Discretion among Security Personnel Creating a Discriminatory Environment
Research has claimed that although certain individuals may abuse their discretion and power, there is no bias and discrimination in the court system and among police officers. Although this may be true, how about before the individuals are brought into the legal system? A particular area that past research has failed to explore thoroughly has been the location in which the alleged incidents of shoplifting occur--retail establishments. This study asks if discretion among security personnel creates a discriminatory environment among customers and whether such an environment exists when choosing which alleged shoplifters will be prosecuted. The argument is that retail establishments' policies surrounding the issue of shoplifting can be and are discriminatory on the basis of age, sex, race, and class. The discrimination present in this step of the criminal process then paves the way for misrepresentations of demographics in the system of law. The importance of this study is to explore an area of society that has not been explored thoroughly. This particular area of research could provide a starting point for further research involving the study of crime statistics before they are even introduced to the system of law and actually recorded as crimes.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Sociology
Research Advisor:
Catherine Kenney
Department of Research Advisor:
Sociology
Year of Publication:
2003