...Jail and prison populations are affected by several factors, which house approximately 2.13 inmates. Among these is the issue of illegal drugs in our country. Statistics display that for many years, the amount of inmates sentenced to jails or prison far exceed that of those sentenced for violent crimes and property crimes. The creation of truth-in-sentencing laws, as well as deterioration of godly, and family morals and values also play a significant factor. There are also those that would argue that television, movies, and video games also play a large role in the violent offender category. To put it in a nut shell, this nation has taken the view that it is easier to lock criminals up that to deal with them in other manners (Peak, 2007, p 244). In 1984 Washington State introduced truth-in-sentencing laws for inmates. The idea behind this was to restrict or eliminate good time credits as well as parole. Other states were quick to follow after it was determined in 1966 that inmates were only serving on average 44 percent of their sentence. In order to insure that inmates served more of their sentence, additional moneys were appropriated by the United States Congress for prisons and jails providing they were in compliance with truth-in-sentencing services and programs. As part of the conditions of receiving funding, states were required to insure that inmates completed a minimum of 85 percent of their sanction. As of 1998, approximately 27 states as well as the District of Columbia...
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...America’s Increasing Prison Population In the United States of America, we currently have approximately 2.2 million people in our jails and prisons and we incarcerate our citizens at a rate that is greater than any other country. Our number of incarcerated have increased 500% during the past thirty years. (The Sentencing Project) As of 2005, we had 737 people incarcerated for every 100,000 citizens in the United States, whereas the rest of world only put 166 people in jail for the same 100,000 people. (International Centre for Prison Studies 2007) It is obvious that something we do in the United States is having a direct impact on these burgeoning imprisonment numbers. The increase in the prison population really started to dramatically...
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...The United States in number one is prison population, because the prison system is broken, and the only way it can be repaired is for it to be torn down. The broken nature comes from racial bias, and life sentences for non-violent crimes, while certain violent crimes occur with impunity. Then, the prison system breeds those inside for recidivism, rather than prolonged freedom. In 1993, South Africa under the apartheid system imprisoned 851 black men, while in 2010, the United States, imprisoned 4,347 black men; that means black men are imprisoned at about five times the rate they were imprisoned under an apartheid system. Due to this, the America is an apartheid state, where guilt is deemed by the coloration of skin, rather than the true culpability. There is the issue of people serving life sentences for non-violent crimes, and many of them are also black. There are over 3,000 people in prison for non-violent crimes, and some of the crimes are as simple as shoplifting a jacket, and selling marijuana....
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...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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...America’s prison population has been reported to be sicker than the general population. This includes health conditions and diseases both long and short term. However at the same time this same population has high uninsured rates leaving these same people without any form of health insurance. The Affordable Care Act allows many formerly incarcerated individuals to gain access to health insurance, opening up many possibilities. If a policy maker had to make the decision between whether or not to allow this to pass, by passing it, their decision may have a great benefit to our economy. If we allowed and opened up new forms of healthcare insurance that could be used specifically for formerly incarcerated individuals, more health insurance companies would have the option to take up on offering such services. By doing so a new chunk of society is able to buy out health insurance, even if it may be the lowest, cheapest form. This is similar to an SR22, which is a form of auto insurance required on top of regular insurance for individuals who are convicted of a DUI. An SR22 is the lowest, most basic and cheapest form of auto insurance, affordable by many, allowing an individual to drive, yet just barely covers them in case of an accident. By purchasing a basic form of health insurance this benefits not only those individuals who are buying the insurance, but also the health insurance company who is now increasing profits and sales by offering insurance to a group of people who...
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...(Hunter). In LA County, education and class played a huge role in creating these patterns that reflects my city. For example, 14.48% of the population would obtain an education below high school, 14.39% obtained a high school diploma, and 19.86%...
