1.6 Conclusion
Sociology deals with the concept of societies and how they interact. We have socially constructed meanings for concepts like race, ethnicity, gender, and more. We often refer to these as our identity, influencing how people respond to us. Within the criminal justice system, race and ethnicity play a crucial role in the outcome of their treatment. Race, once considered biologically innate in us, is a social construct used to discriminate. Through a sociological lens, we describe races as subgroups of humans, with much of racial identity depending on ancestry. Meanwhile, we describe ethnicity as people’s differences in national or regional backgrounds. As racial and ethnic diversity increases within the United States, public issues arise as well. Societal issues such as police brutality, ethnic cleansing, and racial or ethnic discrimination can be attributed to the social imagination, which explains how these issues are shaped by our culture. We can trace back the concepts of racial and ethnic discrimination through early colonization and colonizers, who dehumanized people of color to justify their poor treatment of these communities. Events such as the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others are the consequences of discrimination based on race and ethnicity. In the chapters to come, we will dive more into the ways our society has divided and maintained power differentials based on race and ethnicity, as well as how it impacts those involved in the criminal justice system.
Discussion Questions and Chapter Resources
Discussion questions
- Explain what sociology is in your own words. In your classroom or workplace, are there certain norms you notice people follow on a day-to-day basis? What are some actions that you would consider devious within these settings? What makes them deviant or out of the norm?
- How does the sociological imagination help us understand the impact of race and ethnicity on personal experiences and societal outcomes?
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, debates about masks were at an all-time high. As a result, the government mandated masks to slow down the spread of contamination. Did the mandatory mask law ever affect your view of free choice? Was there a time you were obliged to avoid discomfort?
- How did racial categories come to be? In what way do you think racial categories changed our perception of humans? In what ways has colonialism shaped modern understandings of race and ethnicity in the United States? As the United States grows, the change in demographics expands as well. How have others received diversity with these changing demographics?
- What is white privilege? What are some of the experiences that arise from this type of privilege? Have you or someone you know ever interacted with the criminal justice system? How were you treated? Would your experience have changed if you were of a different race or ethnicity?
Chapter resources
- This video explains macro and micro perspectives in sociology: Macro and Micro Sociology [Streaming Video].
- To learn more about unemployment and COVID-19, see Unemployment rose higher in three months of COVID-19 than it did in two years of the Great Recession [Website].
- To learn more about the rise in Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, see More Than 9,000 Anti-Asian Incidents Have Been Reported Since The Pandemic Began [Website].
- For an example of a person in power denying that white nationalism is racism, see GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville disputes defining white nationalists as racist [Website].
- Twins Lucy and Maria Aylmer are twins, but most people wouldn’t believe it based on their appearance: Twin Teens: One Black, One White, Celebrate Their Differences [Streaming Video].
- The Southern Poverty Law Center’s description of the white nationalist [Website] ideology offers a profile of the state of white nationalism in the U.S.
Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion
“Conclusion” by Taryn VanderPyl, revised by Jessica René Peterson, is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
the scientific and systematic study of human relationships, institutions, groups and group interactions, societies, and social interactions, from small and personal groups to large groups
a category of people grouped because they share inherited physical characteristics that are identifiable, such as skin color, hair texture, facial features, and stature
shared social, cultural, and historical experiences of people from common national or regional backgrounds that make subgroups of a population different
the unfair treatment of marginalized groups, resulting from the implementation of biases, and often reinforced by existing social processes that disadvantage racial minorities
a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs.
a group of people living in a defined geographic area that has a common culture
an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the culture that shaped their choices and perceptions (Mills, 1959)
the special benefits, protections, and access to the power conferred onto white people
property or violent crimes that are motivated by bias, usually related to one’s actual or perceived identity regarding race, ethnicity, color, country of origin, religion, gender or gender identity, sexuality, or disability
a form of prejudice that refers to a set of negative attitudes, beliefs, and judgments about whole categories of people, and about individual members of those categories because of their perceived race and ethnicity.
