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The Causes Of Incarceration

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Life behind bars would be one of the lowest points in life for many Americans, but according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in one-hundred-and-ten adults are in a correctional facility. These people are putting themselves or others in harm’s way, and rightfully lose some civil rights due to their actions. I would say the majority of society would not want murderers or rapists roaming the streets, but what if someone was convicted of a non-violent marijuana offense? Are they just as much of a danger to society as the prior offenders mentioned? The “war on drugs” is made out to be one of the largest causes of mass incarcerations in the United States, but difficulties within legislation, the prison-industrial complex, and lack of …show more content…

Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, summarizes the justice and prison systems as an unfair institutions that push low-level offenders into detention centers with harsh sentences due to the “tough on crime” stance of major politicians on both sides of the aisle. Alexander brings up the case of Florida vs Bostick, where stop-and-frisk procedures have somewhat violated the fourth amendment. In Bostick’s case the US Supreme Court believed that if he were a “reasonable person”, he could have refused the search, but most do not realize that arrests can still take place, even in a reasonable situation, when someone does not comply with an officer. As crazy at it may seem, the innocent in some cases often go unheard because of the fear, power, and lack of resources to fight back. Many succumb to pleading guilty and never have the opportunity to speak with a lawyer or public defender. The war on drugs propagated by the prison-industrial complex is a failed draconian system that should be replaced with an emphasis on rehabilitation and removing the focus on low-level offenders that do not significant reduce the drugs on the market. The film The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki, highlights similar problems that people, especially low-income minorities face when dealing with the justice system. Lack …show more content…

Through each resource we have covered different perspectives and solutions for mass incarceration. There is not one finite cause of mass incarceration, but a culmination of issues like the war on drugs, prison-industrial complex, and increase felony charges. Reforming the law and looking at cases individuality can help put checks on district attorneys and prosecutors. Educating the public can be one of the best methods to reduce the rate of incarceration, but until then the issue will remain

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In the article, Unwinding Mass Incarceration by Stefan Lobuglio and Anne Piehl, they argue that unwinding the mass incarceration “well neither be cheap nor easy, and to be done responsibly will require a new infrastructure of coordinated community-based facilities and services that can meet evidence-based incarceration needs while also ensuring public safety.” Hence, their argument is clean-cut with evidence in the article to back up their argument of unwinding the mass incarceration. Similarly, a solid fill of a concluding statement upon the unwinding of the mass incarceration as stated in the article, “requires much more than stopping current practices or reversing course by mass commutations and early release programs.” Subsequently, from this article, there are numerous interesting key points, and perspective of unwinding the mass incarceration.

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Jaclyn Seigel Doctor Morales PHM2121 30 April 2015 “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” By Michelle Alexander; An Evaluation In “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness” by Michelle Alexander, Alexander explains her opinion on mass incarceration and “The War on Drugs.” Even though “The War on Drugs” took few steps forward to eliminating drug abuse, Michelle Alexander’s book explains how this has created more problems rather than solutions. Alexander focuses on how African American communities have become more vulnerable to the arrests.

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With drug treatment, more probation, and community service, inmates will get the true chance to change for the better without having to face imprisonment. Cullen’s research says “... Sometimes, longer stays can even increase recidivism” (Cullen). Sometimes, serving a long sentence for a small crime makes the inmates worse off instead of better. This is why alternatives to incarceration are so important not only for the inmates, but it helps with overcrowding. Although the alternatives solve mass incarceration, it does not solve the agendas being pushed out that cause a lot of people to be arrested.

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The United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world, largely due to the war on drugs. Approximately 2.2 million Americans are incarcerated, which is more than any industrialized country in the world. The article “Why Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar” focuses on the criminalization of “urban space” and the imposed measures of lengthy prison terms for minor petty crimes. The author Thompson discusses the origins of the urban crisis beginning with the inception of Lyndon’s Law Enforcement Administration Act of 1964, which also influenced the mass incarceration policies during Reagan’s Presidency. The article continues to elaborate on the decline of the labor movement and how

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We live in a society where ethnic minorities are target for every minimal action and/or crimes, which is a cause to be sentenced up to 50 years in jail. African Americans and Latinos are the ethnic minorities with highest policing crimes. In chapter two of Michelle Alexander’s book, The Lockdown, we are exposed to the different “crimes” that affects African American and Latino minorities. The criminal justice system is a topic discussed in this chapter that argues the inequality that people of color as well as other Americans are exposed to not knowing their rights. Incarceration rates, unreasonable suspicions, and pre-texts used by officers are things that play a huge role in encountering the criminal justice system, which affects the way

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Their stories depict how our education systems track those who are going to be placed into the cycle of the criminal justice system. Interviewees illustrate how our criminal justice system is locking up “people we are mad at” instead of the “people we are afraid of.” Demetra had 11 charges by the age of 14, diagnosed with anxiety, placed in juvenile jail 3 times, and placed into juvenile housing after assaulting her aunt (guardian). She stated multiple times throughout the documentary, that being incarcerated never taught her a life lesson, and only made her angry. She had barely entered high school, and already had been a placed into the cycle of incarceration.

