War on Drugs
Bell, Darwin. "Rehab Side View." Flickr, Yahoo, 26 Nov. 2006, www.flickr.com/ photos/darwinbell/307397740/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2017.
This article details the connection between race and what is perceived as a crime. When an epidemic of heroin users raged in the 1980s, the vast majority of users were from poor neighborhoods and were people of color. In the 21st century, however, another heroin epidemic exists, affecting mostly white people. The reactions to these two epidemics clearly show the racial divide in the perception of crime, as now heroin is treated a public health crises where as in the 1980s the reaction was to wage the war on drugs. That war resulted the imprisonment of many people of color who used heroin as opposed to their rehabilitation, which is more commonly seen today. See a similar artifact titled "The War on Drugs: How President Nixon Tied Addition to Crime"
Cohen, Andrew. "How White Users Made Heroin a Public-Health Problem." The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2015. The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/crack-heroin-and-race/401015/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.
politics and crime
The manner in which people, especially politicians, discuss crime greatly affects how the public views crime. The rhetoric people use to discuss crime can sometimes shape legislation regarding crime. When politicians take a “tough on crime” stance, it can have disastrous effects on people, whether they are criminals or not. Increases in mandatory minimum sentences for criminals like non-violent offenders oftentimes skews the public’s view of how prevalent crime is in our country.
Beinart, Peter. "Hillary Clinton and the Tragic Politics of Crime." The Atlantic, 1 May 2015. The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/the-tragic-politics-of-crime/392114/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2016.
Donald vs. Hillary
Though the 2016 presidential election has come and gone, voters had to make a choice. Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or a third party candidate? More than ever, in this election, parties were pointing fingers at each other, appalled that the other could stand behind their presidential candidate in light of the mistakes they have made. How do you choose which “criminal” to vote for? When you vote for one, does that mean that you support the crime? This election revealed how our choices, though they are not criminal, can show what we consider to be the definition of crime and criminality.
Violent Crime TV Shows
"File:Criminal-Minds.svg." File:Criminal-Minds.svg - Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Most everyone has a favorite TV show that they just can’t miss. Nowadays, crime-fighting TV shows have become increasingly popular throughout the country, as well as increasingly detailed and gruesome. Besides leaving you on the edge of your seat, people are now questioning whether particularly violent crime shows, such as Criminal Minds, are harmful to one’s perception of crime and criminality. Tuning into the nightly news means listening to a barrage of shootings, abductions, and homicides. Frighteningly, we have become desensitized to them because we hear them so often. Could morphing crime into a form of entertainment be partly responsible? Are these TV shows increasing our tolerance of the crime around us?
"‘Criminal Minds’: Television’s Violent Crime and Its Impact on Audiences and Reality." The Artifice. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
13th Documentary
13th is a documentary released in 2016 discussing race and its connection to the U.S. social justice system. The documentary is named after the 13th Amendment which outlawed slavery. The documentary argues that although slavery was outlawed in 1865, it continues to be perpetuated through mass incarceration.
13th. Directed by Ava DuVernay, Netflix, 2016.
13th. Directed by Ava DuVernay, Netflix, 2016.
Organized Crime
Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) poses as a growing threat to national and international security, public health, democratic institutions, and economic stability around the world. Developing countries can be very susceptible to TOC because of lack of democratic governments. In many South American countries where there have been corrupt officials with constant civil war, these leaders have turned away from organized crime in attempt to ignore its existence. Other times as the organized crime groups expand, they can easily form alliances with political leaders who are facing instability.
"Transnational Organized Crime: A Growing Threat to National and International Security." National Security Council, www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc/transnational-crime/threat.
"Transnational Organized Crime: A Growing Threat to National and International Security." National Security Council, www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc/transnational-crime/threat.