Date

6-19-2024

Department

Helms School of Government

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)

Chair

Colin Ashburn

Keywords

racial disparities, criminal justice system, black males

Disciplines

Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The United States incarceration rate has remained steady at over two million people incarcerated within their criminal justice facilities. Among the U.S. criminal justice system incarcerated populations, African Americans are disproportionately represented contributing to its overwhelming numbers and overcrowded facilities nationwide. Studies have shown racial disparities experienced within the correctional system have been credited as a direct result of decision-making at various points throughout the criminal justice process. Previous and even current research on racial disparities within the criminal justice system have attributed much of its data to disproportionate minority contacts in the juvenile population and a heavy police presence in communities of color or lower economic status. Codes and laws developed to control the slave population, along with their conduct, continue to influence the United States and contribute to the racial disparity experienced in prisons. Data collection on this topic has done little to address policy changes and public perception as to why blacks are overrepresented in correctional facilities populations when they only represent a small portion of the U.S. To answer the questions in this study, the researcher will conduct qualitative research based on a transcendental phenomenological research design. The population sample for this study will focus on the young adult to older Black male populations, with/without a criminal history background. Field research for this topic aims to observe the subject of study in their natural environment and help the researcher challenge their perspectives with actual social context that shapes lives. A transcendental phenomenological approach seeks to give voice to a rather vulnerable population through the lens of a non-dominant groups’ worldview.

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