In the discussion of gender, diversity and the law, it is important to understand workforce diversity as well as diversity in the judiciary section. Women in workplaces have contributed to the implementation of diversity because they are many compared to men. This is due to the changes in family settings where most families comprise of single mothers who work to support their children. Law plays the role of specifying the rights and responsibilities of employees as well as employers to minimize discrimination (Scarborough 45).
Workforce Diversity. This is defined as the understanding, valuing, accepting and celebrating of different qualities of people irrespective of their age, ethnicity, physical and mental abilities, race, sex, nationality or spiritual beliefs in a workplace. Due to globalization, people from different tribes or nations find themselves working in the same institutions. Diversity issues have therefore become important in organizations and they tend to increase as projected due to increased movements of people to different countries and the need of managers to employ diverse workforce for creativity, and innovation hence improved productivity (Fine 57).
Benefits of Workforce Diversity: Companies that employ diverse workforce increase their productivity compared to homogeneous companies. The following are the benefits of a diverse workforce.
Increased Adaptability: Companies with a diverse workforce are able to come up with concrete resolutions in planning and decision-making because they have employees with different ideas who are creative and innovative. The ideas presented therefore are flexible enough to meet demand in the market (Fine 70).
Better Image of the Company: Organizations that have maintained a diverse workforce end up creating a good reputation and image about themselves compared to those with a homogeneous workforce. Such companies attract customers from different backgrounds hence gaining a competing edge in the market (Scarborough 68).
Broader Service Range: Diversity in the workforce is equal to the skills and expertise, which enables a company to generate ideas that can help in the production of new goods and services to meet the needs and expectations of the targeted customers (Scarborough 69).
Better Teamwork: Companies cannot succeed without teamwork. Diversity in the workplace, therefore, helps the employees to work hard because they feel motivated. This enables the company to achieve its goal hence high returns in production and investment (Fine 71).
Variety of Viewpoints: When a company is able to manage a diverse workforce, the employees will be more comfortable in sharing different views hence creating a pool of ideas and experiences to meet the strategies and satisfy customers’ needs (Fine 72).
Challenges of a Diverse Workforce: In managing a diverse workforce, there are challenges that make managers train themselves on how to manage the workforce. Some of the challenges include the following.
Communication: Lack of proper communication in a company with a diverse workforce is likely to jeopardize teamwork if employees do not understand one another. This can lead to discrimination based on race, culture or gender (Scarborough 70).
Lack of Successful Management on Diversity: Managers are trained on diversity management but in some cases, they fail to execute it properly leading to problems in the workplace. Managers should therefore involve a diverse workforce in all the strategies implemented in a company to avoid discrimination (Fine 74).
Rigidity: Resistance of employees and employers to change their attitudes towards diversity can also cause problems in organizations. Some employers may be rigid to accept employees from different backgrounds or some employees do not accept changes related to diversity in workplaces, which can hinder development in a diverse workforce (Fine 75).
Workforce Diversity Policy: Companies should come up with policies that cater for the survival of all employees irrespective of their tribe, nationality or gender (Scarborough 71).
Sentencing Disparity: This disparity is defined according to judicial courts where criminals are sentenced based on racial or tribal disparities. The sentencing disparity can either be inter-jurisdictional disparity where similar crimes are judged differently, inter-jurisdictional disparity where the judges in a similar jurisdiction sentence offenders of similar crime differently or intrajudge disparity where the judge sentences similar cases differently (Levine, Murphy, Reinarman and Waldorf 18).
Where there is racial discrimination, there is the verification of racial disparity in courts though this cannot be equated to the national disparity. According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation of the United States, racial disparity is in practice right from the policies of arrests to those regarding sentencing. The percentage of the Black or Hispanic males who are imprisoned is always higher than that of the white males even though the percentage of Black or Hispanics in those states is low compared to the whites (Levine et al 20).
Examples of Sentencing Disparity and its Impact: In the inter-jurisdictional disparity, there is an example where the sentencing of the offenders found in possession of crack cocaine was not similar. The federal court could always give them a severe sentence compared to those whose sentencing was done by the Judge of the state court (Levine et al 36).
Intrajurisdictional disparity happened in the Midwest country in cases handled by Judge Jones and Smiths. In the Midwestern country, those found guilty of burglary and addicts of drugs received different sentences from the two judges. Those sentenced by Judge Smith received sentencing of probation together with the drug treatment while those handled by Judge Jones were sentenced to three years imprisonment (Levine et al 40).
Another example of sentencing disparity was the sentencing of the culprits of heroin and cocaine. Kingpins when compared to John Knock had neither history of violence nor drug abuse. After his trial in the North District of Florida, the sentencing of his case was two life terms because of participating in the transportation as well as distribution of marijuana and another twenty years of imprisonment for money laundering. This was unfair compared with Torrance Hill who was the major cocaine kingpin. The sentencing of his case in the year 2007 was twenty-four years only. Gregory Antonakos was a mastermind of the multimillion Dollar marijuana ring but the sentence of the case was six years’ imprisonment since his arrest was in the year 1998 and released in the year 2004 (Levine et al 56).
Before the introduction of the new act in sentencing offenders of crack cocaine and powder cocaine, the offenders of crack cocaine usually faced severe sentences compared to those found in possession of powder cocaine. Those who were found guilty in possession of the crack cocaine received a sentence of five-year imprisonment being the minimum sentence but those found with 500 grams of powder cocaine received a sentence similar to that of individuals found with crack cocaine (Levine et al 67).
The argument on the sentences was that crack cocaine could make people addicts unlike powder cocaine a theory that was later proved wrong. This is because researchers found out that powder cocaine was more addictive than crack cocaine. The two sentences are therefore based on racism and not health issues. Diversity, therefore, involves how people perceive themselves as well as others (Levine et al 70).
Works Cited
Fine, Marlene. Building Successful Multicultural Organizations: Challenges and Opportunities. London: Westport. 1995. Print.
Levine, Harry, Murphy, Sheigla, Reinarman, Craig and Waldorf, Dan. The Contingent Call of the Pipe: Bingeing and Addiction among Heavy Cocaine Smokers. Demon Drugs and Social Justice. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Print.
Scarborough, Jack. The Origins of Cultural Differences and Their Impact on Management. London: Westport, 1998. Print.