...used are disparity and discrimination. In this essay I will define and give current examples of the terminology. I will also explain why knowing the difference between the two is important in the criminal justice system. Disparity and discrimination are similar terms. You might be asking yourself what is disparity? Disparity can be defined as a lack of similarity or equality. Diversity can be defined as the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. One current and highly controversial form of discrimination that we are facing worldwide is same sex marriages. No matter if you are for it or against it you have seen or been affected in some way by the topic. By not allowing same sex marriages to be validated we are discriminating against the gay and lesbian community. There are still many forms of discrimination that take place in today’s society; unfortunately a lot of discrimination is racially based. We also see a lot of gender based discrimination; typically men are still paid more than women for the exact same job. America is the most racially diverse demographic nation in the world. Many people working the criminal justice systems are aware of the racial disparity and would like to counteract it. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of the racial or ethnic group within control of the system is greater than the portion of the groups in the general population. Illegitimate or unwarranted racial disparity in the criminal...
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...HEALTH DISPARITIES Health disparity is defined as inequality in health or the gaps in the quality of health care across races, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Health disparities can also be defined as the significant differences between one population and another. The Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000 describe these disparities as differences in the overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality or survival rates. Disparity in health is significant among some income, racial, and ethnic groups in America and is still expanding. Many Americans are in poor health and do not receive the best medical care. While these problems affect people of all groups, the challenges are especially acute for racial and ethnic minorities. When there is element of racism, poverty, and problematic community environment converge greater overall threats to health develop. The most powerful causes of health and health disparity are social and economic determinants or the community conditions for health. There are many reasons why disparities in access to of health care exist in our society. A lot of low income people in America cannot afford health insurance and as such they neglect their health. Some people cannot afford money to buy medication. Because these people did not have insurance they lack a regular source of care. African Americans compared to white minority groups are less likely to seek medical care...
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...A Sociological Perspective on Racism and Wealth Disparities Amongst African-Americans and Caucasians Introduction The consequence of racial discrimination has a clear relationship with wealth amongst racial groups. In the last 50 years, although the high school completion rate gap between blacks and whites has narrowed, blacks still only have one-tenth of the wealth of whites and according to Economic Policy Institute blacks make 17.5% less an hour than their white counterparts3. In light of these data, I will use quantitative and qualitative analysis to illustrate both the existence of racial inequality as it pertains to wealth and identify its origins within a sociological context. History of racism and wealth disparities To understand the...
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...Racial and ethnic disparities in health disproportionately affect minority Americans. One of the greatest challenges facing the US healthcare system is the persistence of disparities in infant and maternal health among the different racial and ethnic groups. Now a day a major concern which is affecting communities on overall pertaining to childbirth is preterm births in the United States of America. In fact, preterm births and low birth weight have negative consequences not only for the infants and their families but also on the society. Actual delivery before 37 weeks of gestation is the primary concern and low birth weights have a major impact on the functional domains, such as cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease, and hyperactivity disorder (Brooks-Gunn J., McCarton C. M., Casey P. H., McCormick M. C., Bauer C. R., Bernbaum J. C., Tonascia J. (1994). Babies who weigh 5.5 pounds (2500grams) or less at birth are low babies with low birth weight. Babies weighing 3.3 pounds (1500 grams) or less are Very low birth weight babies. There is a significant medical and social cost for low birth weight infants and preterm births. Low birth weight is a major predictor of infant mortality. Ethnic and cultural group’s disparities related to low birth weight infant and preterm infant are significantly disproportionate, affecting minority Americans. Although infant morbidity cannot be directly linked with low birth weight but it is a frequently used as a marker for poor health at birth because...
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...codes, Jim Crow laws, segregation, the civil rights movement, mass incarceration, to present day black lives matter movement, racial inequality is a hard barrier for the United States to overcome. The true impact of racial inequality in America is belittled. Racism in America is the unjust treatment of collective individuals based on the color of their skin due to historical contexts and systematic oppression (Baber 1). Racism roots from the belief of one race has qualities that defines it as inferior or superior to other races. Inequality is the...
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...Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man” has been forever immortalized, hailing praises across generations for his “ahead of his time, truly revolutionary ideas that foresaw the greatness of America.” His ideas supported valiant causes in his time period, advocating for political and social freedoms of equality, democracy, and individual rights, especially within America. But the keyword here is that these illusions of great American success only rang true within his time period. While Thomas Paine’s arguments in “Rights of Man” served to promote and defend the political and social importance of equality, democracy, and individuals’ rights he believed could be found in America, his claims of the greatness of America in these regards are widely untrue...
