It's important to begin your research learning something about your subject; in fact, you won't be able to create a focused, manageable thesis unless you already know something about your topic.
Use the words below to search for useful information in books including eBooks and articles at the MJC Library.
All of these resources are free for MJC students, faculty, & staff.
Why search here? Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.
What's included: Gale eBooks is comprised of subject, specialized encyclopedias with articles written by scholars and experts.
Why search here? This is a great database to use when you want to explore different viewpoints on controversial or hot-button issues.
What's included: It includes pro/con articles, court cases, primary sources, videos, media, editorials, and news on more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Use the search or browse topics by subject or A to Z.
Why search here? Use this database when you want to find comprehensive, unbiased reporting and analysis to get background information on issues in the news.
What's included: Overview reports of topics related to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy in America.
Why search here? Use this database when you want to explore your topic from a global perspective or to analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world with a global awareness.
What's included: You'll find news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more.
Racial profiling is a complex issue with many causes and consequences. You could concentrate on one set of issues and do in-depth research on that or use several of the questions below to focus on the topic of racial profiling more generally.
When you are ready to explore and answer your research questions, use these databases below.
Why search here? When you want to find broad coverage on almost any topic you need to research at MJC, use Gale databases to search over 35 databases simultaneously.
What's included: Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Why search here? Search 22 databases at the same time that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. This is a good resource to use when you want to delve deeper into your subject.
What's included: EBSCO databases include articles previously published in academic journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Why search here? Use Access World News when you need to find current news stories. It's especially useful for local and California news. This is your source for The Modesto Bee from January 1989 to the present.
What's included: Articles from of local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources. It includes in-depth special reports and hot topics from around the country.
Use Google Scholar to find academically-appropriate Web sites.
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism
"In more than 1,800 pages of alphabetical entries, each ranging from 500 to 1,2000 words, The Encyclopedia Of Race And Racism, 2nd Edition provides critical information and context on the underlying social, economic, geographical, and political conditions that, gave rise and continue to foster racism. Religion, political economy, social activism, health, concepts, and constructs are explored. Given the increasingly diverse population of the US and the rapid effects of globalization, as well as mass and social media, the issue of race in world affairs, history, and culture is of preeminent importance, and this work is designed to bring vetted and accessible facts and analysis to experts and students as well as lay readers. "
Gringo Injustice: Insider Perspectives on Police, Gangs, and Law
The recent mass shooting of 22 innocent people in El Paso by a lone White gunman looking to "Kill Mexicans" is not new. It is part of a long, bloody history of anti-Latina/o violence in the United States. Gringo Injustice brings this history to life, shedding critical light on the complex relationship between Latinas/os and the United States' legal and judicial system. Contributors with first-hand knowledge and experience, including former law enforcement officers, ex-gang members, attorneys, and community activists, share insider perspectives on the issues facing Latinas/os and initiate a critical dialogue on this neglected topic. Essays examine the unauthorized use of deadly force by police and patterned incidents of lynching, hate crimes, gang violence, and racial profiling. The book also highlights the hyper-criminalization of barrio youth and considers wide-ranging implications from the disproportionate imprisonment of Latinas/os. Gringo Injusticeprovides a comprehensive and powerful look into the Latina/o community's fraught history with law enforcement and the American judicial system. It is an essential reference for students and scholars interested in intersections between crime and communities of Color, and for use in Sociology, Latino Studies, Ethnic Studies, Chicano Studies, Criminology, and Criminal Justice.
Profiling and Criminal Justice in America
An unbiased examination of profiling in the criminal justice system_one of the most hotly contested public policy issues_on the streets, in the courts, and in the jails and prisons of America. In the post-9/11 world, profiling by law enforcement has become "standard operating procedure." Profiling by prosecutors, judges, and corrections officers is pervasive in other criminal justice contexts as well. Is profiling actually effective in preventing crime or identifying likely offenders and therefore justifiable? This accessible, single-volume reference book examines profiling as it pertains to the criminal justice system in the United States, providing non-partisan information that illuminates the full scope of the profiling issue and discusses the possible impact of profiling on all American citizens. Addressing this highly controversial topic holistically, the book considers questions such as whether the criminal justice system in the United States unfairly targets minorities, how the rights of minorities can be protected while enabling law enforcement to use every resource available, and whether justification for profiling techniques exists. This work will serve students at the high school and college level as well as general readers who are interested in criminal justice issues and issues relating to equality and fairness before the bar of justice. Presents essays from scholars in the field on both sides of the debate to provide fair and objective information that allow readers to consider the interests of equality and fairness on one side versus public safety and crime fighting on the other Examines profiling along a wide range of variables_race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation_rather than addressing only racial profiling Covers more recent events in profiling such as Arizona SB 1070, the "Stop and Frisk" policy in New York City, and the TSA's profiling of Muslims as well as older cases such as Whren vs. United States Provides summaries and analyses of key court cases relating to the permissibility and impermissibility of profiling
Racial Profiling
Karen S. Glover investigates the social science practices of racial profiling inquiry, examining their key influence in shaping public understandings of race, law, and law enforcement. Commonly manifesting in the traffic stop, the association with racial minority status and criminality challenges the fundamental principle of equal justice under the law as described in the U.S. Constitution. Communities of color have long voiced resistance to racialized law and law enforcement, yet the body of knowledge about racial profiling rarely engages these voices. Applying a critical race framework, Glover provides in-depth interview data and analysis that demonstrate the broad social and legal realms of citizenship that are inherent to the racial profiling phenomenon. To demonstrate the often subtle workings of race and the law in the post-Civil Rights era, the book includes examination of the 1996 U.S. Supreme Court's Whren decision-a judicial pronouncement that allows pretextual action by law enforcement and thus widens law enforcement powers in decisions concerning when and against whom law is applied.
Stop and Frisk: The Use and Abuse of a Controversial Policing Tactic
Winner, 2019 Outstanding Book Award, given by the American Society of Criminology's Division of Policing Section The first in-depth history and analysis of a much-abused policing policy No policing tactic has been more controversial than "stop and frisk," whereby police officers stop, question and frisk ordinary citizens, who they may view as potential suspects, on the streets. As Michael White and Hank Fradella show in Stop and Frisk, the first authoritative history and analysis of this tactic, there is a disconnect between our everyday understanding and the historical and legal foundations for this policing strategy. First ruled constitutional in 1968, stop and frisk would go on to become a central tactic of modern day policing, particularly by the New York City Police Department. By 2011 the NYPD recorded 685,000 'stop-question-and-frisk' interactions with citizens; yet, in 2013, a landmark decision ruled that the police had over- and mis-used this tactic. Stop and Frisk tells the story of how and why this happened, and offers ways that police departments can better serve their citizens. They also offer a convincing argument that stop and frisk did not contribute as greatly to the drop in New York's crime rates as many proponents, like former NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have argued. While much of the book focuses on the NYPD's use of stop and frisk, examples are also shown from police departments around the country, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Newark and Detroit. White and Fradella argue that not only does stop and frisk have a legal place in 21st-century policing but also that it can be judiciously used to help deter crime in a way that respects the rights and needs of citizens. They also offer insight into the history of racial injustice that has all too often been a feature of American policing's history and propose concrete strategies that every police department can follow to improve the way they police. A hard-hitting yet nuanced analysis, Stop and Frisk shows how the tactic can be a just act of policing and, in turn, shows how to police in the best interest of citizens.
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