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... A research project discovering whether or not individuals with disabilities have higher rates of unemployment Purposes: The goal of this proposal is to see if there is a correlation between higher unemployment rates and disability status. This project is important because according to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, everyone should have an equal opportunity to work. If there is a large correlation between disability status and unemployment rates, then we must question why that may be if we have laws giving them equal opportunity. Scope: I will analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for years 2009-2012. The variables will be disabled/not-disabled. The persons included in the data were population age 16 and over, who are not in (prisons, long-term care hospitals, nursing homes, and active duty in the Armed Forces), that resides in the 50 States and the District of Columbia. I plan to conduct a hypothesis test to draw an inference from the two samples and create a histogram to show the raw data. The possible limitation in the data is that it was collected by a voluntary response mail in poll. That means that only those that chose to participate was included in the data. In the survey, there is a set of 6 questions where if the response is “yes” the individual is defined as disabled. There is a chance that the questions might be answered inaccurately if the question is not read properly. There are also many people who are undiagnosed that are...
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...Foster Care In the United States the homeless is on the rise. Much of this can be attributed to not only the lack of jobs, but also the improper care provided in critical developmental stages of one's life. Much of this improper care comes from our foster care system. A government run program is very corrupt not to mention inefficient. The foster care system is broken leaving 18 year olds helpless, on the streets, and drugs or prison. All of this could be prevented if these children were properly placed and if more funding went into it. Many children do not get adopted in the foster care system. In most states when a child turns 18 they are no longer able to remain in the foster care system. Some states have extended time where a child can...
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...Checkpoint: Prison Population The article called U.S. PRISON POPULATION HITS ALL-TIME HIGH I found to be very interesting and informative. I happened to learn a lot from this article. This particular article talked about a couple important aspects that have to do with the population in our jails and prison’s all over the country. The main point that this article makes is that the increasing population of the prison and jail system is not due to more crimes being committed but the change in the mandatory sentencing that were set in place in the 1980’s. Another thing that this article talked about is how the population of the jails and prisons break down into race and sex. According to (Munoz, 2009) Angela Munoz the jail and prison ratios in 200l were as follows: “black males accounted for about a third of all state and federal prison inmates. More than 10 percent of all black men in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 29 were in prison, compared to just over two percent of Hispanic males and 1.2 percent of white men in that age group.” The article also compared the United States to Canada with how many people were going to jail and being imprisoned. For instance Canada imprisons 116 people out of every 100,000 and the United States imprisons 702 per 100,000. The article talks about how our country and certain states are paying the costs for the increased rates of population in prisons. The main way the country is paying for the increased population is by paying $40 Billion...
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...Pilot Study: Irlen Syndrome and Irlen Treatment in the Prison Population HM Young Offender Institution Huntercombe Place Oxfordshire Introduction The Prison Service spends considerable resources on incarcerating inmates and on trying to prevent them from re-offending. There is considerable evidence to show that the percentage of inmates experience learning and/or behavioural problems is significantly above that of the general population. In addition, there is evidence that the percentage of inmates suffering from the perceptual distortions, physical symptoms, and behavioural difficulties associated with Irlen Syndrome is also significantly higher that that of the general population. This is not surprising since research shows that, although the incidence of I.S. is about 12% in the general population, the incidence of I.S. for those with learning difficulties, dyslexia, Autism, ADD, and ADHD is about 47%. If I.S. is not identified and treated, educational progress is limited and areas such as behaviour and self-esteem are affected. The links between educational failure, lack of self-esteem, and behavioural problems and with crime and incarceration have been accepted for some time. Over the past fifteen years, the link between Irlen Syndrome and these factors has been established. If Irlen Syndrome were to be appropriately treated, inmates could start to make progress in these areas. If Irlen Syndrome is left untreated, a barrier to learning and taking...
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...Prison Overcrowding In today’s society, crime happens nearly every 5 seconds. Depending on the type of crime determines where an individual is placed either in jail or prison. This leads to an ongoing problem today, prison overcrowding. Prison overcrowding is when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners in the place. Prison Overcrowding has many dangers that can lead to major destruction to society and those captivated behind bars The dangers of overcrowded prison, is that it can become very toxic for both prisoners and guards. Overcrowded conditions contribute to stronger inmate misconduct, more competition for prison services such as educational or vocational training programs and a lack...
