Saturday, February 26, 2005

CURING CRIMINALS SOUNDS GOOD BUT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FANTASY

And with hundreds of years of experience to draw on, the current British Left has not managed it either

Multi-million pound schemes introduced by Labour to get convicted drug addicts and yobs off crime are failing, according to an independent think-tank. More than 80 per cent of criminals re-offend despite £45 million being spent on the schemes, a report from Civitas says. It says Britain's law and order policies are among the least effective in Europe, with a crime rate of almost one crime per 10 people giving it the fourth highest rate out of 39 countries. It uses Council of Europe figures to show that England and Wales had 9,817 offences per 100,000 of population - more than double the 4,333 average across the continent.

It adds that the Home Office's own research had concluded a number of the Government's crime-fighting schemes were not reducing crime. For example, Offending Behaviour Programmes, such as anger management courses costing £2,000 each, had not reduced crime. The ministry has also admitted that 84 per cent of criminals placed on Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes - which have cost at least £45 million since 2001 - were reconvicted within 12 months of starting. Labour's Drug Treatment and Testing Orders also failed to work, it said, with 70 per cent of addicts failing to complete them and 80 per cent reconvicted within two years.

Civitas also highlighted Tony Blair's tendency to "opt for the clever use of words" - such as his election slogan "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" - rather than confront real problems. "Despite the blunt rhetoric of the Blunkett era, the dominant influence at every stage has remained a utopian dislike of prison, a naive view about how hardened offenders can be rehabilitated and an underlying lack of respect for the mass of people," the report says

It also said the Government was benefiting from falling figures from an artificially high peak in the mid-1990s and called for more prisons to be built. The current justice system is too soft on persistent juvenile offenders, who should be sent to secure institutions for a "significant period" after committing three indictable offences, it added.

Source



DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AFRICANS FROM AFRICA ON THE WAY?

When educators and politicians argue for giving more African Americans the chance to thrive at top universities, they see people like UC Berkeley fourth-year student Obi Amajoyi as a perfect example of what they have in mind. He's a biology major who has emerged as a peer leader and athlete. He recruits high school students and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. But while Amajoyi was born in the United States, his parents are from Africa. He considers himself both African American and Nigerian. "I definitely identify with all the struggles that we as African Americans have had to go through," said Amajoyi, 21. "But at the same time, I have this (other) history from my parents."

But Amajoyi is not a direct descendant of American slaves. And critics say his presence at the university -- and that of other black immigrants and their children -- shows institutions have failed to reach those who were the original targets of diversity outreach efforts. Affirmative action programs were started in the wake of the 1960s civil rights movement to help African Americans overcome the legacy of slavery and decades of Jim Crow discrimination in employment, education and other fields.

In 1998, the passage of Proposition 209 ended the programs in California and led to -- what many activists say -- a steady decline in African American enrollment. Critics say that the rising number of black immigrants and their children, such as Amajoyi, at the universities has further decreased outreach efforts to African Americans and have raised concerns that American- born blacks will again be left behind.

But outgoing UC Regent Ward Connerly says the debate only shows how affirmative action has always failed to help those blacks most in need. "Over the years, preference programs, affirmative action programs, have really not benefited low-income blacks, those who were the descendants of slaves," said Connerly. "They have benefited middle- and upper-income blacks. "Recent immigrants are the beneficiaries of this terribly flawed program, " said Connerly. "The institutions don't care about that -- all they care about is chalking up the numbers." Connerly says schools run the risk of sowing division between immigrants and African Americans. But he doubts UC officials will do anything to address the issue. "To a large extent, this has flown beneath the radar," said Connerly. "We (regents) have not discussed it, and I don't think we will."

Nathan Hare, who fought to establish the first ethnic studies program in the United States at San Francisco State University in 1968 and is co-founder of the Black Think Tank in San Francisco, blames these numbers on old stereotypes. "I have nothing against immigrants, but there are sociological realities we have to look at," said Hare. "They don't have the stereotypes of them being lazy and so on." Hare says black immigrants often arrive with higher levels of education and are more willing to take low-level jobs, which can affect how quickly they move up in society. "We'd have a much harder time doing that -- we're supposed to have been past that," said Hare. "We are the ex-slaves and inhabitants of the slums. They (immigrants) are coming in without that (baggage)." .......

Researchers at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania who have been studying the achievement of minority students at 28 selective colleges and universities (including Berkeley, Columbia, Yale and Duke) last year found that 41 percent of the black students identified themselves as immigrants, children of immigrants or mixed race.

In December, 300 black students at Berkeley staged a "blackout" day to protest the school's lack of diversity, wearing all-black outfits and bandanas over their mouths. Last fall, there were 108 African American freshmen enrolled at Berkeley out of more than 3,600 freshman students. ......

On a recent day, Amajoyi and some other students gathered on UC Berkeley's campus to discuss the challenges they face at the elite institution. "I'm not sure how deep the line between being from Africa or the Caribbean or being African American is," said Amajoyi, who was born in Texas and grew up in Southern California. "Because our numbers are so low, just being black on campus brings you together. The first thing is you're black." Amajoyi's parents both came to the United States on student visas and attended Texas A&M University.

Branden Turner, 20, a third-year biology major from Los Angeles, recalled taking an African American studies class taught by a professor from the Caribbean. His teacher's background was the topic of discussion on the first day of class. "His point was that even though he came to America, once you walk onto American soil, you deal with the black struggle," said Turner. "I'm perceived (by classmates) as not being as intelligent as the others in my class." ......

Harvard law Professor Lani Guinier has voiced concerns that many of Harvard's black undergraduate students are West Indian and African immigrants or their children.

More here

No comments: