Michael Brown's Shooting and Organizational Deviance in Policing
This paper examines the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer in August 2014 as a case study in organizational deviance within criminal justice institutions. The paper argues that the incident and the Ferguson Police Department's response — including delays in releasing the officer's identity, use of excessive force against protesters, and a lack of transparency — reflect systemic racial profiling and organizational discrimination. Drawing on the concept that deviance can operate at an institutional rather than purely individual level, the paper demonstrates how Brown's shooting and its aftermath illustrate the dangers of unchecked organizational misconduct in law enforcement agencies.
- Introduction: The Shooting of Michael Brown: Overview of the fatal 2014 Ferguson shooting
- Organizational Deviance in Criminal Justice: Defining organizational deviance in law enforcement
- The Ferguson Police Department's Response: Department's lack of transparency and excessive force
- Racial Profiling and Institutional Discrimination: Racial bias as evidence of organizational deviance
- Conclusion: Shooting linked to systemic criminal justice failures
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds an abstract criminological concept — organizational deviance — in a concrete, high-profile case, making the argument immediately accessible and relevant.
- It distinguishes clearly between individual and organizational forms of deviance, showing theoretical awareness before applying the concept to the Ferguson case.
- The paper uses specific factual details (the number of shots fired, the delay in releasing the officer's name, the teargas deployment against protesters) to support each analytical claim rather than relying on generalizations.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied conceptual analysis: it introduces a formal criminological framework (organizational deviance), defines it in contrast to related concepts (individual deviance, organized crime), and then systematically applies it to a real-world event. This technique — define, distinguish, apply — is a reliable structure for short analytical essays in criminal justice and social science courses.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a factual account of the shooting and its immediate consequences, then introduces the concept of organizational deviance and explains why it is relevant to criminal justice management. The middle sections apply the concept to the Ferguson Police Department's conduct before and after the shooting, citing two sources to support claims about excessive force and lack of transparency. The paper closes by tying racial profiling and institutional discrimination back to the organizational deviance framework, reinforcing the central argument. At roughly 500 words, it is a tightly focused short analytical essay appropriate for an undergraduate criminal justice course.
Introduction: The Shooting of Michael Brown
Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. While the circumstances surrounding the shooting remained under investigation, the incident contributed to several days of protests and conflicts between citizens and law enforcement officers that were covered extensively by the media. During the shooting, Michael Brown was shot six times despite presenting no threat to the life of the officer or any other individual. Therefore, the use of deadly force by the police officer was not immediately necessary to enforce the arrest of the suspect. The series of protests that followed was fueled by the widely held belief that the officer had killed an innocent individual and endangered the lives of others by discharging his weapon multiple times in a densely populated area.
Organizational Deviance in Criminal Justice
The aftermath of the incident raised a series of important criminal justice issues, particularly organizational deviance within criminal justice organizations. Although deviance has traditionally been considered from an individualistic perspective, it is sometimes carried out in organizational terms. In fact, some of the most consequential and devastating deviance is conducted on behalf of organizations and through resources those organizations provide. In the criminal justice field, it is important for organizational managers to be aware of and sensitive to organizational deviance, since such actions by police officers may not only have considerable impacts on individuals and society, but can also prove fatal.
References
Alba, M. (2014, September 5). Ferguson police force faces civil rights investigation. NBC News. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/ferguson-police-force-faces-civil-rights-investigation-n196236
Pazzanese, C. (2014, August 21). The fumbles in Ferguson. Retrieved from Harvard University website: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/08/the-fumbles-in-ferguson/
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