Multiculturalism, Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, key Supreme Court landmark cases, sociological terms, and criminal justice statistical metrics across four lecture modules.

Melting Pot

A society that blends together a variety of backgrounds and cultures into a cohesive whole, though in the United States it is often considered a misnomer due to ongoing intergroup conflict.

Biological Race

A genetically isolated group characterized by a high degree of inbreeding that leads to distinctive gene frequencies.

Social Construction of Race

The concept that every culture determines which physical features, such as skin color in the United States, are used to define membership in specific racial groups.

Racism

The belief that people are divided into distinct hereditary groups that are innately different in their behavior and abilities.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards of one's own culture, operating under the belief that one's own culture is superior.

Ethnic Group

A collection of individuals and organizations identified by national origin, cultural distinctiveness, racial characteristics, or religious affiliation.

Environmental Racism

The under-regulation of environmental laws and the disproportionate placement of hazardous materials in minority neighborhoods.

Duplin County Environmental Racism Data

A North Carolina county case example showing environmental burden with a population of $51,985$, hog population of $2,200,000$, minority population of $46.4\%$, median income of $\$30,657$, and poverty rate of $17.6\%$.

Minority Group

A subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than members of the dominant group.

Annexation

A process of creating a subordinate group where a dominant nation incorporates new territory into its own country as part of a war victory or conquest.

Genocide

The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people group or nation.

Expulsion

The forced driving out of a minority group from a territory or nation.

Secession

The process where a minority group seeks to depart from their country or create their own independent society.

Segregation

A condition in which the dominant group coexists with a minority group while imposing strict limits on contact between them.

Cultural Fusion

A process where minority and majority groups join together to form an entirely new group.

Assimilation

The process by which a subordinate group takes on the characteristics of the dominant group and is eventually accepted as part of that group.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward certain people based solely on their membership in a particular group.

Discrimination

Behavior or unequal treatment directed toward individuals because they are members of a particular group.

Unprejudiced Non-discriminator

In Merton's typologies, an ideal individual who fully embraces cultural diversity and differences without personal prejudice or discriminatory behaviors.

Prejudiced Discriminator

In Merton's typologies, an individual who holds negative racial or ethnic feelings and actively engages in discriminatory behavior.

Prejudiced Non-discriminator

Also referred to as a closet bigot, an individual who holds prejudiced attitudes toward certain groups but does not translate those attitudes into discriminatory practices.

Unprejudiced Discriminator

An individual who treats members of certain groups unequally not out of personal animosity, but because it is advantageous to do so.

Institutional Discrimination

A type of discrimination that is built directly into the structure and functioning of society.

Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College

A June 29, 2023 Supreme Court decision ruling $6-3$ that race-based affirmative action in higher education violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Social Group

As defined by William Thomson and associates, two or more people who interact in patterned ways, share a feeling of unity, and hold common interests and expectations.

Kinesics

A key component of communication referring specifically to body language.

Vocalics

A component of verbal communication involving vocal characteristics such as tone, pitch, and volume.

Proxemics

The spatial distance maintained between a communicator and their audience.

Continuum of Force

An operational standard in policing that guides officer behavior regarding the appropriate level of force in police-citizen encounters.

Symbolic Assailant

Particular individuals, as perceived by police officers, who appear as potential sources of violence or as enemies to be reckoned with.

Racial Profiling

The practice of recognizing or targeting individuals as suspects based merely upon their race or ethnicity.

Explicit Bias

The beliefs, attitudes, or stereotypes that an individual maintains consciously.

Implicit Bias

Cognitive processes that shape attitudes and stereotypes operating at a below-conscious level.

Dramaturgy

Erving Goffman's sociological framework from 1956 viewing social life as a series of dramatic performances on stage.

Backstage Process

In Goffman's dramaturgy, performance behaviors aimed at concealing secret pleasures, hiding errors, or presenting only the final product to an audience.

Material Culture

Physical objects that are real to the senses within a social system, such as handcuffs, a police baton, or a judge's gavel.

Nonmaterial Culture

Intangible elements of social life composed of shared beliefs, values, and expectations, such as justice and fairness.

Status

The specific social position maintained by an individual within a group or society.

Role

The specific behavior expected of an individual who maintains a particular social status.

Role Conflict

A condition occurring when an individual holds multiple social statuses that involve conflicting behavioral expectations.

Components of Intersectionality

A theoretical framework illustrating how intersecting identities—including disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, and social class—shape individual experiences.

Social Construction of Reality

The process through which individuals mentally construct concepts about phenomena, establishing a shared social reality and ideology.

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

A Supreme Court ruling stating that white-only primary elections conducted by the Texas Democratic Party violated the 15th Amendment.

Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

A Supreme Court decision establishing that court enforcement of racially restrictive real estate covenants is unconstitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A landmark Supreme Court decision holding that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.

Donald Black's Factors of Arrest

A 1971 study identifying five major arrest factors: evidence strength, crime seriousness, victim preference, suspect disrespect, and victim-offender relationship.

Tennessee v. Garner (1985)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that using deadly physical force against a non-threatening fleeing felon is unconstitutional.

De-policing

A practice where officers refrain from proactive routine patrol and only answer 911 calls to avoid contact that could bring accusations of profiling.

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

A Supreme Court ruling declaring that the death penalty as administered was unconstitutional due to its arbitrary application.

Federal Offenders Crime Distribution

Data on federal crime categories showing immigration offenses at $41.1\%$ and drug offenses at $26.1\%$, followed by firearms at $11.7\%$, fraud/theft at $7.5\%$, and other offenses.

Latinx

A gender-neutral alternative term for Latino or Latina used to refer to people of Latin American origin or descent.

Sanctuary City

A municipality whose local laws limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution.

Fiscal Impact of Surge Immigrants

Congressional Budget Office 2023 evaluation showing $\$10.1\text{ billion}$ in additional direct taxes collected versus $\$19.3\text{ billion}$ in direct government spending, yielding a direct net cost of $\$9.2\text{ billion}$.