Globally, the United States of America has the largest number of prison cases.
Researchers believe that the high rates are the product of the dependency of the world on imprisonment as the predominant form of punishment in society for crimes. Notable, in contrast to their white counterparts and those people forming the dominant race, people from indigenous and minority races are the one who is often prosecuted, convicted, and penalized. Critical criminologists claim that because of the bias factor, this unfair treatment is (Webster, 2007). There have been some reports indicating that police have been mishandling criminals with an African origin and others from minority races in the USA and Australia. These suspects end up in police custody where the courts intervene by giving harsh sentences with necessarily having to negotiate.
James Bell, one of the critical criminologists and anti-racism activist
James Bell, one of the critical criminologists and anti-racism activist, has been trying to ensure that racial and ethnic equality establishes in America and its close associates with notable success. Among the main remedied suggested is an adoption of a balanced representation where the police force, jury, and correctional officers come from all the racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is evident that the broad awareness and advocacy on unfair racial treatment that has been going on, particularly in the two nations have not had a significant impact on equality since statistics on minority confrontation with the judicial system has been increasing in the recent past. Hence, having discipline forces teams and courts with members of all the races can eliminate this problem to a great extent. While racial minorities suffer under this issue mostly in the United States and Australia, in some nations like England these groups of people enjoy over-representation regarding social justices.
Reference
Webster, C. S. (2007). Understanding Race and Crime. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
