...Racial Disparities in the U.S. Prison Population: Causes, Effects and Remedies Michael C. Pugh Bethel University Introduction America’s war on drugs has contributed to a steady influx of non-violent offenders into the nation’s judicial system for over thirty years. Many of these inmates are serving long sentences with rigid probation and parole policies that many believe are designed as a set-up for failure and re-offense. The result of this influx of offenders is a growing racial disparity, as shown by Bobo & Thompson: In 2004. for example, black males constituted 43.3 percent of those incarcerated in state, federal, and local prisons or jails, though only 13 percent of the total population. Whites on the other hand represented 35.7 percent of the male inmate population in 2004, well under their 75 percent of the total male population (Bobo & Thompson, 2006). (p. 451) This ballooning disparity has become a trend of increasing concern among proponents of racial equality. Many view this trend as another cog in the wheel of covert institutional racism, even labeling it “The New Jim Crow”. Among the men and women of color now residing in U.S. prisons are the potential business owners, educators and leaders of communities that sorely need them. Immediate and results-oriented attention to the racial disparity in U.S. prisons will do much to repair the damaged, needful communities of color throughout the country. BLACK CRIME: CRIMINAL OR CULTURAL? “Black...
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...incarcerated (Prison Policy Initiative 2016) has a significant impact on many aspects of American society when viewed through the social and cultural lens including the psychological impact of incarceration, varying treatment based on race, and post-incarceration results. Based on the analysis of various positions of experts in the field, it is clear that certain policy reforms in the existing system would be beneficial for the incarcerated and the broader society. When comparing the scale of incarceration and other related metrics in the United States...
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...about 5% of the world’s population but about 25% of world’s incarcerated people. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Over the last few decades, that number has skyrocketed, increasing over 400%. Somewhere along the way, we started to think that being tough on crime meant being tough on criminals. But that’s not the same thing! Incarceration is but only one piece of a much larger crime reduction picture and it’s an expensive one! It costs far beyond just dollars; the cost is to prisoners, to families and children on levels of mental health, finance, behavioral problems, and to whole social groups - in particular the african american community. Yet we struggle to address these costs, these consequences. Is it perhaps because we have this habit of thinking of prisoners as something very external to society???? after all there are literal walls between them and society walls capped with razor wire and watched over by people with guns but we have to stop. So how large of a problem is mass imprisonment really? well clearly a really large one And although many believe that mass incarceration would reduce if we focus more on reform proposals that focus exclusively on drug and other nonviolent crimes the prison population forecaster website shows that even if every person in state or federal prison for a drug offense were released today, mass incarceration would persist. so let’s address it from another angle. Violent Crimes Studies have shown Long prison...
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...mostly used for drug offense but if the offense is non violent the time in prison is usually a decade. Mandatory minimum contributes to the fact that America has a systematic problem of increase of mass incarceration, and that men of color are being deprived of things because of criminal records . Even though some believe that it prevents drug use. Overall nonviolent drug offense should be prosecuted but mandatory minimum sentencing should be eradicated. Mass incarceration refers to the unique way the United States had locked up a tremendous population in federal, state prisons, and local jails. In the text “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness” by Dr. J. Carl Gregg , it states “ In 1972, fewer than 350,000 people were being held in jails and prisons nationwide, compared with more than 2 million...
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...In the United States of America, crime has become more prevalent, in which often results in imprisonment. According to political scientists Amy Lerman and Vesla Weaver, “The American incarceration rate quadrupled between 1970 and 2010” (Goldstein). This essentially affects African Americans, as according to Leila Morsey, “For every 100,000 black men, more than 2,700 are imprisoned” (Morsy). While incarceration affects African Americans, it also as equally important, if not more with parents. The mass incarceration of parents impacts the influence on the children of those being detained. According to prevention researchers Jane Waldfogel and Elizabeth Johnson, the number of parents with children in prison had doubled, “Approximately 600,000 children had a parent in state...
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...The Mass incarceration of people of color and felony disenfranchisement is a tool that is being utilized to continue on with legalized slavery. Through Mass incarceration and felony disenfranchisement it is easier to control people of color and legally discriminate against those who have been convicted of felonies by implementing laws that enable them to be productive citizens upon their return to society. The United States has a very dark history or oppressing the minority, this has been done through many practices such as slavery, Jim Crow laws etc. Although America has made strides in certain areas regarding equal quality of living for all, America still has ways to go. The oppressive was and discriminatory nature of America continues as...
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...Hypercriminalization of Black and Latino Male Youth” by Victor M. Rios Summarize the essay. Explain what Rios means by “mass incarceration” (41). Rios declares that his article “is to account for the social effects of mass incarceration and the criminalization of young males of color” (41). Based on the evidence he provides, what are those “social effects”? What does Victor Rios mean when he writes “These young adult deviants do not become on their 18th birthday, rather they are systematically constructed as criminals and face the wrath of the penal state and criminalization as early as 8 years of age” (41). In what ways do you think this statement is true or false? Fully explain your answer. Rios discloses that Black and Latino youth have been labeled “deviant” (41). From his explanations, why are they labeled this way, and how does this label affect them? How do the problems they face in the job sector (Rios 42) account for how young Black and Latino males may view their future outcomes? Identify the reason/reasons that the 28 non-violent offenders were treated in similar ways to Tyrone and Jose: the two violent offenders (Rios 43). Explain what Jonathan Simon means by "crisis of ‘governance’" (43). Explain what Rios means by his statement that “the government had become an abusive step-parent figure” (43). According to him, what are the effects of this “abusive” relationship? What does Rios mean by "Multi-Spatial Criminalization" (44)? Based on Jose’s...
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...institutions which label people into social categories such as the educational system and the formal labor market. The three articles discussed below explore the different faces of inequality in society. These articles are Incarceration and Stratification (2010), The Mark of Criminal Record (2003) and The Black-White Test Score Gap (2004). The overarching theme that will be pointed out below is inequality face by black people in the United States. These articles show inequalities face by black people in three different landscapes: incarceration cells, employment, and education. This paper included the role of media in the proliferation of racial inequality between white and black people. Lastly, this paper also presented the missing gaps on literature and how should we address the problem of racial inequality. Summary Inequality is present in incarceration cells. Wakefield and Uggen (2010) claimed that incarceration became a powerful “engine of social inequality that plays a massive and racialized part in the contemporary stratification system” (Wakefield and Uggen, 2010, p. 388). The study conducted by Wakefield and Uggen (2010) covers the scope of imprisonment and the process of selection into prison. The authors then proceed by giving the implications of incarceration in different aspects of their lives such as education, labor market, health, family and civic life. The method used by the author is through graphs and statistics from different institutions. They looked at the percentage...
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...and Incarceration HOMELESS AND INCARCERATION Homelessness is the problem that influences the life of the whole society. It is critical for the United States and as almost half a million of citizens do not have their own houses. They do not have the opportunities that the representatives of the general public have and cannot afford even some basic needs. Homeless individuals have to break the law and commit crimes, such as stealing food, even though they do not intend to do so, which leads to mass incarceration. This influences their behavior and increases the chances of becoming drug or alcohol addicts, which makes homeless individuals even more likely to become incarcerated. People who are imprisoned, often have no or underpaid job that does not provide these people with money enough to have a decent residence, which makes them a vulnerable population (Johnson 2015). It is important to consider what makes homeless people commit crimes that result in imprisonment. The information from various articles received during the literature review, I will reveal the connection between homelessness and incarceration, emphasizing the history that lead to their occurrence as well as the main causes of both problems. I will point out and explain the correlations between homelessness and crime rates, as well as its connections to the mental disorders, substance abuse, and chronic health condition in the context of how homeless lifestyle can be related to the incarceration. Also...
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...Minority Inmates in American Prisons Noreen Harman ENG122: English Composition II Instructor January Pearson July 7, 2014 There is a disparate rate of minorities in the American prison system currently. I will present evidence from scholarly resources proving that the reason why the minority population is so high is due to racial profiling. The judicial system imposes stricter and longer prison terms on minorities because of their culture. Blacks are about eight times more likely to go to prison than whites, which dwarfs black-white disparities in, for example, unemployment rates (2-to -1 disparity), infant mortality (2-to -1 disparity), and out of wedlock births (3-to-1 disparity). L.J. Geo (2010). African American and Hispanic offenders were more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison, especially if they were male, young and unemployed, S. Spohn (2000). Even though there may be a high rate of minority crimes being committed, I believe the reason for having so many minorities in prison is due to the current judicial system stereo typing. In the article Rethinking Drug Courts: Restorative Justice as a Response to Racial Injustice, it talks about the rate of drug crimes committed by minority and longer sentences imposed to blacks and Hispanics. Drug court offers offenders the opportunity to not do time in prison and get court supervised treatment instead. This is beneficial to the families of minorities so they can keep working and providing...
