Disparity and Discrimination Essay

Many different situations occur within the criminal justice system. The situations that will be discussed in this essay are Pseudospeciation, bigotry vs. racism, hegemony, social construction, and disparity vs. discrimination. There will be definition on these terms. After defining the all terms, I will apply these terms to the criminal justice system using examples to illustrate the understanding of the definitions. Pseudospeciation Pseudospeciation begins with the fact that cultural differences cause humans to separate into different social groups, with different language, dress, customs, ect. Erik Erikson was known as the first person to use this term in 1966 explaining the inhumanity of human groups and human subgroups. For example: People with different religions believed their religion was true and others group’s religions were untrue. The criminal justice system law enforcement officers would have to respect a person religion, the way they dress, their custom, and language. There were necessary accommodations which had to be made by law enforcement officers, by separating the different religion groups so a person would not get harm by another person of a different religion group. Bigotry vs. Racism Bigotry is defined as the state of mind of a bigot. According to Merriam Webster bigotry is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinion and prejudices, especially one who regards or treats the member of a group with hatred and intolerance. For example: a person of another race might lock their doors when driving through a neighborhood populated by people of another race. Racism is defined as action, attitude, practices, or beliefs that reflect or support the racial worldview. Racism is a term which is used negatively and is usually associated with race based. The belief of racism is that people are divided into distinct hereditary groups that are innately different in their behavior and abilities. An example of a racism act could be when a young black man is stopped many times while he was driving his car, when he has done nothing wrong. They look inside his car and ask him for license and registration. â€Å"The police stop blacks and Latinos at rates that are much higher than whites. In New York City, where people of color make up about half of the population, 80% of the NYPD stops were of blacks and Latinos. When whites were stopped, only 8% were frisked. When blacks and Latinos are stopped 85% were frisked according to information provided by the NYPD. The same is true most other places as well. In a California study, the ACLU found blacks are three times more likely to be stopped than whites† (Quigley, 2012, Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System). Hegemony Felluga, (2011) â€Å"Hegemony is the processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant position† (Hegemony). For example, a leader who was able to have control over a group of people might be referred to as hegemony. To keep the populations as a whole form rebelling against leadership hegemony has to have the support from at least one dominate class of people. Disparity vs. Discrimination Disparity in the criminal justice system refers to inequity of arrest and sentencing for certain groups of people. Most of the time it is refers to racial and ethnic disparity while discrimination can be defined as a prejudice. There is a difference in disparity however; the difference does not mean discrimination. For example, A person is arrested for burglary because of the person past crime history, and because this person was close to the scene of the crime. â€Å"To determine if discrimination exists in the criminal justice system or if the differences are a result of disparity one must fully understand the key differences between discrimination and† (Williams, 2009, Justice for All). In the criminal justice system, both discrimination and disparity exists.