Breaking the Cycle Essay

Initially gang activity could only be found in large metropolitan cities, but now gangs have invaded neighborhoods of all sizes across the country. Gangs introduce violence and fear to the communities they occupy, raise the level of drug activities, and destroy businesses and property which brings down the overall value of the whole area. Instead of going to school, many young people find themselves drawn in to the gang life which in most cases either leads to being locked up or death. There are various reasons why people would want to join a gang, but no matter what that reason might be one can only expect a life of violence and troubles.

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

Youth gangs in Canada is becoming more and more of issue. Adolescents across Canada resort to joining youth gangs for many different reasons. A youth gang is a group of young adolescents who use intimidation and violence to gain prestige among other gangs and control certain areas of unlawful activities. For all the reasons an adolescent would join a youth gang, police and the Government have come up with programs to prevent youth from joining and to get them to leave the gangs. With programs involving prevention, intervention, and suppression, the Canadian Government is adequately addressing youth gangs within Canada.

Gangs have been around for many years; the founders of some of the original gangs in the United States will be discussed. The statistics of youth gangs in Canada will be presented followed by an in depth discussion about why young adults can be persuade into

Since the 1970s, America’s prison population rate has risen 700%. Despite the U.S. comprising only 5% of the world’s population, it is the largest jailer with 25% of the world’s prison population with one in 99 adults in prison and one in 31 under some type of correctional control (Mass Incarceration Problems, 2014, p. 1). According to 2013 data, 2.2 million are currently incarcerated in U.S. prisons or jails (Incarceration, 2013, para. 1), a figure that indicates a rising problem with prison overcrowding. While prison overcrowding increases the economic burdens on local and state governments, common factors leading to the high prison population is linked to the need for improved juvenile programs that deter criminal behavior and fund for rehabilitation for reentry into mainstream society. With effective programs to deter juvenile crime and to aid in offender reentry coupled with sentencing reforms, overcrowding in the nation’s prisons would decline.

Prisons are expensive facilities to operate. Each year, California prisons house more than 100,000 inmates (Graves, “Fewer State Prisoners, Higher Cost Per Inmate”). While the number of inmates has been steadily decreasing, spending per inmate has skyrocketed to about $60,000 from $33,000 in 1995 (Dean, “CA Spending Per Inmate Rising Faster Than Spending Per Child”). That is about six billion dollars spent on prisoners alone. The government is wasting more and more taxpayer money on keeping inmates inside the prisons. With about 58% of ex-convicts returning to prison within

Incarceration should be the last resort of an advanced society, not the go-to sanction for most offenders. However, if prison is the outcome, then society and the individual committed should have the expectation that they will be improved upon release. Reducing recidivism is a complex problem that begins with sentencing strategies that ensure the least probability of return to the criminal justice system. Many countries have less crime and less recidivism, America could use the successful approaches from countries with more success in reducing crime and offender outcomes. Perhaps the solution

Juvenile gangs have become a serious and growing problem in many areas throughout the U.S. It is unlikely that gang control strategies can be successful as long as legitimate economic alternatives are lacking. I will be exploring the possible proactive solutions to this social problem.

Instead, young offenders need help outside of a prison setting. Many “…studies have shown that minors, who have gone through the juvenile system, with its emphasis on rehabilitation through counseling, mentoring, education and vocational training, are less likely to be arrested again after being released than those who have served time in ordinary prisons” (Little Adult Criminals). If minors are sent to adult prisons, they will be exposed to more violence and criminals. Minors that are sent to juvenile detention centers that put an emphasis on rehabilitation are proven to benefit the minor and put them on the correct path. Children who commit serious crimes should get a second chance, and have the ability to alter the path they’re on.

The United States spends $80 billion on incarcerating inmates per year. The government is spending more money on keeping an inmate imprisoned in relation to educating elementary/secondary school students. The government continues to spend more money on imprisoning people and cutting funds from important societal needs, including education. When funds get taken away, the amount of opportunities for others become limited. The United States should decrease the amount of money spent on incarcerating inmates because there are more effective options to prevent the high population of people in jail.

. . in 1988, the United States spent about $11 billion on the entire corrections system. Today, we spend about $16 billion annually on the aging prisoner population alone.” (Chettiar and Gupta). However, there is a way to solve these problems. By the time a prisoner turns 50, the likelihood of that prisoner committing another crime has dropped immensely. Only 16.9% of prisoners released at age 45 and older return for new sentences. There are a few policies that can further help solving the issue such as: 1) Granting conditional release for aging prisoners who pose little safety risk; 2) Utilizing and expanding medical parole; or 3) Reauthorizing and expanding aging prisoner release programs. (Criminal Justice Degree Hub). If these policies are implemented, states could save an average of $66,294 every year for each released aging prisoner, which accounts for increased parole, housing and public benefits costs. The difference between the annual cost savings of releasing the average aging prisoner versus keeping them behind bars ranges from $28,362 to

The financial support required to incarcerate an offender is absolutely one of the most concerning points brought to light within the presentation by ADA Foss (2016). To add to the thought provoking speech, I began comparing the costs of living outside of an institution. On a personal note, my annual income is nearly half of the $109,000 required for a year of incarceration for a youth offender, yet it supports 4 people. Amazing, if you think about from that perspective. The criminal justice system is in need of reform with alternative ways to assist the youth within our country to avoid these exorbitant expenditures. Although I do not have a solution or cure-all for the issues that arise from the current system, I do feel there are avenues

As a result, indispensable services within the prison are affected. For example, medical care, food, clothing, staff cost, and security could be compromised and in the long run cost more (“Corrections,” n.d.). In 2010, the Corrections Department found that the daily cost per inmate was indeed cheaper in private-run prisons compared to state-run prisons. For example, it cost $58 dollars per day to house an inmate in a private prison while it cost the state $61dollars per day (Reid, J., 2014). Although, medical cost resulted to be more in private prisons than state operated prisons.

The 2013 budget for the Department of Justice (DOJ) was $27.1 billion, with $8.6 billion earmarked for federal prisons and detention. “The number of inmates under the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP’s) jurisdiction has increased from approximately 25,000 in FY1980 to over 219,000 in FY2013.” (James, 2014) The numbers speak for themselves; the prison population is growing rapidly and with it the cost of maintaining, housing and rehabilitation prisoners. Therefore the cost of justice in the federal prison system is one that is that touches both the prisoner and the taxpayer. The cost of justice will continue to grow as more and more offenses, such as drug-related offenses, are deemed federal crimes with mandatory minimum sentences. “The [Bureau of Prisons] has identified the abolition of parole for federal inmates as one cause of the growing federal prison population.”(James, 2014) With parole not being an option, the price to pay for a federal conviction is high in terms of life, family and community. Therefore, federal prisons have become warehouses

Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers. The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many violent criminal avenues, including drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and extortion but the original thinking that there is strength in numbers remains true. Criminology experts believe that the number of teens involved in gangs or gang activity may be as high as 1 in every 5 people in most urban areas. Those number jump to 1 in every 3 people in