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Essay On Mass Incarceration

637 Words3 Pages

The idea of mass incarceration in the United States, is a grim one. This is because many people do not talk about, and many people are not aware of it. Being that this year is an election year, it is a little appalling how none of the candidates mentioned the issue of mass incarceration, apart from Bernie Sanders, who is not in contention for the presidency. Mass incarceration should be in discussion however, because the reality of mass incarceration is that it is in shambles in its current state. The motto that is constantly uttered from our criminal justice system is Its famous phrase of ‘protect and serve’. Our criminal justice system apparently subscribes to this, however that is constantly put into question when you consider its current state of affairs. There is a serious lack of a rehabilitative approaches that are actually aimed at helping individuals. The constant rigorous and potent enforcement of the crime control model indicate that as a society/country, we feel an obligation to lock up people even if they’ve hurt no one. What is going on is clear. The politicians on both sides of the isle are using a bipartisan approach, by trying to ensure that we ignore all of the issues and press the right button in the voting booths, instead of actually analyzing the real problems that our country currently faces. The problem that I am mainly touching on, is mass incarceration. …show more content…

In fact, the United states holds 25% of the worlds prisoners, despite only housing 5% of the worlds population. Since the war on drugs, over 45 million arrests have been made, and over 1 trillion dollars have been spent. This has had no positive effect on the American society. Retributive approach has only led to mass incarceration. Considering the fact that 95% of prisoners eventually get out, we should be releasing educated and rehabilitated people, not mentally unstable and livid

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