Law Enforcement Issues: Multiculturalism and Diversity

Multiculturalism and Diversity

Introduction

Multiculturalism and diversity are at the heart of the American experience and reflect the demographics of our country. Our celebration of many different ethnic and racial groups, however, has been a subject of controversy and growth for many years when dealing with crime and punishment. States have developed juvenile diversion programs to help at risk Black and Hispanic youth stay out of jail and how these programs benefit society. Another example relates to challenges for law enforcement in enforcing criminal laws in multicultural communities and whether the methods used there are working.

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Social scientists have suggested that cultural diversity in a nation leads to societal instability. However, societal instability may be affected not only by within-nation or α diversity, but also diversity between a nation and its neighbor’s or diversity. It is also necessary to distinguish different realms of diversity, namely etymological side, ethnic and religious. In order to distinguish between the direct properties of diversity on shared instability pertaining to such areas, and effects that are facilitated by economic conditions, analysis of such sensory report should be conducted to interpret and evaluate the cause of such multiculturalism indifferences (Nettle, et al., 2007).

Constitutional Protections In Criminal Law

A criminal defendant has extensive protections that are set forth in the United States Constitution. The federal Constitution is relevant in all criminal cases because the government is arraigning. State structures typically mirror the federal Constitution because it sets the minimum standard of protection that is guaranteed to all citizens as it is their constitutional right stated in our Amendments depending on each case. States can and tend to provide more lawful protections to criminal defendants than the federal Constitution, if those state protections do not violate the codified federal sovereignty or their supremacy (Constitutional Protections. Saylordotorg). 

One of the types of constitutional protection is procedural, meaning that a defendant can protest an unconstitutional procedure that occurring during prosecution and the procedure during prosecution includes, but is not limited to, arrest, interrogation, search, filing of charges, trial, and appeal. At the same time, the defendant can also motion to dismiss any or all charges, suppress any evidence pertaining to the case, or declare a mistrial due to any violation sought out as unconstitutional. The defendant can also appeal and seek to reverse a conviction, among other equitable remedies. (Constitutional Protections. Saylordotorg). Bias opinions against the client whom the defendant is representing can seek that plaintiff or their witness is being culturally bias as the jury can also be remedying such jury misconduct.

 (Constitutional Protections. Saylordotorg). 

Equal Protection refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. The statement applies regardless of the race, gender identification, or any pertaining to such that wouldn’t all the jury or those involved in the representation of impartial conduct. The governing state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances, in-order for a trial to administered as judicially proper and not in violation of any obligatory ruling. The protection is enforced to not draw distinctions between individuals solely on any differences that are unrelated to a valid governmental objective, which is why the protection stated is crucial to the shield the civil rights of the people and is in the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause requiring the government to practice equal protection clause. Though the Fifth Amendment is in place, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause requires states to practice equal protection as well. Whether it be federal or the state governing body, if and when an individual believes that either government has violated that individual’s definite equal rights as stated, then that individual is able to bring a lawsuit against that governmental body for relief (law.cornell.edu). This plays a crucial role in having a fair trial for all those that fall under the Constitutional ruling.

Peng Tang vs. Victim 

A crime involving Peng Tang, Chinese national, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. It was jeopardized when the parents of Peng Tang flew in to persuade the victim to drop charges. The parents were doing what sought to them as being proper in their culture but did not understand tampering with the witness and the repercussions that entails with it. The involvement portrays the differences in our culture and shines a little light on particularities of the justice system and its handling.

The impact of diversity can be positive but, in this case, it is a big negative. Though the abused victim is impacted due to the suffering, but the cultural difference factor made the accused and the accusers parents a victim due to not having the knowledge in the criminal justice systems. In parts of Asia or in certain countries, the culture regarding domestic abuse of assaulting is astonishing as it is not a considerable crime to be charged with, in their eyes or in their country. With that mentioned, harming another being, selfless or not, accounts for justice as no one wants to be harmed in any culture, country or race (Miller, 2013).

Parents Tampering Witness vs. Chinese Culture

Regardless of where an individual is from or beliefs in, a parent of a child is meant as part of a support system and a sanctuary in its own way. “Our doors are always open for you.” “You will always be a child for us.” Such comments are made by parents because of genuine cultural, and personal values set forth from their generation. Asian cultures values are so strong in the influence of a person’s identity and their chemical psychological standards. Chinese cultures and their traditions are no different. The traditional cultural values that influence the psyche of the Chinese people are harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety. Benevolence, the core value of Confucianism, extends from the importance of familial ties and blood connections and is held in high esteem by the Chinese (Lihua, 2013 November 21).

Although parent-child relationships share universal components across cultures, such as love and communication, different cultures emphasize their unique norms and practices in parent-child interactions (Chao & Tseng, 2002). Western cultures typically value friendly ways of expressing parental affection, such as through their physical closeness, and open communication. In comparison, Chinese culture stresses immensely on support, parental sacrifices, thoughtfulness in meeting their child’s needs, and mutual understanding with respect that mainly is construed through very formal indirect and non-verbal communication (Tseng & Hsu, 1969; Wu & Chao, 2005, 2011). Chinese parents’ love for children is more centrally described as parental sacrifice and thoughtfulness, whether it seems over the top interference or intrusion by the Western part of the world. Chinese culture perceives it as their parental duties, devotion and sacrifice that can reach extreme levels of investment in providing support for children’s education and daily life, whether it’s expected of them or not. Chinese communities’ values and providing any support for their children’s future is beyond typical parental care of providing basic necessities. Chinese parents typically put the child’s needs before their own, even at most times by sacrificing their own interest, health and their career (Leung & Shek, 2011; Chao & Tseng, 2002). Many Chinese parents work very hard in finding ways to give their child the best they can and tend to invest all they can to provide for the child’s education because education is considered as the path to upward mobility for the child’s future (Fuligni & Yoshikawa, 2004; Goyette & Xie, 1999). Same was the norm of Peng Tangs parents. This is considered the genuine norm but the realization of the word tampering was never considered in their minds as they were reach out to the witness to protect their child.

Legal Issues Relevance – Criminal Law, Diversity, and Multiculturalism

Most people have a debatable perspective on the obligatory jury duty as a citizen, but it’s one of the most common ways for citizens to interact with the criminal justice system and view what pertains surrounding a proper hearing session. There are many negative judgmental and stereotypical perceptions regarding those in the system that include the police and our courts. The main goals of the criminal justice system in this country is to keep the nation’s citizens safe, offer them their chance to have a say in the court, and to see firsthand the management of how those convicted are kept separate from civilians. The justice system addresses the tasks in different ways to showcase the management and proper agendas that are operated by different people. Even though the understanding of such calculative measures and the overall sessions vary depending on each person since the process and actions revolving on information reviewed during is grasped differently, there are occasional issues but there is a method to this madness of asking and summoning civilians to be part of the jury system as it provides a more authenticity tiny side of our justice system that is comprehensible to local ordinary people (Rigoni, 2018).

As a visitor or as a temporary resident, there are very few interactions that are faced as a logical and realistic term of commending the bylaws and the justice system, in general. Most understand the basic rules and regulations of the traffic and the taxations and what is or isn’t allowed as temporary resident. All those rules and laws are only understandable and taken upon as knowledge as long as it adheres to the situations and “at the moment” scenarios. Jury Duty assists the USA citizens in following the courts given  preliminary instructions directly following empanelment of the jury that explains the jury’s role, the trial procedures including note-taking and questioning by jurors, the nature of evidence and its evaluation, the issues to be addressed, and the basic relevant legal principles, including the elements of the charges and claims and definitions of unfamiliar legal terms (ABA – Trial by Jury).This gives somewhat of an insight into what is considerable in the eyes of the law as there is principle of being part of witnessing an actual proceeding. Perception is part of beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty of multiculturalism and diversity can be seen as educational or just interference of their lands.

State and/or Court – Position and Reasoning

The United States’ criminal justice system is unique from those in most other countries, including nations in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and Latin America. Juries, for example, are uncommon outside of this country because they limit government power, but in the United States, Americans are empowered by the legal system and the pursuit of justice as part of being a democracy ruled nation. One nation with extreme contrasts to the U.S. justice system is China, as it is believed to part of the hierarchy and more of an authoritarian system by the party centered on the ruling of law. For example, China has good laws in place that could hold companies liable for selling harmful products but at the same time, the Chinese government has the strange ideology behind pressuring people who bring lawsuits by punishing them and bribing victims in criminal cases as being against law like most governing bodies around the world, it’s not a law that is strictly enforced as it is seemed a bit part of the norm. So, when Tang’s parents came to the United States, John C. Reitz, a UI law professor who researches international and comparative law, said, “I’m sure they were operating in good faith” (Miller, 2013).

