Dynamics and Diversity: Exploring Implications for Accountability in Crime, Drugs, Public and Social Policy

• NCJ Number: 133654
• Author(s): K A Jones
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the National Roundtable of Black Scholars, Educators and Professionals in the Administration of Justice.

Annotation

The author identifies the causes of the existence of an underclass in the United States and explains the dynamics in an underclass in an underclass that contributes to drug trafficking and abuse as well as other forms of criminality; remedial suggestions are offered.

Abstract

Economic, legal, and socialization structures in the United States have emerged in response to the demands of the U.S. economic system and those responsible for the protection and promotion of the interests of the dominating classes and structure in U.S. society. These structures contribute to the socially dysfunctional behavior of groups who are inadequately prepared to compete successfully for economic and cultural survival. This contributes to a lack of self-esteem and helps to propagate an underclass. The inclusion of blacks in the dominant structures may make a small qualitative difference in the system, but it does not make a qualitative difference in the functioning of the dominant system. Such social control measures as a Career Criminal Squad or a Repeat Offenders Court will not induce underclass criminals to alter their sense of self-worth or provide motivation for change. Unless the United States develops resocialization processes and identifies support factors that operate within the family unit and the educational process, the emerging underclass will become institutionalized in U.S. society.