Causes Of Mass Incarceration

When you think of mass incarceration it is imperative to look at the causes that affect minorities. One major thing that produced an increase in mass incarceration is the war on drugs. The war on drugs has impacted minorities in a major way. The war on drugs pushed policymakers to structure laws that were targeting underprivileged individual mainly minorities group. In addition, “The deinstitutionalisation of people with mental illnesses, and punitive sentencing policies such as three-strike laws (mandating life imprisonment for third offences of even relatively minor felonies) and mandatory minimum sentences for specific offence, even for some first0time offenders undoubtedly helped to both launch mass incarceration and keep it going” (Wilderman, & Wang, 2017, p. 1466). The war on drugs came during a time when crack cocaine became widespread in the black community. The popularity of crack cocaine became prevalent and accessible for many low-income individuals. Therefore, the high rate of crime that was induced by the crack epidemic forced many jobs to leave the communities. However, the structuring of laws put more emphasis on crack cocaine than powder cocaine. Not to mention, crack cocaine is prevalent in minority communities, and powder cocaine is present in the majority community. According to Martensen (2012), “Not only does this deny accessible goods and services to local residents, it likewise decreases the local job opportunities available for community members” (p. 214). Consequently, many African American called on the police to take action against the same people that looked just like them. Crutchfield, & Weeks (2015) states, “Some of the changes during this period of increased incarceration that disadvantaged people of color coming into the justice system were implemented with the help and support of African American political leadership” (p. 109). Therefore, lawmakers had to come up with a solution to address the issue. Law-makers created laws that put emphasis on arresting drug dealers for selling drugs. These small-time drug dealers were becoming a hazard to the community. However, the laws begin to cause harm to all that looked brown or black whether

Approximately 80% of incarcerated women are mothers (Mapson, 2013). On average, the adult female offender is between the ages of 25 and 29. Historically, incarcerated women live with their children prior to incarceration and are the sole financial support for those children. When a mother is incarcerated over 80% live with relatives (mostly maternal grandparents) and about 20% live in foster care. Due to mothers being placed far from populated centers, more than half of mothers will not see their children while they are imprisoned. Women rarely see their children due to the child being in foster care or with family members that do not have the financial resources to travel for visits.

The Cause of Mass Incarceration mass incarceration is a big problem in the United States, it has affected our country multiple ways whether it gives our country a bad reputation with the highest number of incarcerated in the world, or it gives us a bad image and makes seem as if the United States is a dangerous and terrible place to live in. The rate of incarcerated has increased from 300,000 prisoners in the early 1970’s to 2.3 million today. Some of the causes of mass incarceration involve the war on drugs and racial discrimination. The war on drugs is a big factor in mass incarceration, as it is said in ACL.org, “Drug arrests now account for a quarter of the people locked up in America” This means that more than half a million people are in prison due to use or possession of drugs. Another big factor to consider for a cause of mass incarceration is racial discrimination according to ACL.org “One in three black men can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime. Compare that to one in six Latino males and one in 17 white males.” This a very big difference between the three different races blacks having the highest probability of being incarcerated compared to whites. These are not the only factors of mass incarceration in our judicial system, there are many more flaws in our judicial system that has caused it to overflow prisons throughout the states. Therefore, what is the biggest flaw in our criminal justice system? That is causing the majority of incarcerations in the U.S.

“When parents are imprisoned it is not only they who suffer, but also their offspring.” “Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to drop out of school; misbehave in school; develop learning disabilities.” These children are acting out of anger, sadness, and lack of relationship with mom or dad. Whenever a parent is missing out of the household it plays a major role on the child in every way possible; academically, socially , and even emotionally. This only leads to these kids being thrown into the streets, doing drugs, in the graveyard, jail or prison. Every child needs a father and mother in their life to guide them along the way, be there for them to cheer them on and see them grow into an adult. But cops and higher officials do not care about any family or children that is not their own. They also don’t care about you if you do not look similar or have the same social status. It's like they look down on us as if we are beneath them. That is a pure example of selfishness. So to the policeman this is basically a repeated cycle; lock up mom or dad then the kid will go astray and start getting his or herself into illegal trouble, soon enough being locked up as well. And because of this cycle it seems like the norm thing to kids and even

The United States’ ever-expanding prison and jail population has brought about many questions regarding the side-effects of mass incarceration, namely involving the effects on the children and families from which those incarcerated are removed. Regardless of the perspectives on the appropriate position of incarceration in the criminal justice system, imprisonment disrupts many positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. In fact, more than 1.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in a state or federal prison as of 2007 (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). These youths are at risk for developing behavior and school problems in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Parental incarceration, which may also be coupled with economic disadvantage and inconsistent living arrangements (Geller, Garfinkel, Cooper, & Mincy, 2009) can be an extremely difficult experience for children. It should come as no surprise that families with children suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned, considering how each parent in today’s world typically needs to set aside time to earn an income to support their family, and most are unable to support their homes on one income. While it may be considered intrusive to some to intervene in the lives of children and families with incarcerated parents, research has suggested that there are positive societal benefits to intervening in the lives of incarcerated parents and their

31,928 incarcerated in Maryland prisons and jails (The Sentencing Project, n.d.). More than 2.3 million people incarcerated nationwide (Peter Wagner, Bernadette Rabuy, 2017). The United States makes up about 5% of the world’s population but has 21% of the world’s prisoners (NAACP, n.d.) – quite astonishing statistics considering that forty years ago, there were only about 350,000 people in prison (Alexander, Michelle, 2014). This phenomenon is called mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is an ongoing issue created by the War on Drugs, crime, and institutionalized racism.

