Criminal Justice and Social Injustice

INSTRUCTIONS: Below are 2 exam questions. Each question should be answered in the format of a short essay. Responses should fully address each part of the question and should be above 500 words in length in order to fully address each question. There is no maximum word count limit for any question. You are free to use any course materials or notes to help you complete the exam. Good luck!

1. In Week 7, Wright and Rogers provided definitions for the terms unfairness, social injustice, and oppression and discussed how these terms relate to the concept of inequality. Explain each of the three concepts in detail and also explain how each is affected by forms of social power. Then, pick a current social problem that you think involves a form of either a social injustice or oppression and explain why you chose so, including how forms of social power affect either the social injustice or form of oppression involved in the social problem you have chosen.

2. In Weeks 8, 9, and 10, we briefly discussed the topics of social class, work and the economy, and the criminal justice system. There are many social problems that are included under these headings and you can likely think of at least a few claims or claimsmakers that have been made about such topics (think about the various videos we have watched recently). For this response, pick a claim that has been made about a social problem in one of these three topics. Describe the overall claim and identify any well-known claimsmakers, either individuals or groups. Where in the Social Problems Process is this claim or this social problem? In other words, how far along in the process is this certain claim? What influences or factors are currently helping this claim move the process? What influences or factors are currently inhibiting this claim from moving forward in the process? In your opinion, how optimistic are you that this claim will successfully get through the entire Social Problems Process?