Introduction
Racial profiling has always been an issue of discussion over the past few years. It is however, considered the practice done by law enforcement officers to having a target on certain individuals with suspicion of crime based on the individual’s characters. The targets considered as social profiling are based on certain unique characteristics including race, ethnicity, the national origin or even religion. Walking and Williams(2008) state that the discriminatory actions are mainly carried out in the western countries, which have high diversity degree.
The law enforcing bodies, however, treat racial profiling differently. The U.S. department of justice termed it as ineffective and further stated that it is not a wrong thus it cannot attract legal attention. However, the department added that the practice is insidious and harmful to the rich, diverse democracy. Research carried by The Nation’s Premier Civil & Human rights showed that the racial profiling still exists in our society (The national's premier civil& human rights coalition, 2016).
Statement of purpose
There are many negative impacts associated with social profiling. It would be difficult for a person who has never experienced social profiling to understand its negative impacts. The individuals who experience the racial profiling pay the price silently by suffering, psychologically. They go to the extent of suffering mentally as they protect themselves and financially. Sociologists term the practice as harmful, and generalizing it will affect only the people who break the law will ignorance of the mental and psychological damage that one suffered because of being crowned the usual suspect. In this case, the “usual suspect” will at sometimes be suspected, and even charged for the wrong he has not done. Thus, the practice should be stunned. The aim of the paper is to identify the theories of crime and state how they relate to racial profiling. It will also aim at finding the impact of social profiling in our societies.
Research questions
Has the social been an issue of concern in the past few years?
What are the impacts of the impact of social profiling in our society?
What are some of the ways in which we can reduce the social profiling in our society?
How can the impacts of social profiling be mitigated?
Hypothesis
The social profiling has existed in our society for as long period.
Social profiling compromises the future of the country due to the development of mistrust on our institution. It also makes the people reluctant to abiding by the laws that are put in place.
The government and the related bodies should unite to reduce the impacts through offering education to the officers involved in the maintenance of law and order.
The root of racial profiling is related to crime. There are varied theories of crime, and they are related to social proofing in a way. Many theories of the crime have come and faded. The mode at which people explain the crime varies from one society to another. The theories described in this paper are based on the reasons and the factors that put the people at the risk of committing a crime. The research shows that there is no agreement on what the theories of crime are based on these mechanical theories that the crime prevention bodies are based. Therefore, focusing on these cause of the offense, It will be easy to prevent them and thus to avoid the case of racial profiling. The theories are divided into different classes.
The first class is the biological principles. These theories usually focus on the aspects of the body such the inherited genes, the brain structure of the criminal, the evolution factors, and lastly the hormones controlling the actions of the people (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 20111). These physical characteristics are believed to have an impact on individual’s involvement in crime. The understanding of these characteristics will affect the biological propensity of criminal behavior. There exist a conflict between the inherited characteristics and the environment relating to which one has more influence on the propensity of committing a crime.
The biological theories are directly related to the racial profiling in different ways. The officers enforcing the law usually suspect that people with certain physical characteristics as having a higher probability of committing a crime to another person (Warren & Tomaskovic‐Devey, 2009). For instance, certain people of the same family may be suspected of having the tendency of causing crime. In case an individual wrong is done in the community, the same usual family members will be treated like suspects, and thus, they may suffer for a crime they have not committed.
There are some steps taken to reduce the crimes based on biological perspective. The first measure is carrying out maternal health initiatives to control the behavior of the pregnant mother to reduce the cases of delivering babies with neurological damage who according to this theory are believed to have a high possibility of creating crime. Secondly, public health initiatives are launched to campaign against alcohol consumption among the teenagers, as the activity is believed to cause severe cognitive defects.
The other class of theories is the Development Life-course theories. They focus on the human development, and how the interaction between the social factors and individuals affect person’s propensity for criminal activity. These theories see the crime as a result of an ill development process. It begins before birth and then continues throughout the life until the death. It seeks to address the impact of the interaction between the personality and hereditary traits with the environment and the family (Engel, 2008). Although the genetic factors affect the behavior is influenced by genetic factors and the development of the early life of a person, the social factors tend to have a great impact on a person as he or she grows over time. The main point of this theory is that the behavior and the essential development can be used to intervene and promote positive development.
There is a relationship between racial profiling, and the developmental life course theory, people who were developed under a particular environment can always be suspected to have high chances of committing a crime (Glover, 2009). In case, crime is committed the police will always treat these people as suspects. They do so without substantiating prove but based on the environment where these people were developed.
They at sometimes be harassed for a mistake they did not commit in pursue to establish the truth behind the crime. Some responses can be taken by the offense prevention bodies to control the crimes that can result from this theory. They should focus on the prenatal and postnatal care to ensure that the babies are sufficiently taken care of at this critical age of development. Te government can also analyze the data about the changes that occur in the offenders life at this crucial stage to enable it to come up with prevention measures.
The other part is the psychological theories that focus on the human cognition and the development and how it relates to the behavior of a person concerning criminal routine (Warren & Tomaskovic‐Devey, 2009). The importance of his theories is that they examine the individual’s individuality behavior, the developmental factors, and the social factors.
Psychological factors have three degree in which they focus which includes the family, the group he belongs and the society. There is enough literature that shows the characteristics of a person and the propensity of crime depends on the role played by the parent. Important factors include the child-rearing activities, abuse supervision, and the parent’s criminal behavior. For instance, if the father of the child frequently commits different crimes, there is a possibility that the child will follow the behavior of the parent.
Racial profiling is related to the psychological theory of the offense in those people who were reared in a certain environment may be biased to create the crime. In case a crime is committed, people from a certain area will be highly suspected that people from other places. The police will have the information about the behavior of society, and hence, they will be victimized. There are individual responses that can be given in the psychological theory to control the rate of crime in the society. The first one is that there should be an early program that aims at educating the youths of the societies that are believed to be prone to crimes on their impacts. Secondly, there should be an establishment of supportive parenting services that the research shows it has a great effect on correction behavior and the alcohol.
Sociological theories are the other category that focuses on the influence of the organization of the society (Engel, 2008). There are many theoretical perspectives regarding the crime. The general structure of the community has an impact on the criminal behavior of an individual (Buckler & Unnever, 2008). These theories commonly focus on the relationship that exists between the crime propensity and influence of peers and social inequality. There are many critics of the sociological theories because it does not prove that there exists a relationship between the two said variables. However, they act as a complement for the biological and psychological theories.
The issue of racial profiling is evident in these theories because certain people, for example, poor are believed to have a high propensity to crime because of their status in the society. They will be biased because of the social status in the society. Some responses can be applied to rectify the crime that results from the sociological theories. Programmes should be implemented to provide employment to a group of people who belong to a particular group to reduce their chances of engaging in criminal activities.
Besides, there activities that encourage a positive cultural identity and good community values can be established and results to social connectedness thus reducing the incidences of making a crime. Accordingly, to identify the impacts of racial profiling in the society, research was carried aiming to answer a given research questions.
Methods
The populations of the interests in this study are the police, prisoners and the selected members of the community including the relatives of the prisoners. The study is not biased to any specific place and the people involved are the from any state of united states of America and were picked randomly. The people selected the meaning of racial profiling. By the informed consent, the participants took part in the research voluntarily. It increases the reliability of the results that will be given.
A criterion was followed for the selection to participate in the research. The [people selected were over 18 years. They should have committed a crime that attracted legal attention, or had a relative or a friend involved in the same. The people selected were also of the sound mind. The sampling frame was obtained from the police department records in identifying the people had cases regarding a crime committed.
Although the sample population cannot present the original population, the results achieved from the participant were a representation of the general community. The data obtained from the sample population can be used in making a decision regarding the society in which the samples were taken. The principal purpose of the study was to identify whether there is racial profiling in the today’s society. It will also seek to address the problems and the challenges that are associated with the practice. The problems identified by the research can be mitigated by certain measures which the study will also seek to answer.
Results
The affected groups were consulted through the sample population, and there were varied results. The results confirmed that there is existing racial profiling in the society. The way in which the police treat the suspects in case the crime happens is biased to some groups. The police who were involved in the study revealed that on the occurrence of a crime, there are specific types of the people they grill to get more information. They have already identified the places, and the kind of the people who are prone to crimes. More than three-quarter of the individuals involved in the study said that the police are more biased to the black and aboriginal community than the white Americas. This is a clear indication that there are racial biases regarding the race. In case a crime happens, the whites grilled will be few because there is that mentality of white commits few crimes compared to other races.
Further, the participants revealed that there were areas that have been identified as prone to crimes. In most cases, the social behaviors of the people living in those places are not good and thus the generation of such areas has a high propensity to crime according to the participants (Feagin, 2014). Again, it was found that the people of high social classes are less likely to commit a wrong as compared to the population of the low living levels. Therefore, the racial profiling, in this case, occurs in that when a case is done in the society, the people who are likely to be suspected are the people of low living class.
On the question of adverse impacts of racial profiling, there are different negative effects of social profiling in the society. The biggest problem given by the respondents was that racial profiling was compromising the future (Antonovics & Knight, 2009). The future of every society lies in the hands of the children. It is the benefit to the whole society when a child discovers and achieves his or her full potential.
However, through the research, I found that of the severe and long-lasting side effect of racial profiling is that it affects the children and youth. Racial profiling in most cases especially in the departments of the education and law enforcing affects the future of the children, and hence it compromises the prosperity of the less privileged in the community. Particularly, in the school system, the racial profiling is found where the children from the less privileged are stereotyped as slow learners and most of them are suspended under the reel of zero tolerance. The rule is to the disadvantage of the poor due to racial profiling whereby some student are sent away from school based on mere suspicion.
The other impact of racial profiling according to the participants is a creation of mistrust with the government institutions (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 20111). Many respondents reported that they have lost trust in the institutions, and to make the matter worse, the mistrust is in the young populations. It is right to argue that government agencies, criminal justice system, the border and the education systems are the keystones for democracy. Losing trust on these establishments will significantly affect the freedom of a country. The racial profiling erodes the confidence in these important institutions. Many actions can engender mistrust (Glover, 2009). They include, witnessing profiling, the personal experience with profiling, or having information about someone who experienced (Glover, 2009). Also, it can result from the spread of rumors and perception that in certain societies, there is profiling. There are several methods in which we can control the social profiling.
The participants suggested that government should educate the members of the government institutors about adverse impacts of social profiling. Everyone in the society has a right to be treated as a person and not as a suspect without good evidence. There should be an awareness aimed at rectifying the tainted image of the government officials to reduce the likely negative impacts.
The study met the required standard for the number of the respondents selected was manageable in that they were not too much and not less. They were away from the research topic hence the information that was collected was reliable. The research succeeded in answering the thesis of the research.
Limitation
The main limitation met during the study was of uncooperative participants. Some of the members were very reluctant to participate in the research. The material allocated was limited thus, it was impossible to involve a larger number of participants in the study. The project should be funded sufficiently to enable the acclivities of the research to be completed successfully. In summary, there were no much limitations and the project was a success.
References
Antonovics, K., & Knight, B. G. (2009). A new look at racial profiling: Evidence from the Boston Police Department. The Review of Economics and Statistics , 9 (1), 163-177.
Buckler, K., & Unnever, J. D. (2008). Racial and ethnic perceptions of injustice: Testing the core hypotheses of comparative conflict theory. Journal of Criminal Justice , 36 (3), 270-278.
Engel, R. S. (2008). A critique of the “outcome test” in racial profiling research. Justice Quarterly , 25 (`), 1-36.
Feagin, J. R. (2014). America: Roots, current realities, and future reparations. Routledge.
Glover, K. S. ( 2009). Racial profiling: Research, racism, and resistance. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
The nationa's premier civil& human rights coalition. (2016). The Reality of Racial Profiling. Retrieved May 11, 2016, from civilrights.org: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-profiling2011/the-reality-of-racial.html
Walker, S., Spohn, C., & DeLone, M. (20111). The color of justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America (Vol. 68). Cengage Learning.
Warren, P. Y., & Tomaskovic‐Devey, D. (2009). Racial profiling and searches: Did the politics of racial profiling change police behavior? Criminology & Public Policy , 8 (2), 343-369.
Wilkins, V. M., & Williams, B. N. (2008). Black or blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy. Public Administration Review , 64 (8), 654-664.
