Lynndell Oliver
Dr. Mark Bond
CMRJ699
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice
- Introduction
1.1. Background of the Study
Though more than fifty years have been passed since the incorporation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, monorities like American Blacks are still facing unfair circumstances. They are stereotyped, stigmatized, and dehumanized (Moore et al., 2018). Recent brutal acts and killings against different ethnicities, significantly Blacks, intensified the debate of police reforms. The killing of George Floyd led to the movements such as Black Lives Matter showed the lack of trust between police agencies and local communities, predominantly low-income neighborhoods involving African-Americans and Latinos. Besides, policing policies and efforts that identify police-community linkages help daily interactions (Byfield, 2019). Thus, it is critical to foster trust by reforming the police to eliminate bias and violence.
1.2. Problem Statement
While pointing out the unjustified criminal acts against minorities in the U.S., different factors are not considered the root causes of innocent deaths and violence. For example, Ghezzi, Funk, and Houmanfar (2021) stated that social values and engagement between police and communities determine trust and confidence. However, a behavioral and value-based model is needed to solve systematic racism issues and police brutality in law enforcement agencies. Also, Cowell et al. (2021) argued that individual and community level factors must be evaluated to understand police officers' motivation to use force. For example, officers personal negative images of minorities play a key role in identifying the reason for using power against different ethnicities. Besides, Dukes and Gaither (2017) stated that the media's negative imaging and information about the victim and shooter affect law enforcement agencies' justice system and decision-making. They are influenced by the stereotypes of Blacks and other ethnicities and the hyper created by the false information. Ultimately, the violence and police brutality are justified against minorities.
Moreover, perceptions of immigrants related to police-black civilian encounters are not considered while reforming the police. It is critical to have their opinions and perceptions to develop efficient frameworks for improving police. Immegrants' perception of criminal injustice could influence how immigrants perceive and react to the stakeholders of the criminal justice system like the police (Ayoyo, 2018). Last but not least, technology is usually taken as an inefficient tool in mitigating police brutality. However, a comprehensive model must be developed, which integrates technology and facilitate reforms in police (Shapiro, 2019).
1.3. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to evaluate police treatment with diversified ethnicities. It is crucial to analyze the therapy to indicate why police brutality and violence have increased against minorities. For example, it is necessary to know why police treat minorities brutally, including individual and community level factors, systematic racism, stereotyping, negative image, etc. Further, a technological framework would be specified to use innovative tools efficiently in reforming the police.
1.4. Research Questions
• How systematic and institutional racism leads to police violence and brutality in the U.S. against minorities?
• What individual and community-level aspects inspire police officers in using force?
• What type of information influences the criminal justice system and police officers needed to be avoided to reduce violence against minorities?
• What are the perceptions of minorities relative to police violence and brutality to eliminate bias and unfair justice and reform police?
• How can technology be optimally used to reform police?
1.5. Hypotheses
• Systematic and institutional racism leads to police violence and brutality in the U.S. against minorities.
• Individual and community-level aspects inspire police officers in using force.
• Information communicated via media and other mediums influences the criminal justice system and police officers' decision-making.
• Different perceptions of minorities identify police violence and brutality that could help in eliminating bias and unfair justice and reform police.
• The technology could be optimally used to reform police.
1.6. Significance of the Study
The study would be helpful for different stakeholders like researchers, law enforcement agencies, the criminal justice system, police officers, and minorities. For example, researchers can use the current study and indicate the gas to cover in the future. Also, law enforcement agencies can identify strategies to reform the police and reduce police brutality against minorities.
1.7. Methodology
Quantitative and qualitative methods would be used to have subjective and objective opinions related to the topic. As part of a quantitative study, a survey questionnaire will be used, and for the qualitative research method, interviews will be conducted with the minorities. The survey questionnaire will be sent to law enforcement agencies to answer questions regarding technology, individual and community level aspects, stereotypes, and information aspects. Besides, correlation analysis will be used to analyze quantitative data, while qualitative data will be analyzed using secondary data involving books, articles, and reports. The sample size for the quantitative study will be 100 police officers from North America, while interviews will be conducted with ten individuals as minorities established in North America.
1.8. Limitations
The small sample size is a limitation due to resource and time constraints. Also, only North America will be covered, which means results cannot b generalized to the U.S. population.
Article One:
The article by Ghezzi et al. (2021) provides an overview of the restructuring of law enforcement agencies. The central aspect of this article is that it specifies the factor of interaction between communities. The report identified the research gap of lack of focus on the police's inability to develop relationships with different races like Blacks. The authors specified that policing in the U.S. is an element of systematic racism linked to the amendments, laws, and cultural practices as part of the history of police brutality against Blacks. It is an infrastructure of oppression. The death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor intensified the question of the efforts of the police in combating crimes and their ability to avoid the status quo in judging criminals.
Thus, the question of the paper is the role of social values and interaction between police and communities in reducing unfair arrests and brutality. The question is critical to eliminate the growing lack of trust and confidence in the police from the minorities. When the level of interaction and value-system is improved between police and different ethnicities, the enforcement will be automatically integrated with fair and unbiased decision-making.