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There are many reasons where incarceration may lead to higher crime in a community. High incarceration rates damage a community’s stability, and these high rates weaken the power of informal social control in ways that cause an increase in crime. When people are released back into the community, but are then sent back to prison, this cycle keeps going, which causes residential insecurity, which is also associated with social disorganization theory. High imprisonment rates breaks down neighborhood dynamics, which also increases crime. Families become unstable, political and economic systems become weakened, and social networks are broken down.

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The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.

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This creates problems because it adds to the eminence amount of tax dollars spent every year. In the article “The high price of incarceration in America” by Aimee shows that the average American taxpayer spends about $260 a year that is almost 80 billion dollars a year for incarceration (1). There have been many voters who have been trying to reduce the amount of mass incarcerations that have been going on since the 1980’s. The majority of prisoners who were released between 2014-2015 returned to crime but the rate that they were committing the crime and returning was dropped at an astonishing degree. In the article “Prosecutors Fight to Plan to Lower Drug Sentencing “ by Sari, Horwitz (1) shows how government officials are trying to cut back on the amount of long term sentencing for first time offenders.

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Just like any national crisis experienced by a Country, America as a whole needs to unite to fix our racial hierarchy and cease the mass incarceration. The main issue of mass incarceration is overcriminalization based on race. As shown in The New Jim Crow “Although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white, three-fourths of all people imprisoned for drug offenses have been black or Latino”. The first step in solving mass incarceration is changing the view on the “War on Drugs”; the “war on Drugs” is seen as a black problem, and blaming the black community for being the root of drugs while the white race is the biggest drug user in America. So in order to fix this we need to let the supreme justice system do its job, and give people convicted of crime a fair trial.

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In addition to greatly affecting the otherwise unlikely citizens of America, Tough on Crime policies have greatly affected minority groups in America; perhaps more so than of any other group of citizens. To begin, from the 1980 on through the year 1995, the incarceration rates among drug offenders increased by more than 1000 percent. Notably, by the year 1995 one out of every four inmates in any given correctional facility was a drug offender. In addition of that 1000 percent increase, drug offenders accounted for more than 80 percent of the total growth in the federal inmate population and 50 percent of the growth of the state prison population from 1985 to 1995 (Stith, web). In addition, once in the system, the probability of receiving harsher

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In 1972, former President Richard Nixon made his infamous statements regarding crime and drug abuse. In this speech, he declared a war on crime and drugs and intended to decrease the number of people using drugs and the amount of crimes that were committed. Since this declaration, incarceration rates in the U.S. have gone up by 500%, even though the amount of crime happening has gone down. One of the reasons why I feel our rates have risen, is because sometimes, we put people in jail when they don’t need to be there in the first place.

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Consider with me for a moment that you have been wrongfully convicted or accused of a crime. From the first arrest to the closing of those cell bars you have tried your best to prove your innocence but you weren’t able to and felt that no one would know the truth. You felt helpless because no one would listen let alone believe you. Every night you would lay in the cell hoping that someone would soon realize you are innocent of the accused crimes and do not deserve to be incarcerated. Eventually, you were exonerated maybe days, weeks, months, or years after the initial incarceration; no matter the length of time the damage is still done both mentally and physically.

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isn’t the only thing people believe needs to change; the reasons for arrests have been criticized by many. America incarcerates more citizens for drug related crimes than any other place in the world. Of the roughly 200,000 in federal prison, 52% are being held for drug crimes and only 8% are for violent crimes, such as: murder, assault, and robbery (Waldman, 2013). Many believe that the “War on Drugs” must become less aggressive because of its large contribution to the prison population. The distribution of prisoners by race has also raised concern among Americans.

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The United States has been experiencing a drastic increase in crime. The correctional system that is currently in place in our country must be realigned so that the issues can be dealt with. Penitentiary administrators and police departments are experiencing a great deal of challenges such as insufficient staff, low morale, and a very bad public image in many communities across the country. This paper will propose an adequate and effective plan to reformat the current dysfunctional system and strengthen the dissemination of limited resources. The population of inmates in the prison system will also be addressed.

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