My Instructor asked me the following question after reading my Discussion Board answer.
Diversity is certainly something in which we must be fully invested. Our society is a melting pot in many respects. Yet, as much as we preach diversity and acceptance, we always seem to take a couple of steps back. This is regardless of any advances. We should look at these assertions on two fronts. One would be the perception of society by the criminal justice system actors. Certainly, we may have prejudicial thoughts amongst criminal justice actors. If we have it amongst our populace, it would be natural to assume that some prejudicial thought plays a role in some criminal justice decisions. I would hold that the opposite can also be valid. There are skewed views of criminal justice actors, whether this prejudice is occupational, racial, gender-based, or any other determinant factor. The second dimension relates to the operation of the system. As much as I have discussed the apparent racial disparity in the criminal justice system with students and other faculty,
I remain steadfast in believing that much more work needs to be done to identify root causes of disparate representation.
Can we consider this a system problem or is this a deeper problem at the community level where a culture has defined incarceration as a "badge of honor" and that illegitimate means and ends trumps a legitimate lifestyle? We can address each of those.
How can we work to implement diversity into a system that seems resistant in some respects?
Furthermore, what strategies would be effective in changing the culture of the system and society to potentially reduce the disproportionate representation...or can we change the culture? Explain.
Below is my Discussion Board
American society today is truly a multicultural society, composed of a wide variety of racial and ethnic heritages, diverse religions, incongruous values, desperate traditions, and distinct languages, multiculturalism in America is not new (Schmalleger, 2015). Multiculturalism and diversity of the justice system should always evolve as the times progress in our society. As mentioned before, multicultural populations consist of many ethnic and racial groups. Our criminal justice system compared to other nations has experienced paralleled growth in its multicultural population (Shusta, Levine, Wong & Harris, 2005). The constant changes in ethnic and racial sectors have produced multiple challenges within the system. It is vital that all entities of the criminal justice system be willing to expand their knowledge on new cultural norms.
Tolerance and understanding have to be built among the community for law enforcement officers as well as criminal justice employees.
Authoritative officials should be lenient and unbiased about the cultural surroundings of society. All over the criminal justice system there are those who practice their own biases and prejudices, which should not be allowed within the judicial system. Multiculturalism helps eliminates the biases and prejudices within the system, but it also takes away the biases within society as well. As we all know there are many wrongful convictions of individuals. The criminal justice system within the latter years didn't really provide proper support for rehabilitating criminals. According to the Consensus Model, it assumes that each of the component parts of the criminal justice system strives towards a common goal and that the movement of cases and people through the system is smooth due to cooperation between the various components of the system (Schmellegar, 2015). The key within that statement is assumes. There is no perfect justice system, but multiculturalism helps provides multiple ways of reaching a common goal. In order to gain a full understanding of the justice system, we have to recognize the cause so that the effect can be properly handled.
The Judeo-Christian values is the foundation on which our society was built. It was hard to keep those values do to the separation of church and state. The values honor life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The combination of keeping Judeo-Christian religious morality in the state, as opposed to the church itself; and, additionally, setting up our laws based on reason and common sense has contributed to the American Character, and to what is known as "American Exceptionalism." (Cherry, 2007). If it wasn't for the influences of Judeo-Christian values, most of our laws would be in humane and unjust. Thankful to the Ten Commandment because the influences of these laws helped organize the structure of our legal system. The bible says in Genesis 6:5-11, "Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence." (NIV) It is undeniable to not include God within the justice system when he is the creator of heaven and earth. He knew these days would come, so laws had to be put in place in order to gain control over society.
References:
Cherry, R. R. (2007, September 15). The Judeo-Christian Values of America. Retrieved March 24, 2016, from https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/09/the_judeochristian_values_of_a.html
Schmalleger, F. (2015). Criminal justice today: An introductory text for the 21st Century (13th ed.)Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Shusta, R., Levine, D., Wong, H., & Harris, P. (2005).Multicultural law enforcement: Strategies for peacekeeping in a diverse society. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.