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Justice system is handled and portrayed differently around the world. In comparison to Peng Tang’s case, another example of having quite different norm mindsets is the case of a Chinese national Changya Chen. His arrest was made in April with other seventeen individuals in connection with a prostitution sting. His understanding of a date and the perception around prostitution was a something that he not comprehended. Sexual crimes in China go unpunished. Marital rape, in fact, is not against the law there, and that mindset affected Mr. Chen and would probably affect many others when they move to the United States and don’t have the proper knowledge of committing such crimes. Mr. Chen was charged with prostitution to which he thought was a “date thing” or a “bad thing”. In Mr. Chen’s case, he pleaded guilty to false report of an indictable crime and was sentenced to one-year probation (Miller, 2013). Again, as being part of the normality in China, didn’t quite work well in comparison to the US Justice System as it is illegal in vast majority of United States.

Another contrast seen between U.S. and the Chinese governmental norm, is the concept behind bribing or coercing, which leads to the fundamental ideology of tampering with the witness, the testimony and if done to a precaution, it is seen as a criminal offense and accounts for a severe charge, but it is not practiced as such in China. This sort of idea is seen as crossing the line but in the Chinese culture they don’t see the fine line between right or wrong when civilians do so, regardless of it being written in the bylaws. To them and in Mr. Peng Tang’s case as being family oriented and parents protecting their child as it is part of their culture to be done as a portrayal of good upbringing and good faith (Miller, 2013).

States Leverage & Benefit of the Community – Multiculturalism and Diversity

Diversity can be an asset in many ways. Diverse perspectives allow for a variety of approaches to problem solving, testing and developing new ideas, and cultural expressions such as art and music. One of the reasons why the US has a well-developed policy of freedom of speech is to promote communication among a variety of people with different experiences. Unfair bias can occur during the court process, involving judges and the juries. Even though, judges and jury system is supposed to be impartial to any diversified stereotypes but sometimes come as a high discretion as they can be contained with unbiased ruling and decision-making process. It can sometimes be a behavioral factor portrayed stereotypically between our law enforcers/ police officers. Evaluations have been shown in media coverage as being targeted towards African Americans (Blacks) and Latino/ Hispanics communities over the course of years. Though, not all law enforcers globally are judgmental or prejudice towards diversity and multiculturalism, but the percentage is greatly attentive. Assumption plays a key role in clogging the perspective and end-result related to any conflict these officers encounter. For example, People of color and members of other cultures are the target of profiling because people are influenced based on their own past experiences or the experiences of others. If a person of color is driving an expensive car, for instance, an unfairly biased police officer may conclude that the person is a drug dealer, rather than a doctor or lawyer. This police officer is making his decision based on stereotypes about how people of color earn their money (Duane Cloud, study.com)

Professionally, culturally diverse talent pool, companies benefit from hiring professionals with a broad range of skills that are often not accessible when hiring locally. Globally oriented companies can add to their service range by leveraging the skills and experience their international employees bring to the table. In today’s volatile and uncertain global business environment, nimble and adaptable organizations are the ones that thrive. Adaptability means faster and more effective planning, development, and execution. A company with cultural and cognitive diversity can be quicker to spot a gap in the market. It will also have the global (or market-specific) insight and experience to help a new or adapted product to meet changing consumer behavior—and succeed (Reynolds & Reynolds, 2019).

Especially, with United states being the land of free, the demographics are perceived considerably higher when there is actual visuality of such promises of acceptance and equality of different diversities. State or private colleges, companies and just overall county population is categorized as minorities that shows the multiculturalism and the diversity aspect. A growing number of reports indicate cultural diversity enables a community to be stronger and compete on a larger scale in the global economy in which we live in. Communities that are diverse brings language skills, new ways of thinking, innovative ideas and creative solutions to difficult problems. United States diversity demographic shows that immigrants are more likely to have a small business such as grocery stores, restaurants, clothing stores and other enterprises which lead to neighborhood growth and vitality. Also, it creates more employment diversity in enforcement implementing contributed interaction.