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...Mental Health Care Disparities: Consequences of Ineffectiveness and Lack of Access for Minorities Ebony Marinnie RN Rowan University Mental Health Care Disparities: Consequences of ineffectiveness and lack of access for minorities For ages mental illness has been seen as the ultimate curse. The mentally ill were seen as possessed, hidden from society, and never talked about. In America, it is estimated that 26.2 percent of people ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosed mental disorder in a given year (Kessler,Chiu, Walters, & Demler, 2005). The aforementioned statistics reflect those that have sought or been forced into treatment. There are many left uncounted due to lack of access and ineffective treatment secondary to a number of reasons. Considering history, discrimination, personal perception, socioeconomic status, educational backgrounds and a host of other reasons many minority groups are reluctant to seek out treatment in what many may consider a system of mental health created and sustained primarily for the middle and upper-class White America. In fact, 60 percent of people with mental illnesses do not receive treatment (Kessler et al., 2005). The purpose of this paper is to discuss mental health care disparities in minority populations within American society, and to suggest some needed changes to close the gap in America. One quarter of all Americans meet the criteria for having a mental illness and a quarter of those have a disorder that significantly...
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...The social problem of economic, class and racial inequality has been a great issue of concern for many in the United States because inequality goes against America’s cores values of upward mobility economic wise and in social class (Korgan, 2012). These social problems of inequality have been linked to disparities in quality of life and psychological and social well-being. The problem of social inequality has been found to be linked with other social problems such as crime and victimization. The problem of social inequality can even be seen in the criminal justice system in how it treats people of various races, ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes who are processed through the system (Wheelock, 2006). In essence, there exists a disparity amongst race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class in criminal victimization and how people are processed through the criminal justice system that exacerbates the social problem of inequality in numerous social institutions and complicates many individual’s efforts to escape from poverty and achieve upward mobility (Wheelock, 2006). The disparity in criminal punishment is due to various factors such as laws that were implemented to reduce crime, race, and low economic status (Wheelock, 2006). The factors that have a tremendous impact on victimization are demography and socioeconomic status (Raphael, 2006). While violent crimes are not exclusive to poor metropolitan areas, consistent patterns have been observed which reveal lower rates of crime...
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...Truth about the Income Disparity Recently, President Barack Obama announced his plan to rein in the compensation of executives and raise tax rates on capital gains. This has again brought the topic of America’s widening income gap to the front page. While it is true that the wealth of America has long been dominated by a small number of people, most Americans do not see it as economic inequality or an obstacle to the development of the economy, which can be explained from two aspects—culture and economy. Instead, the real problem is the workers’ slow-paced wage increase, especially compared with the rising health care costs. Admittedly, most of the household income and wealth in America are occupied by a small minority of people at the very top, and actually the income gap has been rising at an increasing pace for the last few years. According to the data released by the Internal Revenue Service in 2005, 21.2% of all the household income went to the top 1% of Americans, the percentage of which was just 19% in 2004, and 20.8% in 2000—the previous high hit due to the skyrocket stock market. First of all, however, are the income disparity and economic inequality the same thing? Definitely not. As pointed out by Ladd and Bowman, rooted in the concept of equality for Americans is the notion of “equality of opportunity” (33). Great disparity in income distribution among social members can be tolerated as long as they can perceive that they have the opportunity to move...
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...(HHS) came up with the new data standards for the collection of race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status. It is required by law that these standards be used in all the national population health surveys (Dorsey, 2011). The new standards have been in use since November 2011, and their stated purpose is to “understand the causes of health disparities, design effective responses, and evaluate progress in decreasing health disparities” (Dorsey, 2011). With the deepening social disparities and the effect they have on the nation’s health, it is essential to have a well-established system of documentation. It is also important for the researchers to select and appropriately measure all the indicators relevant for their study. HHS’s new data standards include fourteen racial and five ethnic categories, with the option to include more than one category within each group. When used as proxy for more accurate SES indicators such as education or income, race/ethnicity do not give the realistic picture of the population of interest. However, both race and ethnicity are important indicators of health disparities and need to be carefully measured and taken into consideration. Ideally, after transparently reporting it, the researcher would move beyond the race and look...
