Q1. The imprisonment of ten percent of Black American parents has huge social implications on the affected families and the Black community in United States of America.
It leads to loss of income and make it difficult for the remaining Black American parent to raise his or her children. The loss of income is responsible for high poverty level among the affected families. For children from single parent, the imprisonment leads to poor parenting because of the changes in caregivers. The affected children can acquire deviant behavior if he or she identifies with the parent. Consequently, the imprisonment of parents elevates the chances that a black child shall develop antisocial behavior. Indeed, some studies have shown that the affected children are more likely to experience negative outcome that their counterparts whose parents are not in prisons. Again, the imprisonment of Black parents leads to a situation where there are more Black children support homes and centers than the white children. These children are detached from their families and according to attachment theory the situation can lead to psychosocial problems such as stress and depression. To the affected parent, the imprisonment of the partner may lead to separation and disorganization of family structure. The situation implies that many black couples are at risk of abandoning their marriages because of incarceration of their spouses. Besides, the imprisonment of Black parent results into social isolation of both the children and the remaining parent. To the imprisoned parent, imprisonment diminishes his or her chances of getting job. Consequently, it leads to a situation whereby there is a high number of jobless Black American parents who had been imprisoned.
Q2. White collar crime refers to non-violent crime committed by people or corporations who are motivated by monetary benefits of actualizing the crime.
This form of crime is mostly committed by people who have the power to make key decisions within government agencies, corporations and businesses. White collar job has huge financial and social consequences. The consequences of white are often greater than the consequences of ordinary criminal activities. It can result in economic hardship especially if a huge amount of money meant for social welfare programs is lost. Again, white collar crime can endanger the lives of citizens if it involves bribery of standard and customs officials charged with the responsibility of ensuring that counterfeit products are not sneaked into the country. In the case of tax evasion, the government may increase the tax rates to raise money to cover shortfalls in the budget. Increasing taxes results into bad business environment and slow economic growth. The crime can also lead to loss of jobs if it involves unfair labor practices such as bribing labor union officials. In addition white collar job can result into loss of investment occasioned illegal transfer of shareholders equity and insider trading. Forgery, on the other hand, increases the reputation risk of businesses. Many investors are unwilling to enter into partnership with companies with high reputation risks.
Q3. Anderson developed the code of street theory to explain why violence and crime exist in the inner-city.
The theory states that the people living inner-city are identified and alienated by terms ‘street’ and ‘decent.’ These labels are used by residents and they confer status on the residents of the inner-city (Anderson, 2000). The labeling is due to the social contest among the residents of the inner-city. The labels characterize life in inner-city and interpreting their meaning is essential in understanding the people who are living in the inner-city. The people who are strongly associated with ‘street’ find it hard to code switch and they do not play according to the rules of decency or disregard it. According to Anderson, the criminal elements are found in the extreme ends of street groups. These people do not have the capacity to look beyond their circumstances because they lack decent education. They defy social conventions and take pride in thug life. They are the most marginalized and desperate in the inner-city. Moreover, they view people as obstacles or object to subdue.
Q4. The greater magnitude of hiring discrimination of Blacks with criminal records can be explained by examining a number of factors.
First, the media has created a perception that Blacks are very violent people. Consequently, a Black person from prison is deemed more dangerous and violent that the other members of society. To this end, they are denied jobs because of the perception that they will cause trouble for the companies. Second, racial profiling is rampant in US. Unfortunately, it is the Blacks who are the most affected by the practice. Employers conduct thorough background checks on Black employees than they do to other individuals from other ethnicities. As a result, there is an increased likelihood that a Black person is denied a job because of criminal issues uncovered through background checks. Third, the fact many of those taken in prisons are Black American makes it possible for the same group to be equally represented in the job discrimination numbers. Fourth, the number of African Americans involved in violent crime is higher than Whites. Therefore, they are more likely to be discriminated during hiring because of the severity of crimes committed. Fifth, majority of employers in US are whites. They discriminate against Black applicants for fear of dominance by using criminal activities as the reasons for their actions. Sixth, many African American with criminal records are discriminated during hiring because of fear that they shall create tensions in the workplace.
Q5. The way US has handled the war against drug gives impression the process is driven by more by emotions than strategy.
The federal government has been spending billions since 1971 when President Nixon recognized drug abuse as one of US enemies. However, despite legislation and huge financing of drug related interventions the number of Americans incarcerated because of drug abuse keeps increasing each year. Today, drug abuse is attributed to about 37,000 deaths per year (Husak, 2010). The federal government has been directing its efforts on monitoring and patrolling US-Mexico. Every time a haul of cocaine is transited to US, the government responds by increasing border patrols and pledging military aid to Mexico to fight drug kingpins. The current drug policy emphasizes on cutting the source of drugs. Little has been done to reduce the number of youths abusing drugs in US. To this end, it is proposed that the federal should focus on reducing drug use in US while ensuring that drugs are not shipped from Mexico to US. It should increase the funding for drug abuse rehabilitation centers to cater for drug addicts. Besides, states should partner with influential people to educate the public on the consequences of drug abuse.
References
Anderson, E (2001). Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner. W.W. Norton
Husak, D. N. (2010). The philosophy of criminal law: Selected essays. New York: Oxford University Press.