The primary purpose of the research was to introduce a scientific behavior framework based on Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and Prosocial. For example, the Prosocial framework enhances the values' clarification in the organizations and communities they serve. It also reinforces values-consistent action. Hence, the model tends to be a critical tool to solve systematic racism issues and police brutality in law enforcement agencies. In addition, the authors aimed to indicate the need for interlinking social values and the justice system while providing law enforcement activities. It is crucial to eliminate personal preferences and bias when involved with law enforcement organizations and have the responsibility to offer justice. Ultimately, police brutality would be solved, and the confidence of minorities will increase in the national law enforcement agencies. The limitation of this study is that the article does not cover the opinions of the Black minorities, what are their perspective of the police unjust behaviors to them. Hence, future studies could be based on the objective views of the Black minorities to indicate the issues experienced by them.
Article Two:
Also, Cowell et al. (2021) specified the factors influencing law enforcement agencies to use force. They offered a systematic review of the aspects. Recent media focus on law enforcement using the power in the last decade ultimately alerted the scientific community. They have alerted to the need for more study on law enforcement discretion and decision-making. The utilization of force is an essential aspect of police in society, but inefficient use of power needs to be taken as the central issue of police misconduct. The growing rate of high-profile shootings of Black people in the U.S., ranging from George Floyd to Eric Garner and Freddie Gray, has identified a gap in reforming the police in the U.S. In this technological era, it is critical to review the factors that influence law enforcement to use force after the alterations in social media that increased the visibility for social movements like Black Lives Matter.
Thus, the main question arises: what factors impact officers' decisions to use force at the individual and community levels. Explaining individual and communities' level factors will help understand why police use force to confront minorities. Hence, the research aimed to identify the aspects that inspire police officers to use power against Blacks and other ethnicities. Ultimately, the social-ecological model was used to evaluate the factors. The authors aimed to provide an insight into the dependence of officers on individual factors that motivate them to be prone to racial or ethnic double jeopardy. Exposing to double jeopardy, they are not just surveilled at disproportionate rates, but they encounter disproportionate utilization of force. The supportive attitude toward police brutality is linked to negative cultural images of Blacks. Besides, the U.S. police's demographics are 75% white and male. Thus, it is significant to fill the gap by identifying individual and community level factors to avoid police violence. The critical limitation of the study is that it does not offer an insight into the training of law enforcement that plays a crucial role in handling the situations. The study also has limitations regarding the use of general reasons for law enforcement of using force. Hence, future research can evaluate the disparate influence of power usage on Blacks in the U.S.
Article 3:
The article by Dukes and Gaither (2017) indicated the gap related to the impact of racial stereotypes on the public opinions as part of the public opinions about the deaths and criminal proceedings for the killers. There is a gap in the existing studies regarding how certain types of data released about the victims affect the incidence's opinions. The negative portrayals influence the criminal proceedings, and stereotypes associated with ethnic minorities lead to bias in the judicial process. Thus, the main question is how the type of information disseminated related to a victim can highly sway attitudes toward the victim and the shooter. The study's primary purpose is to explain the impact of data on law enforcement organizations' unbiased and justified activities. The limitation of the study is the absence of freedom of speech and a balanced press and speech approach. Thus, future research can cover this aspect.
Article 4:
Another article by Ayoyo (2018) identified the gap of lack of focus on the perceptions of black immigrants of police-black civilian deadly encounters in the U.S.
Hence, the question covered in the paper is about the perception of police-black civilian deadly encounters in North American in Black immigrants. The primary purpose is to know the feelings of the minorities about the aspects that facilitate deadly encounters even though black civilians are not criminals and are treated unjustified. In addition, it would enable the law enforcement agencies to train and educate the officers to make fair decisions in evaluating if the accused person is justified to be encountered. However, a small sample and focus on one location are the limitations of the study. Thus, large sample size and different areas could be used in the future despite just focusing on one area of the U.S.
Article 5:
One of the articles by () specified the research gap of lack of focus on using technology in law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system. On the other hand, the opponents of the use of technology specified that it could improve equality and fairness by mitigating the problems of erratic decision-making. Hence, the question answered in the paper is how technology can be optimally used to reform policing. The purpose of to introduce a model to improve policing and develop a fair and justified judiciary system. The limitation is not considering the environmental factors in using technology in reforming policing against different ethnicities. Thus, the future study can integrate the external factors.
References
Ayoyo, D. D. (2018). The Perceptions of Police-Black Civilian Deadly Encounters in North America among Black Immigrants in a Western Canadian City. Societies, 8(2), 42.
Byfield, N. P. (2019). Race science and surveillance: Police as the new race scientists. Social Identities, 25(1), 91-106.
Cowell, M., Corsi, C., Johnson, T., & Brinkley‐Rubinstein, L. (2021). The factors that motivate law enforcement's use of force: A systematic review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 67(1-2), 142-151.
Dukes, K. N., & Gaither, S. E. (2017). Black racial stereotypes and victim blaming: Implications for media coverage and criminal proceedings in cases of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 789-807.
Ghezzi, E. L., Funk, J. A., & Houmanfar, R. A. (2021). Restructuring Law Enforcement Agencies to Support Prosocial Values: A Behavior-Scientific Model for Addressing Police Brutality. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1-9.
Moore, S. E., Robinson, M. A., Clayton, D. M., Adedoyin, A. C., Boamah, D. A., Kyere, E., & Harmon, D. K. (2018). A critical race perspective of police shooting of unarmed black males in the United States: Implications for social work. Urban Social Work, 2(1), 33-47.
Shapiro, A. (2019). Predictive policing for reform? Indeterminacy and intervention in big data policing. Surveillance & Society, 17(3/4), 456-472.
Sample Solution