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... INTRODUCTION This study examines age discrimination in employment and the legal and practical challenges that managers confront in seeking to establish and maintain a legal and ethical workplace. This article first provides a general introduction to Civil Rights laws in the United States; and then furnishes a detailed legal analysis of age discrimination laws in the United States. Data dealing with the aging of the workforce, the unemployment rates of older workers, as well as the number of age discrimination lawsuits in the United States is furnished. Persistent racial inequality in employment, housing, and other social domains has renewed interest in the possible role of discrimination. Contemporary forms of discrimination, however, are often subtle and covert, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement. WHAT IS DISCRIMINATION? Discrimination is treating, or proposing to treat, someone unfavorably because of a personal characteristic protected by law. According to its most simple definition, racial discrimination refers to unequal treatment of persons or groups on the basis of their race or ethnicity. In defining racial discrimination, many scholars and legal advocates distinguish between differential treatment and disparate impact, creating a two-part definition: Differential treatment occurs when individuals are treated unequally because of their race. Disparate impact occurs when individuals are treated...
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...slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society. This is especially true for the American Indian/Alaska Native population. This population continues to be one of the most vulnerable minority groups. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010 (2011), “American Indian or Alaska Native refer to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central American) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment” (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011, p. 3). 2,475,956 out of 308, 745,538 people that live in America are believed to be American Indian/Alaska Native, including those who report affiliations with tribes and South and Central American Indian groups (Humes et. al,, 2011, p. 4). This number is questionable because of the controversy about American Indian/Alaska Native citizenship, which will be explained in the latter part of this paper. As social workers, it is important to be knowledgeable about the American Indian/Alaska Native population. Thoroughly examining the origins and history of oppression...
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...complicating. There are some many different aspects on what can be touched upon. The criminal justice system is known to be very biased. In specific terms the system is racial bias and unfair. The America uses a formal social control, to deal with crimes. Statistics show a fair difference and connection between race and the percentage of people convicted of crimes. Other components influence these percentages but always seem to come back to race. The racial unfairness has taken a toll on the American people and contrasts the idea that America was originally built on Incredible as it is America is one of the most tolerant nations in the world. America is a country that was built on freedom, pride, happiness, and equality. Though this is common knowledge and an allusion of the American people, the country has some faults. Equality is a major moral in America that was fought for in history and even in today's society. Throughout our history minority groups have fought hard for there rights and we have accepted the fact that its wrong to discriminate. It is agreed that racial discrimination is wrong as well (Banks, 2009, p 79). Racism has been a problem in America seen the country was founded. Slavery was a form of racism in the early centuries of America. Our judicial system has been a pride and joy for some Americans for others criminals off the streets and keeps us protected. But is our judicial system accurate and fair to those who are put behind...
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...in different nations have devise different laws and regulations to govern the function of incarceration (Mauer, 1999) III. Body of the paper A. Prevalence 1. Statistics regarding incarceration 2. Statistics regarding race (Kennedy, 1997) 3. Racial disparity in prison sentence 4. Racial disparity in duration of sentence (Kennedy, 1997) This explains and illustrates the various incidents and statistics of African American, Hispanic and the white people. This elaborates that ethical discrimination occurs is the entire criminal justice process. The minorities and ethnic groups are given more harsh punishments as compared to white. B. Causes 1. Reasons behind African American in jail 2. Disparities in ways African American communities are policed (Huffing Post). 3. In adequate allocation of resources 4. Racial profiling (Wall Street Journal). This section describes the various reasons and causes due to which most of the African Americans have to go to jails once in their life time. It will also show how lack of resources contributes to the problem. C. Consequences 1. The impact on individual families( www.urbanportal.com) 2. The effects on the social economic system (NPR) 3. Higher rate of infectious diseases (final call). This section highlights the decreasing value of the African American family due to high rate of incarceration. The lack of resources and rehabilitation centers once they are release from jail. This...
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...Income Inequality in America: An Analysis of Policies from Reagan to Obama and What Policies Can Help Close the Gap Income inequality in America has been of great importance in recent election cycles. Candidates from both sides of the political aisle have addressed the growing economic and social concern of increasing income and wealth inequality throughout the country. However, policies to address this growing concern are vastly different. This paper seeks to examine policies from Reagan to Obama that contributed to today’s massive income and wealth inequality. Was it tax reform throughout the 1980s and 1990s that contributed to inequality? Did the Federal Reserve perpetuate policies through massive quantitative easing that led to...
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