Draft Annotated Bibliography - Coursework Example

Annotated Bibliography: Removing Discriminatory Racial Profiling in Criminal Profiling August Annotated Bibliography: Removing DiscriminatoryRacial Profiling in Criminal ProfilingAlpert, G., Dunham, R., & Smith, M. (2007). Investigating racial profiling by the Miami-Dade Police Department: A multimethod approach. Criminology &Public Policy, 6(1), 25-55. Alpert, Dunham, and Smith (2007) studied the racial profiling practices of the Miami-Dade Police Department. They noted that race could not be a large factor in vehicle-stop decisions because the police could hardly determine race all the time prior to stopping vehicles.

However, the study noted potential discrimination in post-stop police behaviors. The article is useful in providing recommendations on how race can be effectively used as a criterion in criminal investigations and stop-and-search decisions without resulting to, or reinforcing, racism.Banks, R. (2003). Beyond profiling: Race, policing, and the drug war. Stanford Law Review, 56(3), 571-603. Banks (2003) noted the difference between irrational or discriminatory and rational racial profiling, where the latter is based on actual criminal activities and reports.

He focused on the campaign against racial profiling and noted injustice when minorities experience disadvantages because of racial profiling. The study is useful in showing that racial profiling can lead to discrimination but, in agreement to what he had said, eliminating it is not the solution to discrimination in the law enforcement system.Engel, R.S., Calnon, J.M., & Bernard. T.J. (2002). Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research. Justice Quarterly, 9(2), 249-273.

Retrieved from http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ccjr/docs/articles/engel_articles/Theory_Racial_Profiling.pdf Engel, Calnon, and Bernard (2002) evaluated the research on racial profiling. They noted that, using data from traffic stops and arrests among other data sources, researchers believed that the police generally exhibited discrimination in racial profiling. Engel et al. (2002) asserted though that these studies usually had the flaw of having no guidance from a theoretical framework to support their conclusion that racial discrimination did happen.

The study is important in underscoring the gap in literature for studies that can improve the theoretical foundation of racial and criminal profiling.Glover, K. (2007). Police discourse on racial profiling. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(3), 239-247. Glover (2007) studied police opinions on racial profiling through an in-depth interview research method. She noted that police officers downplayed racism in racial profiling through emphasizing the spatial context of their criminal investigations.

The article is important in emphasizing the need for gathering more qualitative information about the perceptions and experiences of the police regarding racial profiling and criminal profiling.Godwin, M. (2002). Reliability, validity, and utility of criminal profiling typologies. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 17(1), 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/Dr.%20Godwin%20Profiling%20Article.pdfGodwin (2002) criticized the FBI’s criminal profiling typology and other similar typologies.

He stated that these typologies generally lack reliability, validity, and utility because of poor theoretical basis for the psychological processes that affect criminal behaviors. He also noted that variables lacked proper operationalization for valid testing. The study is important in showing the literature gap for stronger criminal profiling typology and methods.Grogger, J., & Ridgeway, G. (2006). Testing for racial profiling in traffic stops from behind a veil of darkness. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 101(475), 878-887.

Grogger and Ridgeway (2006) tested a new method of determining racial discrimination in traffic stops through the “veil of darkness” hypothesis. Instead of relying on traffic surveys to tally the number of times different races are stopped, these researchers hypothesize that racism will be clear if the police stopped more blacks than whites during daylight. After controlling several factors, they learned that the police actually stopped more whites than blacks during daytime. The study is important in showing that racial profiling is not always racist profiling and it indicates the importance of innovation in improving the validity of future profiling studies.Harris, D. (2009).

Leveraging the politics of racial profiling to effectuate reform. Criminology & Public Policy, 8(2), 381-386. Harris (2009) noted from his study that the police were more effective in catching criminals when they stopped and searched vehicles based on behavioral characteristics than race and ethnicity. The study shows that race may be affecting investigation effectiveness if it becomes too dominant as a criminality criterion. It indicates the importance of behavioral analysis in criminal profiling theories and practices.

Maxfield, M., & Babbie, E. (2011). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (7th ed.). California: ABC-CLIO. Maxfield and Babbie (2011) agreed with Engel et al. (2002) that current criminal profiling research have poor theoretical frameworks. Maxfield and Babbie (2011) stressed that race is an essential criterion in criminal profiling, but they underlined the need for providing clear guidelines in implementing discrimination-free racial and criminal profiling methods. This book is important in verifying the results and concepts from other studies.

Piquero, A. (2009). Finding the right balance between data, research, findings, and policy in racial profiling. Criminology & Public Policy, 8(2), 371-379. Piquero (2009) argued that research on racial profiling is not reliable because of their invalid methodologies. He suggested that racism in profiling can be avoided through better record-keeping, training, and evaluation of the police’s criminal profiling methods and practices on actual police activities. He added the importance of administrative controls in preventing racism in profiling practices.

The article is important in improving the use of racial profiling in criminal profiling methodology. Ruiz, J., & Woessner, M. (2006). Profiling, Cajun style: Racial and demographic profiling in Louisianas war on drugs. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 8(3), 176-197. Ruiz and Woessner (2006) noted the poor reliability of survey statistics on racial profiling. For their study, they compared the arrest statistics for two law enforcement agencies that operated on the same road at the same time.

They hypothesized that the Louisiana State Police Criminal Patrol Unit (LSP-CPU) and some deputies of the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office (SMSO) focused on groups that they believed were engaged in drug trafficking. Findings revealed that the stops corresponded to drug traffickers’ profile, including race and demographic factors. The study is important in showing how to validate race-based criminal profiling.Torres, A.N., Boccaccini, M.T., & Miller, H.A. (2006). Perceptions of the validity and utility of criminal profiling among forensic psychologists and psychiatrists.

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37(1), 51-58. Retrieved from http://people.uncw.edu/myersb/292/readings/readings/profiling.pdfTorres et al. (2006) used an Internet survey on a sampling of forensic psychologists and psychiatrists to understand their profiling perceptions and experiences. Findings showed that 10% experienced profiling, though more than one-fourth stressed that they had profiling capabilities. Less than 25%, however, believed that profiling is valid and reliable, and majority wanted to see improvements in its validity and reliability.

The study is essential in showing that criminal profiling needs future empirical investigation to boost its validity and reliability.Welch, K. (2007). Black criminal stereotypes and racial profiling. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(3), 276-288. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/gabbidonstudy/articles/Welch.pdfWelch (2007) argued that black criminal stereotyping significantly shapes racial profiling. She mentioned the role of the media in perpetuating the connection between race and criminality.

The article is important in providing concepts for racial discrimination in racial profiling. It also offers recommendations on how racism can be removed from profiling methods and practices.