In terms of gender, race and ethnicity, age, and class, identify the categories of people who are more likely to be arrested in the United States, and discuss some of the sociological explanations for why this is the case

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1. Males are more likely than females to be arrested, convicted, and sentenced for most crimes. The “chivalry effect” may influence this gender gap, as police and judges may perceive women as less dangerous. In working-class and poor subcultures, men are also socialized to be masculine and “defend” themselves, which may result in more violent behavior.
2. Teens and young adults are more likely to be arrested than their population proportion. This may be related to gang activity as well as to the culture of young males who may feel the need to prove their masculinity.
3. African Americans and Latinos are more likely than whites to be arrested. Strain theory suggests that this is a matter of class, not race, as black people are more likely to be poor, though even within lower classes black people are more likely to be arrested than whites. Differential opportunity theory suggests that black people are more likely to be raised by single mothers and thus may receive less supervision, though significant correlation has not been found between growing up in a single-parent household and crime. Labeling theory suggests that black people may be automatically labeled deviant; hence, their behavior may be viewed as more threatening, and police officers may be more likely to arrest them.
4. Poor people have a greater likelihood of arrest. The poor are less powerful, and those with less power are more likely to be arrested. The crime rate goes up as a person’s socioeconomic status goes down, which may be due less to economic deprivation and more to the fact that poor people’s crimes are more visible and their “profile” fits with our ideas about who commits crimes.