Incorporating the myth of racial democracy and the myth of racial equality within the criminal justice systems of Brazil and the United States

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dc.contributor.advisorMenchaca, Marthaen
dc.creatorLinhares, Fernando E.en
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-02T20:57:16Zen
dc.date.available2015-09-02T20:57:16Zen
dc.date.issued2006-12en
dc.description.abstractRace does matter but to what extent? It depends on the vested interests of the governing body. In Brazil, a theory of racial democracy was advanced to accommodate competing interests. In the United States, a theory of racial equality as a supplement to the "self-made man" concept was incorporated to address opposing concerns. This thesis examines the racial formation in Brazil and the United States and how the respective criminal justice systems were formed and are impacted by racial considerations. After a discussion of racial formation in both countries, its relevancy to existing criminal justice institutions is offered. It is submitted that generally, race formation led to criminology that had a reliance on anthropology in Brazil, while it was founded on a sociological perspective in the United States. The Brazilian perspective presupposes a continuum of racial designations contributing to democratic governance which values "whitening" as a unifying factor while the United States perspective presupposes all races are equal within democratic governance which values individual achievement as the unifying factor. These presuppositions have emerged as national myths under the nomenclature of Racial Democracy and Racial Equality or the "self-made man". These myths have also been exposed by social scientists from both an anthropological and sociological perspective. Far from being realized, the pursuit of these myths, or desired cultural norms of "whitening" and individual achievement, continue to influence race relations in both countries. Nevertheless, the implementation of affirmative action policies has emerged to address the shortcomings in each theory. Ironically, what started as two diametrically opposing views of racial designation has integrated somewhat under the significant influence associated with cultural globalization, transparency, democratization and advanced social science methodology.en
dc.description.departmentLatin American Studiesen
dc.format.mediumelectronicen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/30507en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.relation.ispartofUT Electronic Theses and Dissertationsen
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en
dc.rights.restrictionRestricteden
dc.subjectRaceen
dc.subjectBrazilen
dc.subjectUnited Statesen
dc.subjectCriminal justice systemsen
dc.titleIncorporating the myth of racial democracy and the myth of racial equality within the criminal justice systems of Brazil and the United Statesen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.genreThesisen
thesis.degree.departmentLatin American Studiesen
thesis.degree.disciplineLatin American Studiesen
thesis.degree.grantorThe University of Texas at Austinen
thesis.degree.levelMastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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