Good morning! I wanted to provide you with specific information on the Literature Review assignment so you can begin working on it. REMEMBER…this assignment builds on the annotated bibliography assignment. Read these instructions in its entirety! There are specific requirements that you must fulfill to have this assignment eligible for grading.
Course Learning Objectives:
- This assignment builds on the previous, annotated bibliography assignment. You should use the sources contained in the annotated bibliography to support the literature review assignment.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature, components, and methods of social science research, including problem formation, sampling design, measurement, data collection and operationalization, analysis, drawing conclusions, and analyzing the implications to and for the criminal justice system and its components.
Assignment Instructions:
STEP 1: The literature search - Find out what has been written on your subject.
IMPORTANT NOTE: (CLARIFICATION: You've found sources written about your subject, e.g. the annotated bibliography. Now, provide information on how the information in the source pertains to your research).
STEP 2: Noting the bibliographical details - Write down the full bibliographical details of each book or article as soon as you find a reference to it.
STEP 3: Finding the literature - Once you have what looks like a list of relevant texts, you have to find them.
STEP 4: Reading the literature - Take notes as you read the literature.
STEP 5: Writing the review - Having gathered the relevant details about the literature, you now need to write the review.
Structural Requirements for the Literature Review:
- The literature review is to be between 7-10 pages in length. This DOES NOT include the title page, abstract, nor references.
- The text in the document should be either Times New Roman or Arial type, 12-point font, with 1–inch margins on all 4 sides of the paper.
- The final document must be properly formatted using APA style citation guidelines (e.g. new paragraphs indented, uniformly double spaced, with appropriate headings to identify changes in thought and or topic (ex. heading 1 = Introduction; heading 2 = Literature Review; heading 3 = Discussion/Conclusion)).
- You must also provide a minimum ten (10) scholarly sources – professional and academic journal articles, governmental reports, and other legitimate research sources. The sources should be included in your reference page and properly formatted according to APA guidelines. REMEMBER…you already have the sources from the annotated bibliography assignment…but feel free to add additional sources if needed.
Additional Requirements for the Literature Review Assignment:
- You are required to submit a draft of your literature review to the writing center for feedback…AND…provide documentation that you've done so. The purpose of this is to ensure that you not only have your paper properly structured, but you've worked through other common issues associated with academic writing (e.g. citations, proper use of quotations, and overall APA formatting).
- Make sure you have a significant draft of your literature review completed before submitting it for review to the writing center. By significant draft, I mean a minimum of 5 completed pages of the document should be completed, so that a review of what you've completed can be done and that ample feedback on your progress can be provided. You should also submit a list of references used to that point so that they can check your formatting.
- Once you've submitted your document for review and you’ve received feedback, you will upload verification in the same dropbox as the final draft of the literature review. If proof isn't provided, your literature review will not be graded.
Important Note: Do not confuse a literature review with an annotated bibliography.
An annotated bibliography deals with each text, in turn, describing and evaluating the text, using one paragraph for each text.
In contrast, a literature review synthesizes many texts in one paragraph. Each paragraph of the literature review should serve as a culmination of the issues, thoughts, solutions associated with those themes associated with your topic and how they are relevant to your interests and research you’ve conducted on the chosen topic. Thus, each paragraph or section of your review should deal with a different aspect of the literature.
Your literature review must have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The paper will be graded according to the insight, analysis, interpretation, clarity, and degree of supportive research presented. Grammatical mistakes (e.g., spelling, punctuation, fragmented sentences, and run-on sentences) will cause a reduction in the final grade. Missing or improperly structured support material (citations, lists of references, etc.) will affect the paper and will result in grade reduction.
5
Annotated Bibliography
Kevin Bolick
Criminal Justice Methodology
Professor Wright
2/4/2024
Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
Fernandes, A. D., & Crutchfield, R. D. (2018). Race, crime, and criminal justice: Fifty years since The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(2), 397-417.
Type: Journal article
Length: 21 pages
Search strategy: Used the criminal justice database to find the scholarly.
This research article offers a comprehensive analysis of the discoveries and suggestions made by the 1967 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice concerning race, crime, and the system of criminal justice. The authors review what the Commission said about racial differences in crime rates and practices in the criminal justice at the time and the social reforms it advocated to address racial disparities. They then analyze developments in research and policy over the subsequent 50 years, finding that racial disparities in sentencing and incarceration persist, often unjustifiably. The article concludes by calling for a new commission to take an evidence-based look at mass incarceration and racial injustice, suggesting it could have significant advantages over its 1960s predecessor in data, research, and ability to shape reform, given contemporary knowledge. This source provides excellent historical context and analysis directly relevant to examining the factors behind and solutions to racial disparities in harsh criminal punishments.
Franklin, T. W. (2018). The state of race and punishment in America: Is justice really blind?. Journal of Criminal Justice, 59, 18-28.
Type: Journal article
Length: 11 pages
Search strategy: Searched the EBSCO Host library database for peer-reviewed journal article.
This literature review article is a thorough overview of studies investigating racial inequalities in the process of determining criminal punishments in the US. The author synthesizes findings from hundreds of studies to determine whether race influences imprisonment rates and sentence lengths. The author’s assertion is that African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are subject to more severe punishments in comparison to white individuals who commit comparable offenses. However, the effects are often small to moderate and context-specific. The author notes that while overt discrimination is rare in modern courts, subtle biases can impact judges’ sentencing decisions. He calls for continued research to illuminate further when, how, and why race matters in order to work toward a truly blind justice system. Therefore, this article shows racial minorities like African Americans and Latinos face harsher sentences and higher incarceration rates than whites, though the effects are small to moderate and not entirely proven due to discrimination. This review offers an excellent starting point to understand the complex relationship between race and criminal punishment in America.
Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 183-187.
Type: Journal article
Length: 5 pages
Search strategy: Searched the EBSCO Host psychology database for the scholarly article.
This research article by Hetey and Eberhardt examines racial disparities in the criminal justice system, specifically focusing on policing and incarceration. They argued that simple exposure to statistics of racial disparities can backfire, increasing support for punitive policies among white Americans. They describe that contact with extreme disparities triggers fear and stereotypic associations linking blacks with crime. Stark statistics can create explanations or rationalizations for what can be done and not motivate individuals in working towards addressing the inequality. The authors point out ways in which information about disparities may be presented more effectively by offering history, questioning implicit associations, and institutions' role in perpetuating the disparity. They stress the need to go beyond studying individual experiences and focus on changing systemic and institutional practices contributing to racial disparities in criminal justice. This source provides critical illustrates on how issues of information about inequality may be framed to encourage social change rather than defensiveness, justification and climbing of the status quo.
Hinton, E., Henderson, L., & Reed, C. (2018). An unjust burden: The disparate treatment of Black Americans in the criminal justice system. Vera Institute of Justice, 1(1), 1-20.
Type: Journal article
Length: 20 pages
Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find the academic journal article on the Black American’s unequal treatment in the justice system.
This source provides an overview of the racial inequities within the system of criminal justice and their historical roots. It summarizes research showing that the justice system has disproportionately targeted black Americans since the post-Civil War era through intentionally discriminatory laws and policies. It also reviews evidence that disparities persist today through biased decision-making and the unequal enforcement of race-neutral laws that disproportionately impact black communities. For example, despite similar drug use rates, black Americans are arrested and sentenced for drug offenses at much higher rates. The report connects these injustices to the overrepresentation of black Americans at all levels, from police stops to pretrial detention and sentencing. It argues that a history of racial oppression has concentrated poverty in black communities, which drives higher crime and criminal justice involvement. Overall, this report effectively summarizes research on racial disparities’ causes to show the justice system’s unjust treatment of black Americans.
King, R. D., & Light, M. T. (2019). Have racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing declined?. Crime and Justice, 48(1), 365-437.
Type: Journal article
Length: 73 pages
Search strategy: Searched JSTOR for scholarly articles published in criminology journals examining racial disparities in criminal sentencing trends.
This scholarly article provides an extensive overview of the study on racial as well as ethnic disparities in sentencing. The authors synthesize numerous studies to show that while some progress has been made, sentencing disparities persist between white defendants and defendants of color. They argue that common data limitations, such as relying solely on conviction data rather than arrest data, hamper understanding of the causes of disparity. The authors critically evaluate prominent theoretical explanations for disparities, finding shortcomings with theories like racial threat and focal concerns. They advocate for improved data collection and new theory development to better understand modern sentencing disparities. This source will inform my research by summarizing the state of knowledge on racial disparities and identifying the need for more robust data and theory to explain the complex causes of unequal punishment fully. It provides excellent background and direction for researching solutions. The article will be useful in the current research and will significantly contribute to exploring sentencing in racial and ethnic contexts.
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues, 75(4), 1139-1164.
Type: Journal article
Length: 26 pages
Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find this article.
This article by Margaret Bull Kovera provides an overview of racial disparities in the justice system, focusing on prison populations, policing, and participation of jury. Kovera reviews empirical evidence showing that racial minorities, particularly African Americans, experience disproportionate targeting and harsher treatment by law enforcement at multiple stages, from stops and searches to use of force and arrests. The paper also documents how accumulated biases lead to higher incarceration rates and wrongful convictions among minorities. While some disparities may be due to implicit racial bias, the author argues that explicit policies and practices also play a significant role. Kovera suggests structural changes like prohibiting specific police actions, reducing reliance on money bail, and eliminating peremptory challenges during jury selection could help remedy disparities. Though not a comprehensive review, this paper highlights significant areas of inequality and provides a thoughtful analysis of root causes and potential policy solutions to reduce racial disparities.
MacDonald, J., & Raphael, S. (2020). Effect of scaling back punishment on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal case outcomes. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(4), 1139-1164.
Type: Journal article
Length: 26 pages
Search strategy: Used Google Scholar and filtered for articles published in the last five years on reducing racial disparities in criminal sentencing.
This study examines the impact of California’s Proposition 47 on racial discrepancies in criminal court results between 2010 and 2016. Proposition 47 reclassified several drug and property felonies as misdemeanors. The study reveals that Proposition 47 resulted in a reduction of racial disparities in both convictions and incarceration durations. Before Proposition 47, case characteristics like criminal history and pretrial detention explained most of the observable inequalities between individuals of different races. Following the implementation of Proposition 47, there was a reduced emphasis on criminal history, pretrial custody, and active criminal justice status when determining results, resulting in advantages for minority defendants. The findings indicate that implementing policy improvements that decrease the harshness of punishment for less serious offenses can assist in reducing racial gaps in outcomes within the criminal justice system. This study provides substantial evidence that scaling back punitive policies can reduce existing racial disparities, despite the implementation of reforms in a manner that does not discriminate based on race. Nonetheless, the article will significantly contribute to understanding factors leading to harsh punishment in a racial context.
Monk, E. P. (2019). The color of punishment: African Americans, skin tone, and the criminal justice system. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(10), 1593-1612.
Type: Journal article
Length: 20 pages
Search strategy: Used Google Scholar and searched for the article.
Monk’s journal paper investigates the correlation between skin tone and encounters with the criminal justice system among African Americans. He contends that the majority of studies primarily examines differences between individuals of African descent and whites, without adequately taking into account variations within these racial groups that are associated with different shades of skin color. Through quantitative analysis of nationally representative data, Monk discovers that those with darker skin tone among African Americans have higher levels of arrest and imprisonment in comparison to those with lighter skin tone, even when taking into account characteristics like as socioeconomic position, neighborhood circumstances, and other variables. Moreover, inequalities within the same ethnic group along the spectrum of skin tones are frequently equivalent to or more pronounced than the disparities between African Americans and the Whites. Monk concludes that skin tone stratification is vital to criminal justice outcomes. This source provides empirical evidence that skin tone biases exist in justice system and highlights the need to consider gradations of color, in addition to broad racial categories, when examining racial disparities. The quantitative methodology also strengthens the study’s contribution to this body of literature.
Omori, M., & Petersen, N. (2020). Institutionalizing inequality in the courts: Decomposing racial and ethnic disparities in detention, conviction, and sentencing. Criminology, 58(4), 678-713.
Type: Journal article
Length: 36 pages
Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find the criminology article.
Omori and Petersen’s study investigates the racial and ethnic discrepancies in pretrial detention and sentencing results by analyzing data from Miami-Dade County. The researchers discover that Black and Latino offenders experience more severe consequences in comparison to White defendants, even when taking into account legally significant characteristics such as criminal record and the seriousness of the offense. Using decomposition models, the study finds that between 50-75% of racial disparities in detention, conviction, and prison sentences are attributable to differences in case factors like criminal record and pretrial detention status. The authors argue that while individual discretion plays a role, much inequality is embedded in criminal justice practices that disproportionately impact the minority group in racial context. They advocate moving beyond documenting disparities to examining the deeper societal processes that produce institutionalized inequality. This study makes an essential contribution by quantifying how policies like three-strikes laws and pretrial detention fuel cumulative disadvantage for defendants of color. It highlights the need to address these structural drivers of disparity rather than focusing solely on individual bias.
Wozniak, K. H. (2020). An analysis of Black–White racial differences in public support for nonviolent sentencing reform. Race and Justice, 10(4), 456-479.
Type: Journal article
Length: 24 pages
Search strategy: Searched the Sociological Abstracts database for the scholarly article.
This scholarly journal article examines the level of public endorsement for the reevaluation of punishment policies for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes, with a particular emphasis on the disparities between white and African American individuals. The author administered a survey to a nationally representative sample and found that while both races supported community-based sanctions over incarceration for nonviolent property and drug offenders, support was slightly higher among African Americans. Racism and how people see the criminal justice system It was fairness that mediated the link between race and support for drug offender sanctions, but race still predicted support for drug offender sanctions even when those views were taken into account. The author concludes there is broad public support for justice reinvestment reforms, though pockets of opposition remain. The study is limited by its focus on only Black and White respondents. Overall, this quantitative analysis helps explain inter- and intra-racial differences in attitudes toward nonviolent sentencing reform.