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...in employment, the housing market, education, and basic voting rights. Alexander unveils these discrimination practices by comparing modern government systems to the old Jim Crow laws. Alexander believes that the racial caste system is mostly the same and the only thing that has changed is what we call it now. People of color are mostly the ones incarcerated, so if you use the label criminal you are able to mention people of color without directly mentioning them. Language is everything and how you label it changes the way people view it. Throughout the book her biggest argument and case on this new system is incarceration specifically. Alexander uses a few good points in order to justify her claims. Alexander talks about the “War on Drugs.” Alexander says that the War on Drugs, a policy put into effect through Reagan’s reign in, increased African American incarceration. Alexander makes points that the War on drugs was launched before crack cocaine became an actual issue in black neighborhoods. Alexander also mentions that the War on Drugs was launched during a time where illegal drug use was going down. As crack cocaine spread rapidly throughout inner city poor black communities arrest and convictions were on the...
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...Lastly, Cole closed the show with “4 Your Eyez Only” which sums up the entire album. In the track Cole’s friend serves as a metaphor for death within the black communities. He addresses the effects of mass incarceration on children, which made a lot of fans see it as an affirmation. It’s hard for people to make it out of these communities when they are expected to grow up aspiring and expecting nothing greater than climbing the ladder of “hood politics” of drug and territory. He sends out a powerful message to the audience towards the end and speaks on the influence of Rap and Hip-Hop in these colored communities, and how every audience builds up different perceptions. If you listen to violent music then you will have that mentality which is...
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...Introduction The prison system in America has been a constant issue of mass-incarceration, a lack of rehabilitation, and a rate of reentry that far exceeds that of any other nation, yet this problem’s escalation has done little to bring it to the platform of reformation. The prison system has cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, and a majority of these citizens are completely unaware of the needlessness of the costs with which they are burdened. With 2.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S., Americans cannot afford to continue to turn a blind eye to the economic issues presented by the current prison system (Council of Economic Advisors 3). Due to prison growth, an increasing incarceration rate, and a lack of rehabilitation and...
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...It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and a Call to Action for America's Black Youth By Carl L. Young An Alternative Plan Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science In Sociology: Corrections Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Spring 2013 Final Draft 4/20/2013 1 This Alternative Plan Paper has been examined and approved by the following members of the Examining Committee. _____________________ Dr. Leah Rogne, Advisor _____________________ Dr. William Wagner _____________________ Dr. Penny Jo Rosenthal _____________________ Dr. Nadarajan Sethuraju ________________ Date 2 Abstract This alternative plan paper examines the circumstances that have evolved as a result of the Reagan Administration’s War on Drugs and the increase of mass incarceration of the Black community. In the last thirty years, the federal government of the United States of America has engaged in campaign known as the “War on Drugs,” which has involved a variety of policies to stop the production, distribution and sale of illegal narcotics. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in a war that has targeted the most vulnerable in our society, impacting its youth for generations to come. This alternative plan paper addresses the impact of the War on Drugs and the criminal justice policies that have impacted the life chances of Black youth nationwide and calls for a new social movement...
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...It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and a Call to Action for America's Black Youth By Carl L. Young An Alternative Plan Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science In Sociology: Corrections Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Spring 2013 Final Draft 4/20/2013 1 This Alternative Plan Paper has been examined and approved by the following members of the Examining Committee. _____________________ Dr. Leah Rogne, Advisor _____________________ Dr. William Wagner _____________________ Dr. Penny Jo Rosenthal _____________________ Dr. Nadarajan Sethuraju ________________ Date 2 A bstract This alternative plan paper examines the circumstances that have evolved as a incarceration of the Black community. In the last thirty years, the federal government of the United States of America has engaged in camp which has involved a variety of policies to stop the production, distribution and sale of illegal narcotics. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in a war that has targeted the most vulnerable in our society, impacting its youth for generations to come. This alternative plan paper addresses...
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