Impact & Development of Society & Criminal Law – Peng Tang Case

The complexity of what is considered a crime in another nation and the same exact crime done on the grounds of USA and its territorial law abiding nations, is very hybrid in terms of the division of actions, practices, standards, and overall internal and external doctrines set forth in association with to provide the common ground to charge and convict without cultural differences and biased prejudices.

In the events and the case of Peng Tang as well as Changya Chen, the cultural dissimilarities definitely is discerning to our criminological theories and proceedings in which we follow and abide by in comparison to other nationals.

Admitting that cultures vary and not always undeviating means distinguishing the presence of multitude of voices and positions regarding certain specific cultural practices. The different attitudes individuals have toward a given practice just be due to a range of contributing factors, such as gender, age, individual beliefs, level of exposure to other cultures, and many other structural factors (Rigoni, 2018).

Arguments can be raised by defendants as a target naming it ignorance of the law. A defendant might argue that when situated with a certain the crime, the individual  was not aware of the existence of a criminal provision due to being fairly new to the country or to a recent arrival in the country (often in conjunction with the not having a similar provision in the country of origin) or because of cultural differences, which allows or even encourages the convicted behavior (Greenawalt, 2014). The general principle in criminal law is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” However, in order to comply with standards of due process and to fully respect the principle of individual responsibility, the principle has been alleviated, especially at the jurisprudential level, and exclusions now occur in cases where ignorance of the law is considered reasonably vindicated (Greenawalt, 2014; Renteln, 1992–1993).

Modern societies are more culturally diverse and aware of the fact of growing ideology of “land of the free” to being multicultural. This diversity can be the result of different historical and social processes and might affect the uniformity and efficiency of criminal justice systems. The growing importance developed by our culture in the criminal law domain went hand in hand with the attention received by it both in the human rights field (inference to minority rights) and in the field of sociological and criminological theories. Nowadays, crimes have a different agenda and a meaning given to overall convicted. For example, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and other behaviors grounded in “culture or tradition” form the object of several international human rights and media coverage. In relation to international crime or multiculturalism involvement, criminal justice systems deal with such cases, and more in general with cultural factors, differently. Different attributes have been proposed in consideration to allow the cultural withstanding’s within the criminal proceedings at time which (are in common law countries) is the reinforcement of a sovereign “cultural defense.” However, international human rights contributions of such proposals, especially those protecting the rights of vulnerable materials related to women and children, have continuously been discouraged state wise in order to take into account, such as culture, religion, and tradition, for validation. Criminal proceedings are not the only setting to deal with culture and crime. The development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and curative justice both within formal and informal diversified community settings have been given additional options to take culture into account in the determination to resolve any disputes (in terms of procedures used and normativity’s in question). Concerns exist regarding the applicable and procedural rights of contributors involved in such programs. However, the changes could represent a way to allow a certain degree of legal heterogeneity and facilitate access to justice for culturally diverse minority groups (Rigoni, 2018).

Conclusion

Diversity is defined as the differences within, between and towards people. These differences can include so many attributing, conflicting and in conjunction with race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background, socioeconomic status, and much more. Multiculturalism goes deeper than diversity by focusing on inclusiveness, understanding, respect, and by looking at inadequate supremacy in society. Diversity focuses on the distinctiveness or differences between individuals but implementing the policies that everyone is treated the same is a way of contemporizing the circle of indifference in our societies and communities. While this is the legal and the humane thing to be considered first and foremost, multiculturalism looks at a system of advantages based on race, gender, and sexual orientation called power and privilege. In this system, the advantages are based on which one race, gender, and sexual orientation is predominant in setting societal rules and norms (Beginning Human Relations (v. 1.0), 2012 December). Educational and training concepts evolving around the idea of diversity in communities should be implemented to lessen the hate-crimes that occur targeting particular religion, culture and race.

Better insightful comprehensiveness of the problems and the factual content of diversity and its multicultural indifferences include the idea of obliviousness and ignorance from all groups. Appreciate of the justice system can only by prevalent to giving the ideologies for all as it can build bridges of knowledge and less hatred as far as crimes and not be aware of the bylaws. Representation of each culture is not the responsivity of other nations but perpetually abiding by the other country’s laws set forth in their rules and regulations is the key to stable educated cultural differences.

References

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• Reynolds, K., & Reynolds, K. (2019, July 11). 13 benefits and challenges of cultural diversity in the workplace Hult Blog. Retrieved from https://www.hult.edu/blog/benefits-challenges-cultural-diversity-workplace/.

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