Multiculturalism and Diversity in the Criminal Justice System

Multiculturalism and Diversity in the Criminal Justice System

Building an effective criminal justice system requires multiculturalism and social diversity. Unlike judges and court officials, who should be blind to color, race, and belief systems, professionals in criminal justice organizations should come from different cultural backgrounds. Having professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds helps criminal justice organizations understand how people from diverse cultures interact and view the world. Relevant criminal justice organizations should train current staff and hire from diverse backgrounds to build cultural awareness. Social diversity and multiculturalism will address prevalent justice system issues, including the historical disparity in incarceration rates between Black Americans and Whites.

The Current State

The awareness about US incarceration rates has raised awareness concerning the disparities in the system and the need to embrace diversity. The US is a world leader in terms of incarceration rates, as there are about 2.2 million people incarcerated in local, state, and federal prisons (The Sentencing Project, 2018). It has lately emerged that this figure masks the disparities that lead to higher incarceration rates among black Americans and Latinos. Currently, a black American adult is 5.9 times more likely than White adults to get arrested, be convicted, and receive lengthy jail sentences, as Latin Americans are at 3.1% (The Sentencing Project, 2018). Further statistics show that one out of every three young black boys are likely to go to jail at some point in childhood, and one out of six Latin American boys. These percentages indicate a stark difference with the white population, as only one out of seventeen boys will go to prison at some point in their lives.

The disparity in incarceration rates between black Americans and Whites indicates a lack of sensitivity to social diversity. One of the contributing factors for the large number of blacks incarcerated includes poor socio-economic conditions that force some of them to engage in petty theft and drug peddling. Criminal justice system organizations such as law enforcers tend to believe that black Americans are likely to commit crimes and are likely to stop their cars as opposed to their white counterparts. Even in burglary and related theft instances, black Americans are more likely to be taken to court as opposed to their white counterparts. If law enforcement agencies were more socially diverse, they would know what cases to take to court and when to adopt alternative punishment based on culprits’ socio-economic conditions.

Moreover, the biased use of discretion by prosecution continues to subject people of color to disadvantages. Whites occupy most state and federal public prosecution offices, leading to biased views about black American offending. As a result, they are likely to charge black Americans for offenses that carry heavier sentences (The Sentencing Project, 2018). For instance, white federal prosecutors are two times more likely to charge black Americans with offenses carrying minimum sentencing than whites (The Sentencing Project, 2018). Also, policies establishing drug-free zones around urban areas disproportionately target the African American population, leading to higher numbers of African American incarceration.

Proposed Changes

One proposed change to improve multiculturalism and social diversity is embracing diversity in law enforcement recruitment strategies. Law enforcement departments should recruit more members of minority communities to the police force (Peyton et al., 2022). For instance, if different law enforcement departments recruit more blacks, it will lead to increased contact and familiarity with their white counterparts. Subsequently, police brutality and violence toward black communities will be reduced. Besides, once the police force becomes more diverse, they will understand the socio-economic challenges minority communities face. That will make them considerate and sensitive when making arrests and presenting charges to prosecutorial powers. The change will solve policing bias, especially the targeting of black drivers with traffic stops, which eventually leads to their arrest or, even worse, fatalities.

Another benefit of diversity in law enforcement is that it will expand trust between the police force and the community. Minority communities in the US, including Latin and African Americans, feel safe approaching people they identify with as far as culture and identity are concerned. Also, workforce diversity will encourage change reception in the police force. Finally, recruiting more members of minority communities will benefit them, their families, and their communities. These factors will collectively encourage a more friendly atmosphere between law enforcement agencies and citizens.

The second change that would improve diversity and multiculturalism in the policing service is cultural competence training. Currently, field placement officer training has been replaced by an alternative and more effective police training program (PTO) geared toward improving officers’ critical thinking skills and ability to understand from diverse cultural backgrounds (Sereni-Massinger & Wood, 2016). The police training program specifically aims to improve officers’ communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Critical thinking skills will help officers be reflective when applying standards and analyze circumstances before making a decision (Sereni-Massinger & Wood, 2016). It also encourages the authentic application of the law, which should encompass paying attention to other environmental factors before applying the law. Cultural competence training will curb biased arrests and prosecution of people of color as officers will pay attention to environmental factors that could have contributed to offending.

Moreover, US law enforcement should adopt community policing to respond to unique needs in specific communities. The community policing program calls for collaboration between law enforcers and diverse local communities to improve public safety outcomes (Xu et al., 2005). Community policing programs operate on the principle that people’s behaviors stem from internalization and cultural conditioning. Cultural conflicts emanate from the lack of understanding of one another’s behavior. For instance, most encounters between members of law enforcement agencies that have ended fatally are mostly informed by a lack of understanding of culturally diverse behaviors. African Americans tend to react aggressively to traffic stops compared to their white counterparts, and as such, culturally incompetent officers may interpret this as resistance. However, having police drawn from the local community will enhance public safety outcomes as their behavior will be tolerated by more culturally aware law enforcers who will focus on the material offense instead of the offender’s behavior.

Conclusion

Overall, the disparity in incarceration rates between whites and minorities (black Americans and Latin Americans) is indicative of the downsides of lacking diversity and multiculturalism in the US criminal justice system. Having a culturally competent and socially diverse criminal justice system will enhance public safety outcomes and improve justice delivery. Apart from law enforcement bias, federal and state prosecutorial officers are biased against minority communities. The problem results from having many members from one specific community crowding criminal justice delivery structures and a lack of proper competence training for staff. Some of the proposed changes to correct the situation include embracing diversity in law enforcement by recruiting widely, adopting community policing, and cultural competence training for law enforcers.

References

Peyton, K., Weiss, C. M., & Vaughn, P. E. (2022). Beliefs about minority representation in policing and support for diversification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(52), e2213986119.

Sereni-Massinger, C., & Wood, N. (2016). Improving Law Enforcement Cross-Cultural Competencies through Continued Education. Journal of Education and Learning, 5(2), 258. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n2p258

The Sentencing Project. (2018, April 19). Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. The Sentencing Project. https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/report-to-the-united-nations-on-racial-disparities-in-the-u-s-criminal-justice-system/#footnote-ref-29

Xu, Y., Fiedler, M. L., & Flaming, K. H. (2005). Discovering the Impact of Community Policing: The Broken Windows Thesis, Collective Efficacy, and Citizens’ Judgment. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42(2), 147–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427804266544

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Where do you believe the US criminal system is heading regarding multiculturalism and diversity when considering current affairs?

Multiculturalism and Diversity in the Criminal Justice System

We hear people asking for changes to be made to each part of the system. Describe what those changes are and what the potential is for the changes to succeed.