References
Fernandes, A. D., & Crutchfield, R. D. (2018). Race, crime, and criminal justice: Fifty years since The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(2), 397-417.
Franklin, T. W. (2018). The state of race and punishment in America: Is justice really blind?. Journal of Criminal Justice, 59, 18-28.
Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 183-187.
Hinton, E., Henderson, L., & Reed, C. (2018). An unjust burden: The disparate treatment of Black Americans in the criminal justice system. Vera Institute of Justice, 1(1), 1-20.
King, R. D., & Light, M. T. (2019). Have racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing declined?. Crime and Justice, 48(1), 365-437.
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues, 75(4), 1139-1164.
MacDonald, J., & Raphael, S. (2020). Effect of scaling back punishment on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal case outcomes. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(4), 1139-1164.
Monk, E. P. (2019). The color of punishment: African Americans, skin tone, and the criminal justice system. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(10), 1593-1612.
Omori, M., & Petersen, N. (2020). Institutionalizing inequality in the courts: Decomposing racial and ethnic disparities in detention, conviction, and sentencing. Criminology, 58(4), 678-713.
Wozniak, K. H. (2020). An analysis of Black–White racial differences in public support for nonviolent sentencing reform. Race and Justice, 10(4), 456-479.
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(7.10) Assignment 5 – Literature Review (LO4,5)
Instructions
Due by 11:59 PM, Sunday, Feb. 25.
Purpose
This assignment is your literature review.
NOTE: As you prepare this document, take heed to the following:
· You are required to submit a draft of your literature review to the writing center for feedback. As you prepare to submit your draft for review, make sure you indicate you are using APA style formatting for your citations. Once you get feedback, make sure you submit verification that you submitted a draft for review when you submit the final draft of the literature review for grading.
· USE HEADINGS to identify the section you are discussing in your document. Follow the model above.
Remember, writing is a process. This is why I have you starting on this assignment early and submitting sections of your final project in a “piecemeal” fashion throughout the term. Submit drafts to me if you want feedback early. I’m here and available to help. Once completed, you’ll have a thorough “working” document you can build on for future research assignments.
Instructions
A literature review synthesizes many sources into thematic paragraphs. Each paragraph of the literature review should focus on the themes of the sources that are relevant to your topic.
Your literature review must be structured using the format below:
· Have an introduction, body, and conclusion.
· It must cover at least ten scholarly sources identified in prior assignments.
1 – Title Page
Titles should be comprehensive enough to indicate the nature of the proposed work, but also be brief.
2 – Abstract
The abstract may be used to make preliminary decisions about the project. An effective summary states the problem addressed by the applicant, identifies the solution and specifies the objectives and methods of the project. It is best to save this part for last. (150 words max).
3 – Introduction
Includes: Statement of Problem, Purpose of Research, and Significance of Research
The introduction of a project should begin with a capsule statement of what is being proposed and then proceed to introduce the subject to a stranger. It should give enough background to enable an informed layperson to place your research problem in a context of common knowledge and should show how its solution will advance the field or be important for some other work. The statement describes the significance of the problem(s), referring to appropriate studies or statistics (1-2 pages).
4 – Literature Review
Be sure to
1. Make clear what the research problem is and exactly what has been accomplished (reference previous work by others)
2. Give evidence of your own competence in the field
3. Show why the previous work needs to be continued.
The literature review should be selective and critical. Discussions of work done by others should therefore lead the reader to a clear impression of how you will be building upon what has already been done and how your work differs from theirs.
REMEMBER: You completed this assignment a few weeks prior. Review the feedback provided and make the necessary changes. Once you’ve done this, all you need to do is copy and paste here in this document.
5 – Discussion
Here is where you wrap up your review of literature and tie your thoughts together. You should also discuss your experiences exploring your topic; along with the limitations and obstacles you faced as the researcher. You should also discuss how the information you’ve reviewed will set the stage for you to answer your research questions and test your hypotheses when you progress to CRJU 4800 – Senior Capstone in CRJU. You should use this space to provide a thorough summary of your work this semester and how things can be improved as you proceed to the next phase of this research process…which is CRJU 4800 – Senior Capstone in CRJU. (1-2 pages).
6 – List of References
Use APA formatting. See the Purdue Owl for assistance.
Based on the minimum page suggestions above, this paper should be no less than 12 full pages of text, excluding title and reference pages.
Submission and Grading Criteria
· Your submission should include all items, answered questions, and write-ups above
· Structure
· 1” Margins on all 4 sides. Arial font, 12 pt font
· Indent new paragraphs. Double-spaced
· Use proper APA citation .
· MS Word document (.doc or .docx)
· Content
· Fully addresses all questions
· Free of grammatical and spelling errors
· Follow traditional academic paper requirements
· Worth 20% of your grade. Refer to the Assignment Grading Rubric in Course Resources.