Institutionalizing the informal – The Changing Impact of Resistance on Criminal Justice

• In Event: Cultural Change as a Catalyst: Tradition, Crises and Criminal Justice

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to provide an often neglected view of Post 9/11 criminal justice --- the impact of government appropriation of various local/ community based crime prevention techniques in the “war on crime”. This study draws attention to the crucial role played by policing in shaping crime on aspects of social life. Only by examining both the ideological and institutional ontologies, can we appreciate relational power of policing dissent in articulating, codifying, revising and applying racism. We investigate discursive practices that dehumanize African Americans thereby rendering them easily susceptible to police violence. Highlighted throughout the paper are many of the various techniques employed by the State in its quest against public violence. But a further examination of the methods they use raises many questions as to whether combating crime is the real goal of the government.

Author

• David Baker, Texas Southern University