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...will evaluate the past, present and future trends pertaining to the development and operation of institutional and community based correction. As part of the evaluation I will identify and analyze current and future issues facing prisons and prison administrators today. I will also identify and analyze the role/issue of alternate correction systems as a developing trend. Trends within the criminal justice system continue to influence the development and operations of institutions and community-based corrections. As mandatory sentencing laws can cause an increase in prison population, prison administrators face a daunting task in addressing the issues that overpopulation causes. “Apart from the highest priority of addressing prison population growth, prison managers are often confronted with an array of issues relating to imprisonment practices and their consequences” (Greenfeld, Beck, & Gillard, 1996, p.9). Development and Operations of Institutions The development and operations of institutions appears to operate around two opposing philosophies if punishment versus rehabilitation. The evolution of the development of corrections past, present and future has seen many changes throughout the inception of prisons. In the past the trends for prisons were solitary confinement with little concern for the rehabilitation of inmates. The well-being of the inmate was not a major concern. After all they got what they deserved, right? Society wanted criminals to be punished for his...
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...APRIL 2003 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRISONS: DOES THE EXISTENCE OF PRISONERS UNDER PRIVATE MANAGEMENT AFFECT THE RATE OF GROWTH IN EXPENDITURES ON PRISONERS UNDER PUBLIC MANAGEMENT?* James F. Blumstein** Mark A. Cohen*** * Work on this project was funded by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and by the Association for Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations (APCTO). ** Centennial Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School; Director, Health Policy Center, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. B.A. (Economics), Yale College; M.A. (Economics), Yale University; LLB, Yale Law School. Institutional affiliations for identification only. *** Professor of Management (Economics), Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University; Director, Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies; Leverhulme Visiting Professor and Visiting Professor of Criminal Justice Economics, University of York (U.K.). B.S.F.S., Georgetown University; M.A. & Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University. Institutional affiliations for identification only. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study investigates the relationship between (i) the fact that a particular state houses some of its prison population in prisons that are privately owned or operated and (ii) the growth in costs per prisoner in publicly operated prisons. The core objective has been to determine whether the existence of prisoners under a state’s jurisdiction that are held in private facilities...
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...Under a staggering development of economy, many people immigrate to foreign country, such as USA, UK and Australia. Therefore, they promote development of economic of these countries, as well as bringing to negative effects. In this essay, I will discuss that how influence the economic of developed countries. For example, population of America will be twice in this century. Especially, the number of children increased sharply. So that need as twice as houses, cars, roads, prison, hospitals, schools water treatment facilities and so on. Therefore American needs more nature resource than before. Firstly, immigration helps late Twentieth Century Massachusetts economy in America. More specifically, during in 1970s, as population of Massachusetts move to other place and Massachusetts of birth rate decreased sharply. Massachusetts suffered from urban flight, closing industrial, and so on. However, in 1980s considerable immigrations that come from different countries settled in Massachusetts, which bring a host of labors. Under depressing economy, most of labors can find a job on manufacturing, thereby promoting the development of economy. For instance, much immigration is employed in manufacturing, which in every 100 workers, there are 78 workers in this department. Secondly, immigration that has high-skilled makes a great contribution on the economy of Massachusetts. Comparing with native people who have professionals such as engineers’ physical scientists and computer scientists...
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...The United States has less than five percent of the world's population, but it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. Around twenty percent of the new commitments each year are parole violators and a large majority are non-violent offenders. According to Adam Liptak in his article “U.S. Prison Population Dwarfs that of Other Nations,” “The United States has, for instance, 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation, according to data maintained by the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London.” Americans are often locked up for things such as using drugs or writing a bad check. Sending someone to prison should be our last resort because it’s expensive and can increase risk for future criminal behavior. Yet, even as the crime rates decrease, prisons are still overcrowded. The reason for this, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council in the article “Prison Overcrowding,” is: During the late 1980s and early 1990s, state and local governments passed tough crime legislation. For example, California passed the “three strikes and you’re out” law which called for mandatory sentencing of repeat offenders, and New York adopted the “Broken Windows” strategy that called for the arrest and prosecution of all crimes large and small. Policy such as this led to reduced crime rates, but increased populations in jails and prisons. While mandatory sentencing laws are being passed, laws criminalizing an...
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