Racial and Criminal Profiling

Racial and Criminal Profiling

PART I

Reasons for cautionary notice

On the FBI website regarding the statistics about various crimes in the USA, a cautionary notice is given. One of the main functions of this notice is that it avoids stereotyping of people by other people. Typically, people view data and make conclusions from this data. Sometimes, the data may be insufficient on its own to come up with these conclusions. At other times, the reasons for the trend being observed in the data may not be well presented by the data. The cautionary notice given by the FBI serves to prevent the formation of these stereotypes.

In the US, for example, there exists stereotypes that are based on race, especially regarding people from minority races. These stereotypes may affect the way these people are treated in the society as a whole. In addition, they are often untrue. The FBI, therefore has the cautionary tale that makes sure that the problem of stereotyping is avoided when dealing with criminals and with people from minority races. (Schneider, 2005) 

PART II

Prejudice refers to opinions about people that have no basis in reality or reason. Sometimes, prejudices may be directed at a group of people based on their skin color or gender or another factor that should not be used to collectively define people

Stereotypes are widely held yet fixed views about a person or a group of people. Stereotypes are often both untrue and unfair. They tend to impact on the lives of the people negatively (Macrae, 1996)

Racism is the set of treatments given to people depending on their race. There may be unfair treatment for some people, while others enjoy fair treatment. Racism also includes the belief that some races are superior to others.

Sexism is the unfair treatment usually given to people based on their gender. Historically, the female gender has been the one that has been treated unfairly. The ways in which this has happened include denial of opportunities among other things (Cook & Cusack, 2010)

In group is a group of people that people identify themselves to be a part of. On the other hand, and out group is the group which a person does not belong to, or which a person does not associate withy. Both in groups and out groups are used in reference to a particular person

Conformity refers to the act of behaving in line and according to the set of rules and societal norms. For example, in terms of culture, behavior and rules. Sometimes, it could refer to how people in minority groups fit into the stereotypes that are assigned to them by others. 

Institutional Support refers to the parts of the economy that are supported by the government in terms of active rules and regulations. These institutions can be owned by the government or they can be supported by the government yet owned privately

Social categorization is the process of placing people who have similar characteristics into similar groups. These people can be grouped there depending on nationality, race, age, ethnicity, diagnosis, occupation, income levels or any other category. This kind of social categorization is often used by the FBI in their statistics.

Difference between Institutional prejudice and personal prejudice.

Institutional prejudice usually targets people who are easy to prejudice. This includes the policies that are often embedded in some of the institutions. It often exists within the government and with government affiliated institutions. However, it may occur within other types of institutions such as religious organizations, education and marriage. Personal prejudice is prejudice that is experienced by people at a personal level. It often involves the judgment that an individual has for another, or for a group of people based on certain characteristics. Often, it affect institutional prejudice, and may sometimes be the basis for it. However, it is usually regarded as a smaller version and may have laws meant to counter it.

Common stereotypes about minority groups. How to differentiate from accurate description.

Some of the common stereotypes about minority groups include the fact that sometimes, African Americans are viewed as criminals. This comes from years of slavery, from which the freedom of African Americans was treated with caution and often limited. This stereotype is always the reason that this group of people is often profiled by the police. 

Another common stereotype in the United States is the fact that women are poor drivers. This means that often, when people find a poorly packed car, their immediate assumption is that it belongs to a woman. This is wrong because it is not consistent with what is in reality. Both women and men can be poor drivers.

Stereotypes can be differentiated from accurate descriptions by having an open mind in all situations. Secondly, a good understanding of the history of any group of people can help one to understand why other people view them that way. For example, in the United States, the history would reveal why it is easy to see African Americans as criminals, and why it is possible to see them in another way.

Principle psychological motivations underlying prejudice

One of the principles that makes it easy to be prejudiced against a certain group of people includes the value for dominance (chin, 2010). Some groups naturally want to dominate others, and they do not wish to share equal opportunities with other groups. This is often the underlying case in the American systems. Another psychological motivation is self esteem. Lower self esteem by a certain individual may make them to be biased or prejudices against other individuals or groups whom they perceive to be different (Brown, 2010). Self esteem may show itself in the form of a desire to dominate others in order to cover up for the self esteem. Superiority complex may also be an effect.

PART III

Based on the above, it is clear that the FBI still has a huge task in making sure that racial discrimination does not feature as a reason for its crimes. This means eliminating hate based crimes that are often based in racism and individual bias. It also means making sure that the people understand the statistics and that that they do not use them the perpetuate their biased agendas. The lack of cultural diversity in the United States is also to blame for some of the stereotypes that exists and hence profiling of individuals based on their race. However, this can be attributed to the mostly racist history of the United States of America.

References

Brown, R. (2010) Prejudice: Its Social Psychology. Chichester, west Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell

Chin, J.L (2010) The psychology of prejudice and Discrimination. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger

Cook, R., & Cusack, S. (2010) Gender Stereotyping: Transnational legal perspectives. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania

Macrae, C. N, (1996) Stereotypes and Stereotyping. New York [Guiford Press

Schneider, D. J. (2005) The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York