Martin Luther King Jr., Research Proposal Example

Introduction

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the closing remarks in the summer of 1963 at the March on Washington. Multitude assembled to protest against the Jim Crow racist policies and laws. These policies marginalized African – Americans through institutionalized separated schools, housing, and employment. However, over fifty years later, the fragments of these policies continue to haunt blacks. It is not contested that incarceration of black youths in America has been on the rise in the past twenty years. However, debate exists on the influence of these youth incarcerations among the black community within the United States. According to labeling theory, sanctions often label offenders in a negative manner, which in effect amplify their predisposition to undertake criminal activities afterward. Labeling theorists, therefore, opined that sanction does not reduce criminal activity but facilitates the offenders to construct a deviant self-image, which makes them continue participating in the crime. Lemert (1951) stated that sanctioning incarceration enforces a severe reaction from a community thus aiding individuals to accept their newly acquired deviant status.

On the other hand, specific deterrence theorists acclaim that incarceration prevents a criminal from repeating their offenses after release from the prison. This type of deterrence, however, occurs where criminals that have been punished for a particular crime are prevented from committing a similar behavior in future. According to particular theorists, sanctioning serve to deter criminals from repeating the offense in future through imposing severe costs that outweigh benefits on rational offenders.

This argument is of particular importance to the African-American youths who, for the first time, are getting involved with the criminal justice system. Empirical studies suggest that labeling these criminals as deviants posit far-reaching implications and may as well impact offenders without any previous contact with the legal system. However, other studies state that these effects may start to wear off after several years; regardless of an occurrence of further convictions. Murray and Cox (1979) state that the impact of deterrent varies across age. According to them, incarcerated youths are likely to feel that they have less or nothing to lose when they engage in criminal activities, making sanctions to have little impact on their behavior. On the other hand, other researchers suggest that mass incarceration of youths especially from the black communities within the United States does not have any direct implication on their criminal behavior. However, they stress that incarceration has the indirect consequence on their predisposition to commit a crime through influencing their future employment prospect. Therefore, considering these theories, the ‘get tough’ policy that increased incarceration of youths, especially from the African-American community may either increase or decrease crime or may not have any effect on the behavior of criminals at all. A 2001 census recorded by Austin et al. (2001) showed that more than one hundred thousand youths were imprisoned during the time. This represents a substantial amount of workforce with a potential to influence the U.S government’s policy on incarceration. This study will, therefore, illuminate the effect of mass incarceration on African-American youths; whether it does not change their involvement in delinquency or if it amplifies their behavior.

Literature Review

During the historic Brown v. Board of Education period in 1954, black Americans in both federal and state prisons were nearly 30% of all detainees. Policy makers suggest that this percentage ought to have disturbed the government since it outweighed the blacks’ share of the national population. However, the statistics have even had tremendous increase to the extent where African-Americans account for nearly half of all prisoners in the United States. The change is rather odd considering some changes the American society has been experiencing over the years. The United States underwent the civil rights movement, which opened economic opportunities for the people considered historically as disadvantaged groups. Moreover, these minority groups have also made tremendous progress within the criminal justice system; they have taken leadership positions in various jurisdictions. In fact, it is common to see African-American judges, police officers, and prison warders. Although their proportions in these posts do not represent the share of their population, there is indeed progress compared to the previous periods.

Considering these positive developments, the salient question remains, how has the situation of black males worsened tremendously within the criminal justice system to the extent where it currently threatens the entire generation? There have been numerous arguments and counter-arguments on the same. Some quarters argue that although the outcomes may be unfortunate, they are indeed inevitable considering the high level of criminal activities among black communities. Others claim that it is due to the emergence of “superpredators” generation that does not compare to any previous cohort. Therefore, this paper will analyze the research findings and statistical evidence to understand how mass incarceration of youths affect blacks within the United States. For the sake of clarity, the section will be divided into four areas; crime rates, bias within the criminal justice system, race and class factors and drug policies.

Crime Rates

The extent to which members of a particular community participate in illegal activities should be proportionate to the degree of their incarceration. Moreover, among the offenders, the extent of a person’s criminal record is a determinant factor that influences whether they are jailed. Thus, if black American youths commit offenses at high levels compared to other ethnic groups, this would ultimately be reflected in their prison population. The white Americans, the conservatives hold an inherent belief that high levels of blacks’ incarceration in the United States have nothing to do with racism within the justice system but shortcomings among black people. There is also a prevailing narrative that black people commit more crimes in the United States compared to other communities. Human rights activists refuse and put it that these allegations are used by conservative Americans as a justification of the belief that African-Americans have a natural propensity to commit a crime. It also implies that culture of violence among blacks is to blame for their high population in prison.

Studies indicate that by the time children from black communities attain the age of 14, they have a 25% chance of their father getting imprisoned. Moreover, almost 10%of the black school going children have their parents (fathers) in jail while whites account for 4%. Statistics also show that a considerably huge population of blacks are usually arrested with reports of drug related crimes although they are less likely to sell drugs compared to the whites. These statistics also converge that out of all black fathers imprisoned in the United States; only one-third are serving on account of violent crimes.

Empirical studies converge that incarceration of parents can subject children to become worse both regarding cognitive as well as noncognitive behavioral outcomes. For instance, such children are more likely to drop out of school and suffer from various diseases including stress and depression.