcement officials are required to make quick decisions in situations with potential offenders, their individual bias can motivate their subconscious actions (Borgida & Miller, 2013, pg. 532).

Social psychologists have studied the cause and effect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham).

The bias in the American criminal justice system is first reported in the first stages of the system, which includes the (act of asking questions and trying to find the truth about something) and arrest of the suspected people by police personnel (American Civil Liberties Union, 2013). These police personnel discriminately target the minorities as criminal suspects, which eventually skews the racial population of the people arrested, charged, put in jail or convicted (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2013). One of the key problems suffering (from sickness) the U.S. criminal justice system is (assuming certain races of people are more likely to commit crimes) (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2013). This involves the identification of criminal suspects on the basis race or (special way of speaking/mark that shows emphasis). According to Cole, Smith, & DeJong (2013), (assuming certain races of people are more likely to commit crimes) is widespread because the police agents enjoy a large amount of (ability to make wise decisions) as to who they think about/believe as a suspect. For example, in Baltimore, African-American car/truck drivers are discriminately stopped for minor traffic offenses because they are believed to be more likely tobe start/work at more serious criminal activity than whites (Saad, 2011). This results in a large percentage of innocent African-Americans and other minority drivers such as Puerto Ricans, Colombians and Cubans to be illegally subjected to the embarrassment (in

Understanding that the prejudice towards African Americans is so ingrained into our society and that negative attitudes expressed by African Americans and the distrust they feel towards the criminal justice system spirals into a seemingly endless cycle of discrimination and fear is important to note if we ever want to put an end to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling. The act of racial profiling is an expression of internal prejudice that people often don't realize that they hold, so the first step to ending the practice is for law enforcement officers and the public in general to learn to check their perceptions. According to Verna Myers, a diversity advocate, there are three main things that we can do to stop our prejudiced thinking: first of all, we need to stop denying that we hold biases against people, nothing will change unless we admit and address our issues; secondly, do not avoid the individuals you

The Implicit Association Test is a Harvard study that measures people’s associations with certain types of things and people, one of the many tests includes race. When looking at the statistics that are exhibited by each test’s results, it shows that 68 percent of people have a preference towards white people while a measly 14 percent have a preference towards black people, the remaining 18 percent being in between. This is largely because of societal influence that sways the biases of people largely towards white people and negative associations that are wrongfully placed upon black people. Staples reflects on this issue and its causes and effects in his essay “Black Men and Public Space” Utilizing his strong of persona and ethos, he states

An Implicit Bias is an unconscious reaction to another person because of their race, age, gender, appearance, or sexual orientation based off of stereotypes. Staples uses this in his article to explain each situation as it progresses. An example of this is shown when he explains how his appearance was enough to scare a woman at night. “To her, the youngish black man-a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket-seemed menacingly close” (Staples 1). This is an example of an implicit bias by showing how intimidating African Americans are to other people. Staples wants to change the biased perspective of how people view all African Americans as being a thug.

The inequality or equality of black Americans in the criminal justice system have been rigged for a long time.Therefore, I think there is injustice in police killings of blacks, and the sentencing of blacks, and how they are put there, while waiting for trial.

No matter who you are or what part of the world you are from implicit bias are a constant issue in society. These tendencies typically stem from structural injustice, implicit bias, and personal discretion. Structural injustice is when a category of people are associated with an insufficient status when comparing to other groups of people engaging in the same actions. Implicit bias are stances and stereotypes that affect our comprehension, actions and decisions held by our unconscious manner. These bias are involuntarily and are done without individuals awareness or intentional control. Everyone is exposed to these biases at a young age through the media, parents, and teachers. Each individual holds possession of implicit bias whether they

Observers have noted in recent years a shift in government policy toward what is perceived as ‘redressing the balance’ in criminal justice, to be more advantageous to victims and less so to the accused. (have implications for current exclusionary rules)