Collaboration And Incarceration

Approximately 40% of criminal convictions in the year 2000 related to incarceration of women were on the basis of illegal drugs relation and 34% were for other non-violent crimes such as burglary, larceny, and fraud. 18% of women in prison have been convicted because of violent conduct, and 7% for public order offenses such as drunk driving, liquor law violations and vagrancy.

All of the articles that are discussed throughout this essay stated very similar observations when it came to the demographics of the prison population. They stated that the people who are mostly incarcerated are people of color, predominantly African-American and then Hispanic men. Jennifer Wynn stated that when she visited Rikers Island and was waiting in the waiting room, she was the only white person there (Wynn, 2012). She later found that ninety percent of the inmates were black or Hispanic (Wynn, 2012) and that ninety three percent were male (Wynn, 2012). Although not as large as black men, there has also been an increase of minority women imprisonment. This racial disproportion was not always this way. During World War II, whites consisted of seventy percent of inmates and only thirty percent were identified as “others” (Martense, 2012). This has been reversed now being that seventy percent of the prison population are black and Hispanic and thirty percent being white (Martensen, 2012). According to Martensen, the reason for this is due to the ‘War on Drugs’ which indirectly targets racial minorities. When it was implemented, there was not a drug crisis, however, drug offenses has lead to a major increase in the federal inmate population and state prisoners between 1985 and 2000 (Martensen, 2012). Most of these people come from disadvantaged communities with a lack of opportunities which can lead to criminal behaviors. People who have more power are in the

More and more women-mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, and sisters are doing hard prison time all across the United States. Many of them are facing the prospect of years, decades, even lifetimes behind bars. Oddly, there’s been little public discussion about the dramatic increase of women in the prison system. What exactly is happening here, and why?

Since the mid 80’s, the number of women incarcerated has tripled.The majority of women incarcerated are unskilled, impoverished and disproportionately women of color. As a result, African American children are nine times more likely to have a parent in prison than a White child.

Currently there are over 1.5 million individuals in the United States that are behind bars. The highest population of incarcerated individuals in the world. Since the passing of the War on Drugs and Crime under President Nixon the rate at which individuals especially African Americans are incarcerated has dramatically increased. 1 in 3 African American males are expected to be incarcerated at sometime within their lifetime. With the War on Drugs and different acts such as mandatory minimums and three strike policies in place the rate at which people are incarcerated will continue increasing at alarming rates. This paper will further explore these issues and ways in which this issue can be solved.

The number of women incarcerated is growing at a rapid pace. This calls for a reevaluation of our correction institutions to deal with women’s involvement in crime. Increasing numbers of arrests for property crime and public order offenses are outpacing that of men. The “War on Drugs” has a big influence on why our prisons have become overcrowded in the last 25 years. Women are impacted more than ever because they are being convicted equally for drug and other offenses. Female criminal behavior has always been identified as minor compared to Male’s criminal behavior. Over the years women have made up only small part of the offender populations. There is still only a small

Male and female offenders alike are incarcerated every day for various reasons. Some commit violent crimes while others are arrested for drug use or public-order offenses. The difference between the two are the rates at which they are incarcerated, the length or harshness of their sentences, for the same or similar crimes committed, patterns of drug use, and previous correctional history. While men still lead in violent crime rates, 54.3 percent male verse 36.6 percent female, women are more likely than men to serve sentences due to drug-related offenses and other nonviolent property crimes (American Corrections, 2016).

women has increased significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell and Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated,

The “War on Drugs,” and “Get Tough on Crime,” policies also play a major role. The areas targeted for these specific policies are also poverty stricken, and majority of the population in these areas are predominately black, consequently accounting for more arrests and convictions to be made. While the amount of whites arrested versus blacks for drug crimes may be higher, the amount of blacks being held in prisons and jails for drug crimes is greater. The reasons for this may vary. It could be improper representation in court, mandatory minimum sentencing rules, or habitual offender policies, or racial profiling. The statistics vary, depending on the source. Nonetheless, numbers across the board make it clear that racial disparity is a major issue in the criminal justice

It is obvious that there are several race disparities within the criminal justice system. For decades minorities (black Americans to be specific) have been subject to higher drug related arrest rates than whites, even though there is no evidence to show that black American use or sell drugs more than whites (Spohn & Belenko, 2015, p. 143) . You made a great point about the prison race population versus the overall race population of the United States. I too agree that since a majority of the population is white, majority of the prison population should be white. However, as we all know, that is not the case. According to research, black Americans constitute for roughly twelve percent of the American population, however practically

Law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. This confinement, whether before or after a criminal conviction, is called incarceration.

Thomas Riggs reported inside of the Gale Encyclopedia, “Racial profiling by U.S. law enforcement agencies has resulted in higher arrest rates among African Americans.” African Americans racially are founded to be the majority in prisons. The problem becomes why are minorities left to serve time behind bars more often. An answer to this question would be non violent drug crimes are the major influence of this epidemic. From decades ago during the 80s, a new drug evolved into a popular wave that caused thousands in poverty stricken neighborhoods affected but its repercussions. The drug dealers in these neighborhoods sold the drug, crack, but soon after were arrested and sentenced to jails for unimaginable years for one incident of a crime. There are reports of African Americans being more likely to be sent to jail on the account of drugs than Caucasians. You find out that white people produce and sell the same drugs as the minority but results from facing the judicial system one race of people will have leanen consequences than the other. Systems from centuries ago are continually being implemented whether from being written or simply just because of history repeating itself with its social

This is true because of the drastic number of blacks getting arrested for small crimes compared to whites. The black arrest rate for drug manufacturing/selling skyrocketed by 363 percent after mandatory sentencing laws were passed. Compared to white’s which only went up 127 percent. This is an incredible high number given the fact that blacks only made up 12 percent of the population at the time. These massive amounts of black people were getting lots of jail time for these small crimes, which led to overpopulated prisons. Soon thereafter the mandatory sentencing laws were passed the number of sentenced inmates rose 111 percent . The prisoners were getting long sentences (10 to 20 years for drugs) so prisons weren't turning out people they

The study of recidivism amongst women in prison is important because most research focuses on the male population. The reasons for the “revolving door” phenomenon are different for women; therefore, their treatment should be more gender focused and specific to their needs. Judging by the rates at which women recidivate, you could assume that somewhere along the way the system has failed them. What role does drug use, motherhood, mental health, physical, sexual, and mental abuse play in the recidivism of female inmates?

According to Frank Schmalleger “On January 1, 2013, the nation’s state and federal prisons held 1,571,013 inmates, of which 1,512,391 were serving sentences of a year or more. Slightly more than 7% (or 108,866) of those imprisoned were women” (Schmalleger, p. 429). After further examination of prison statistics based on race a huge disparity was evident between blacks and whites in prison. “ Whereas only and estimated 1,001 white men are imprisoned in the United States for every 100,000 white men in their late 20s, figures show and incarcerations rate of 6,927 black men for every 100,000 black men of the same age—seven times greater than the figure for whites” (Schmallager, p. 430).