The US criminal justice system and policies are subject to heavy criticism from the public, some politicians, activists and other stakeholders. America has the highest incarceration number attributed to the War on Drugs policy in the 1980s. The prison population is at 2.3 million in 2020, and the prison sentences are becoming longer. Most developed nations have reduced crime, gun violence, prison population, and sentences, yet America lags behind. The American justice institutions are marred with many controversies that continue to generate adverse societal effects. In an attempt to find solutions, criminal justice researchers have explored different justice system components and American society to understand the nature of crime to come up with better prevention strategies. In his book, An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago , Alex Kotlowitz explores gun violence’s psychological toll in Chicago neighborhoods. With over 14,033 gun violence deaths and 60,000 gun injuries in the last 20 years, Chicago community is struggling with gangs, gun violence, and young people’s deaths. Gang violence and shootings are common such that Chicago’s poor neighborhoods are constantly bearing the wounds of losing their loved ones (Kotlowitz, 2019). This is not a problem affecting Chicago only; poor urban areas across America, mainly black and brown neighborhoods, are characterized by gang violence, gun shootings, drug, and increased crime (Kotlowitz, 2019). The American justice system has failed to come up with adequate solutions to address gangs and gun violence. Sampson & Wilson (1995) began exploring high violent crimes and gang activity in poor neighborhoods in the 1990s. The authors claimed that the macro-social patterns of residential inequality continued to foster the urban poor’s social isolation and ecological concentration. The American justice institutions are not aware of the high crime cases in certain neighborhoods like the ones Alex Kotlowitz highlighted in his book. Rather, poor urban neighborhoods are isolated through structural and cultural barriers. With a lack of social amenities in these communities, including good schools and health facilities, these individuals have no choice but to join gangs to survive while American institutions continue to neglect and segregate them. The justice system often fails to explore and address some of the real reasons individual commit crimes. The American criminal justice system does not take all the blame. Researchers such as Pyrooz et al. (2017) and Stewart & Simons (2010) explore family and community factors contributing to gang membership and criminality. According to Pyrooz et al. (2017), parenting affects gang membership and offending among male and female children. The study found out that motherhood is associated with reducing the odds of claiming gang membership and engaging in criminal activities. The study found that gang members are likely to change their ways when they realize that they are about to become parents. The finding can help policy makers develop better strategies for fighting crime. On the other hand, Stewart & Simons (2010) explore the neighborhood street culture’s effect on violent delinquency among African American adolescents. Neighborhood street culture predicts violent delinquency among teenagers. For the impressionable young people in poor urban neighborhoods, the streets contribute to their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The street culture has become an institution like family or the education system where young people observe, learn and adopt new behaviors, and parents and the society, in general, must recognize the influence of the streets on young people. The readings inform that American criminal justice policies are inadequate. According to Kotlowitz (2019), poor Chicago neighborhoods have been struggling with gun violence and gang activities for decades. These communities are deeply wounded; parents have given up hope for their young children. Kotlowitz (2019) does not propose a solution to gun violence, gangs, and crime in the neighborhoods, but he highlights their stories. The common theme is that the government has neglected them. Krivo et al. (2009) discuss the themes of structural racism and urban disadvantage. The racialized system in America implies that whites are in a privileged position, and they reside in advantaged neighborhoods, while African Americans and Hispanics live in the most disadvantaged urban communities which are home to gangs. The dominant theme is segregation, not necessarily racial, but also economic. The poor urban neighborhood is homes to minority groups, which could be why 40% of inmates in the US are African Americans. The historical segregation of housing continues to fuel inequality. The American institutions have failed to address the social, economic, and community challenges in the poor urban neighborhoods, and instead, they use the justice system to incarcerate them in massive numbers. Without real solutions, the justice system will continue using jails as a Band-Aid solution. It is also impossible to ignore the theme of systemic racism as it is one of the biggest challenges in the American justice system. In conclusion, the readings present crime as the result of various factors, including an individual’s level of self-control, upbringing, neighborhood, social-class, and friends and family, among other factors. Policymakers must address crime from a holistic perspective rather than a punitive perspective. For instance, a teenager who grows up in a crime-infested neighborhood will likely end up in jail. Hence the need for preventative measures or other positive options in the beginning. There is a need to shift resources to community-based prevention and positive youth development in poor urban communities. The government must make a conscious effort to address the social and economic inequalities facing the minority to end gang activities and crime in poor neighborhoods.
References
Kotlowitz, Alex. (2019). An American summer: Love and death in Chicago. Penguin Random House.
Krivo, L. J., Peterson, R. D., & Kuhl, D. C. (2009). Segregation, racial structure, and neighborhood violent crime. American journal of Sociology, 114 (6), 1765-1802.
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Pyrooz, D. C., Mcgloin, J. M., & Decker, S. H. (2017). Parenthood as a turning point in the life course for male and female gang members: a study of within ‐ individual changes in gang membership and criminal behavior. Criminology, 55 (4), 869-899.
Sampson, R. J., & Wilson, W. J. (1995). Toward a theory of race, crime, and urban inequality. Race, crime, and justice: A reader , 1995, 37-56.
Stewart, E. A., & Simons, R. L. (2010). Race, code of the street, and violent delinquency: A multilevel investigation of neighborhood street culture and individual norms of violence. Criminology, 48 (2), 569-605.
