Assume that you are a consultant working for a bipartisan think tank studying institutional discrimination within the justice system. In particular, you have been asked to research and analyze issues related to minority incarceration for drug use. You will concentrate on one of the key arguments related to the issue of institutional discrimination—namely, that U.S. criminal justice policies and practices in place as a result of the “War on Drugs” since the 1980s have disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minorities.
It is your job to create a public information piece that highlights your findings regarding racial and ethnic inequities within the justice system. You will need to support your conclusions with data and research, rather than relying on opinion.
The first step to prepare for this assessment is to research the topic of institutional discrimination in the criminal justice system. locating reliable, scholarly sources. Some suggested sources can be found in the Resources for this assessment.
Data Review and Analysis Instructions The following data sources should be used as a basis for this assessment. Links to these can be found in the Required Resources for this assessment.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data. Review the Quick Tables page to access this data from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. When you select one of the quick tables, such as one for heroin use, you can specify how the data is presented. To see statistics for heroin use based on race and ethnicity, for example, select the “Heroin Use” link. Then select the following options in the dropdown lists: