...An In-Depth Examination of Racial Disparity from Arrest to Incarceration ENG 122 English Composition II Prof. Ashton Schwarz September 13, 2014 An In-Depth Examination of Racial Disparity from Arrest to Incarceration The disparate number of minorities in prison populations is a concern for many who believe this disproportion is due to a systematic bias in the judicial system. While many factors may contribute to this overwhelming discrepancy, I contend that the disparate number of minority populations in prison is an accurate portrayal of how crime is committed in the United States. In order to understand the cause of this disparity, I will delve into the arrest rates and sentencing statistics that attempt to show why minorities are incarcerated at a higher rate, and why they're incarcerated for longer periods of time, than their white counterpart. These two focal points, arrest rates and sentencing statistics, I believe, are the best for gathering data, considering it is where the justice system both begins and ends. Though many may think that there is a racial bias concerning the disparate number of minorities in prison working against minorities, an article entitled, “Are Blacks and Hispanics Disproportionately Incarcerated Relative to Their Arrests?” provides impressive data to oppose this claim. This article boasts being one of the first studies to include the Hispanic ethnicity in their data, which other studies omitted from, or never incorporated into, their...
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...Community Corrections or Incarceration Are community corrections a better solution than incarceration? Michelle Brooks ITT Technical Institute Community Corrections or Incarceration Abstract In this research paper will read about different subjects and topics that pertain to incarceration and community corrections. The incarceration rate is going up in the United States while at the same time community corrections is slowly fading away because of limited support from the local communities and government officials within each state. In this research I hope to find out those community corrections has more to offer than incarceration. In conclusion incarceration is not the right way but community corrections will be. Community Corrections or Incarceration Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Background on Community Corrections Background on Incarceration Effectives of Community Corrections Effectives of Incarceration Programs dealing with Community Corrections Programs while Incarcerated Theory Interview with Mr. Sharron Wilson Result Reference Page Community Corrections or Incarceration Introduction Community Corrections is a better solution than incarceration because it offers many different alternative programs for several different types of offenders. Incarceration also offers similar programs...
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...Running head: MASS INCARCERATION AND PRISONER RE-ENTRY MASS INCARCERATION AND PRISONER RE-ENTRY Mass Incarceration and Prisoner Re-Entry Student’s name: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction The objective of a large number of the prisoner reentry programs is to ensure effective prisoner rehabilitation back to the community in order to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. While there have been increased efforts by the government organizations and other not-for-profit organization to promote effective reentry, the effectiveness of these programs are based on the efficiency of the strategies. Studies indicate that the rates of recidivism are greatly reduced where effective reentry programs are utilized (Baglivio, Wolff, Jackowski, & Greenwald,...
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...important trends in the study of sociology is the inevitable social inequality in the society. When talk about inequality, sociologists usually link stratifying 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...
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...Michelle Alexander discusses how mass incarceration has ruined and dismantled many lives of young African Americans. The problem she discusses so passionately in her book is a relevant problem in our society today. Ever since Ronald Reagan’s presidency and forward, campaigns have been targeting crime and especially rug related crimes. While it is clear that many of these young African Americans are going to prison due to drug related crimes, stopping the war on drugs altogether is not the solution. Although stopping the drug war may seem efficient for stopping the incarceration of young blacks in the present, it does not guarantee that these same people will not commit other crimes. The cost for stopping the drug war is allowing drug usage and distribution to run rampant which can cause the society and the neighborhoods around the areas to become unsafe. Alexander discusses how there is no way around this issue and dismantling the system of mass incarceration is the only resolution; however if these poor neighborhoods were funded with government money, drug abuse can potentially become lower or even be stopped. Alexander is also discussing how a handful of reforms cannot be a solution to the problem. She argues that all the financial grants that are given to police departments for drug arrests and racial profiling should be halted. She believes that by halting the funding and supplies of mass incarceration are only scratching the surface of social reform. She believes there must be...
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...Alternatives to Incarceration Abstract Our country continues to search alternatives to the overcrowded prisons bulging at the seams. Citizens are crying for a relief on taxation in funding these prisons. The criminal justice system has searched for years for ideas to limit incarceration. Some alternative programs have withstood the test of time, some continue to build a name for themselves, and others have just come onto the scene. This paper will focus on three alternative programs to placing adults in prisons. These programs include military services, intensive supervision programs (ISP’s), and Restorative Justice programs. Each provides some type of benefit to criminals, corrections department, and society. Alternatives to Incarceration Our country seems to have gone in various directions trying to find a successful justice system to work in punishing crimes. We went from a rehabilitation system, to no tolerance policies in the 1980’s. Overcrowded prisons forced officials to let prisoners out early in the 90’s. Taxpayers wanted something done with crime in their communities, but didn’t know which way to turn. A faulty criminal justice system has been blamed in such that it had, “Inadequate or ineffective rehabilitation programs, lack of drug treatment, insufficient funding for resettlement after prison, and other . . . policies. . . .”, (Sherman & Strang, 2007, p. 12). Crimes continue to be a major concern within American society, yet our only response...
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...The American Criminal Justice System: The Social and Cultural Considerations Introduction The American criminal justice system, the largest in the world, with 2.3M people 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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...Ohio State University law professor and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," reports there are more African American men in prison and jail, or on probation and parole, than were slaves before the start of the Civil War. Statistics reported in 2006, by the U.S .Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics support this claim, which show that Blacks made up 41 percent of the nation’s 2 million prison and jail inmates, while Non-Hispanic whites made up 37 percent and Hispanics made up 19 percent. The disproportionate ratio of blacks to whites who are incarcerated is especially great in Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota – greater than 10-to-1 (USJB, 2006). Why this structural inequality towards African Americans is happening, why it matters, and suggestions to rectify this, are issues that are discussed in this paper. Why is this happening? Since 1970, the U.S. has experienced a large and rapid increase in the rate at which people, regardless of race, are housed in federal and state correctional facilities (Snyder, 2011). This rapid growth in the prison population has been attributed in a large part to the rate at which individuals are incarcerated for drug offenses, especially minorities (Snyder, 2011). Between1995 and 2003, the number of people in state and federal prisons incarcerated for drug offenses increased by 21 percent, from 280,182 to 337...
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...and wrong, and confinement with their lack of self-identity what are the psychological, emotional, and social effects of incarceration on a juvinile, how little the corrections facilities actually rehabilitate the youth, the issues concerning juvenile corrections and how these and other factors contribute to the youth’s mindset both during and after prison. Part 2 * Haney, Craig. “Prisoners Once Removed.” http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/haney.pdf, The Urban Institute Press, n.d. Web. 24 November 2014 This source is a scholarly article converted to PDF, and is thoroughly cited from other articles. It talks about imprisonment on individual and state levels, describing the impact of the United States prison system psychologically on prisoners. Other articles I have found on the internet have cited this article frequently, many who seek to reform the prison system have used this article against the consequences of the prison system, especially on youth. * Matsuda, Kristy. “Impact of Incarceration on Young Offenders”, https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/227403.pdf, U.S Department of Justice, 27 April 2009, Web. 24 November 2014. Matsuda discusses the impact of incarceration on youth, basically what my article is about, in a research paper for The U.S department of Justice. The paper utilizes Californian inmates, age 16-25 males, released between 1998 and 99, based on information obtained...
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...“In most societies, formal schooling is an important institution for transmitting knowledge and culture from generation to generation and for developing human traits that contribute to human output, social stability, and the production of new knowledge” (Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism, p.1). Ultimately the word “education” would mean for one to be enlightened and obtain knowledge through learning. However, the kind of education received within the United States Prison Systems is actively doing the opposite. The oppressed inmate populations are ultimately being exploited for cheap labor in order to support a capitalist society that they do not benefit from. This paper will argue that the education being withheld from prison inmates is both cultural and educational imperialism. This paper will also argue that the Prison Industrial Complex is intentionally exploiting inmates to contribute to a capitalist labor market instead of receiving education they are entitled to in order to be rehabilitated, reduce recidivism, improve their lives and ultimately better benefit society. Incarceration in the United States is the main form of punishment, rehabilitation, or both as a consequence of felony and other criminal offenses. The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails. This means a 500% increase over the past thirty years (The Sentencing Project.org). These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding...
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...The Criminal Justice System: Offenders, Crimes, and Correction/Detention Cost Nateshia R. Bush Dr. Mary Parker Independent Study April 16, 2013 Introduction The criminal justice system today in America has many different sides, which come together to keep the overall peace of society. The criminal justice system deals with the different offenders, classifications for crime, and types of punishment for such crimes. The system is responsible for maintaining the constitutional rights and overall freedom of citizens, which some take for granted daily. It is a fact that crime exist for different purposes; however, it is more important to know laws are required to make certain societies function in a peaceful manner. When criminals break the law, other individuals are paid to make sure justice is served within the community. Paying these public servants comes at a cost to the community through tax dollars. Police officers, Judges, Lawyers, Court Clerks, Bailiffs, Correctional officers, Wardens, and more have jobs due to the existence of crime and these people work together to provide safety within our communities as well as retribution and treatment for different offenders and their individual needs. Crimes exist on a regular basis within our communities, which employs significant cost on the general public to cover the cost of maintaining inmates in correctional and local detention facilities. Crime has a broad range in occurrence, which ranges from simple traffic...
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...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 for their family which in turn reduces the poverty rate and the crime rate along with possibly avoiding imprisonment of their children. The minority prison rate is most high among black males disadvantaged versus middle class minority. The article also talks about blacks in Wisconsin are forty two times more likely than whites to receive a prison term for a drug conviction-the highest such...
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...diverse and wealthiest countries in the world. Although the United States is wealthy, not all individuals have benefited from that wealth. Throughout society, African American communities have become marginalized, with areas of poverty, high crime rates, discrimination and few opportunities for advancement. These areas are often locations where racial and cultural minorities live. Racial disparities exist within the criminal justice system and have shown many problems of inequality between the white and black race. In addition to having inequality within the criminal justice system, the criminals also have impacted their family members in different ways due to being incarcerated. The media has misrepresented African Americans by emphasizing African Americans participating in crimes while ignoring crimes committed by whites. People in society are assuming that only black people commit crimes, which is unfair because the incidences of people committing crimes are about equal between the races. Racial disparity favors white people over black people in the criminal justice system. Therefore, society must reevaluate the way society portrays who commits crimes, and where they are committed. Throughout many decades of history, black people had been discriminated against and treated as second class citizens in American society, even though they participated equally in the workforce. Discrimination has happened from slavery until present times. For example, during the 17th century until 1865...
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...Article Critique In research methodology, feminist scholars blamed qualitative studies which many times failed to bring out the realities of women’s lived experiences (Price & Sokoloff, 2004). Although these experiences are unfortunate common struggles for women offenders, there seemed to be limited research that explored how those struggles in women’s lives seemed to affect their likelihood of recidivism. At last, the “pathways” perspective, which investigates whether women have distinct pathways to initial crime and recidivism compared to men, is improved mainly by qualitative methodologies. In the current study: Gendered Pathways: A Quantitative Investigation of Women Probationers’ Paths to Incarceration, featured in the Journal of Criminal Justice and Behavior, authors Emily J. Salisbury and Patricia Van Voorhis quantitatively investigate women’s possibilities of ongoing criminal behavior (2009). Although some implications did arise, this study is important to the field by offering explanations of female offending which can offer proper interventions to help reduce recidivism. Throughout this paper I will be summarizing and critiquing the above article. The mentioned study uses a path analytic statistical procedure with a sample of 313 newly convicted women probationers selected by the Missouri Department of Corrections according to a stratified sample, to investigate three gendered pathways to women offenders’ incarceration: 1) a pathway beginning with childhood...
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...evolved over the many years to deal with youth crime from installing the Juvenile Delinquency Act in 1908 all the way to the Youth Criminal Justice Act recently amended in 2012. What these acts have accomplished is the separation of youth and adult sentences (Stevenson, 2014). This was done in order to protect children because it is the belief in Canada that children are not responsible for their actions because of Doli incapax or the inability to do wrong. That being said there is still legislation in dealing with youth crime that is punishing and effective (Stevenson, 2014). This paper will analyze a court case decision made under the Youth Criminal Justice Act which involves a young offender who was convicted of a gang-related murder and breached Conditional Supervision Order (R. v. S.(M.), 2014). This court case will be analyzed using relevant research on youth gangs using concept of theories that apply to our young offender. In conclusion, this paper will discuss limitations of laws and possible alternatives that dealt with the young offender. A summary of R. v. S.(M.), the court based decision under Youth Criminal Justice Act. Legislations used in this court case followed the guidelines of the Youth Criminal Justice Act and its subsequent subsections. Identities of the victims and the offender will not be disclosed in this paper nor published. Nor any other further information to be subsequently disclosed (R. v. S.(M.), 2014). The court case begins in April of 2010 when...
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