America has been a land for the free since it became a dream place for people to come and have a successful life. In this case, America hasn’t been as grateful to people. They have more people in jail than any other country in the world and it’s still increasing. This main cause called mass incarceration brought America to the leading country that is incarcerating people at a high rate mainly sending those of color behind bars as said in web source A.C.L.U. This brings a lot of issues into a great nation such as the U.S.A. in a place where people should be proud to live in and represent. The topic of mass incarceration hasn’t been a major issue that politician’s really talk about. As well as the politician’s the people haven’t taken much actions to change it. Mass incarceration brings many troubles for America to deal with besides the other countless issues it has as a nation. The causes of mass incarceration are many, but the main important are overcrowded prisons, discrimination to criminals after jail, and imprisoning many people for long time periods based on small offenses that they have done. The causes of mass incarceration continue to affect the nation greatly as there are more people going behind bars at a high rate. Since the 1980’s there has been an increase of incarceration. It all started with the use of cocaine in the 1980’s that made “Policies that greatly excaberated racial disperities in incarceration rates… President Ronald Reagan officially announced the

Over the last half-century, the United States has turned more and more frequently to the use of incarceration as a form of punishment. Sentencing policies and stricter laws requiring mandatory minimums for certain offenses, no matter the conditions of the offense, have boosted the incarceration rate in this country to staggering heights. The typical issues that affect America’s prison systems are reflected in Jennifer Gonnerman’s book, Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett. Elaine Bartlett’s life, along with the lives of surrounding family and friends, is forever changed by her 16 years of incarceration. Elaine Bartlett is only one of many Americans that have been wronged by the cruel and unusual punishments implemented by a society claiming to have a fair, balanced, and equal justice system. A fair and balanced justice system that convicts people who carries the right amount of drugs in weight to have a mandatory incarceration for a minimum of 15 years to life, yet those who commit murder or rape may receive a lesser sentence. There is also the issue of transitioning back into society after being incarcerated for so many years. Incarceration does not just punish the offender; the offender’s family and friends are also negatively affected by the conviction and imprisonment of a loved one. Children could be put in the system or need to be raised by other members in the family. This could lead the children to deviate down the same path as their parent who

Research Question No. 1 - Did Three Strikes You're Out contribute to the problem of mass incarceration and overcrowded jails and prisons?

There are a lot of important issues that Americans face today. But one of the most important is mass incarceration. This problem is affecting the economy, the government spends billions of dollars to keep people in prison. Private own prison are getting a lot of money just to house prisoners. Prison is one of the biggest businesses in America. These prisons are profiting from minorities and by holding undocumented immigrants. A lot of people that are incarcerated didn’t commit serious crimes. Some people are in prison on nonviolent drug charges. Does America Needs a Alternatives to Incarceration, maybe the government should try to rehabilitate nonviolent offenders.By population china is the most populous country on earth. And yet America a country with four times less the population has more prisoners. This is happening in a country that advocates freedom and democracy. A country sometimes called the free world .Is this happening because America has the most violent criminals in the world? What are the causes for the unusually high incarceration rate in America? Because of government continuously implying new strict laws America has become the country with the highest incarcerated.

The major cause of mass incarceration in the United States is Bail. Recently there are several reforms that were passed, and there are several proposals under consideration to fix this issue. A lot of people that are incarcerated toady committed low offense charges. Hence, we need a fairer, and more effective justice system so that more people could walk free rather than being locked up. With that said, bail is used today as an entrapment, which opposed its original purpose. Most importantly, of the people that are in jail, 60 percent haven’t been convicted of anything. As we can see, mass incarceration makes our country worsted off, and we need to do something about it.

Especially if that someone is Black. It’s statically proven that everyday a black person is put into prison more than the average white person. As stated before, “African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at more than five times the rate of whites, and at least ten times the rate in five states” (The Sentencing Project). After so many years there are still ways to bring down the black community. Mostly among the people going to jail in their community are African American Males. A Father is most of the time the holder and keeper of the family, he’s the one who holds everything down, between working hard at a job or doing the little things at home simply raising his children. So, when he’s missing in a child’s life it really takes a tole on the whole entire family. Leaving the mother to do everything trying to provide and watch her kids at the same time. It’s not easy to do both at all which leaves room for kids to do things on their own and in mostly a little boys case leads them down the wrong path into being introduced to drugs, gangs, and violence. An article states, “Many of those who escape do so for one generation only: as things now are, their children may have to run the gauntlet all over again. That is not the

IT has been said that ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’. This maxim known in some form around the world has stood for a relatively simple meaning, that, regardless of the ‘intent’ behind an action, it is the result of that action that matters. Now, this can be applied directly to the problem that has plagued the United States of America since the mid-1970s, that of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is the ‘high rate of incarceration in the United States… that is markedly above the historical and comparative norm for societies this type’(Western 28). This produces a ‘systematic imprisonment of whole groups of the population’(Western 29), specifically the black and brown communities found

It might be difficult to understand how important your parents or even one of them can make a huge impact of how you would become as an adult. Right at this moment children all around the nation suffer from this problem, and statistics from the “Children And Families Of The Incarcerated Fact Sheet” demonstrate that it is much common from what we think. Demographics on this sheet show the difference between ethnicities and how much of this data is related to the

“When can I see my mom?” “Where is my dad?” “Is this my fault, can I do something to help?” These are all questions asked by the millions of victims who go unheard when their parents are sent away to prisons in the US. According to Rutgers University, 1 out of 28 kids is a child of an incarcerated parent, that means there are 2.7 million children in the United States without a mom or dad. (rutgers.edu) This number is so large because America has an “incarceration epidemic” which is affecting the lives of more than the convicted, it’s affecting the children who aren't considered, when their mom and dad are sent to prison. You see, according Federal Bureau of Statistics, the US population of adults in the correctional system is a little over 6 million. “While the United States has only 5 percent of