Crime Vs Incarceration

According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).

Part 1 of the book highlights chapter 1 and 2, which talks about politics and the consequences of incarceration while chapter 2 talks about the politics of being punished within the united states, some sub topics between chapter 1 and 2 include problem ownership, philosophies, historic changes with the corrections policy throughout time and the economic impact of being incarcerated. Chapter 2 talks about the process in which politics can affect the outcome on crime and punishment, throughout the 1960s the criminal justice system has changed a lot especially correctional professionals who have brought issues to crime and its political forefront.

In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.

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.

In the past four decades, there has been a staggering increase in the United States prison population at the local and state level. Currently there are 2.2 million people in the nation’s prisons and jails that has added up to a 500% increase over 40 years (The sentencing project). The cause of this prison growth is a variety of laws and punitive sentencing policies that were initiated starting in the early 1970’s. Policies such as harsh drug penalties for non-violent crimes, Mandatory Minimum Maximum sentences and the Three Strikes law have all contributed to America’s current problem of mass incarceration.

It has also been suggested that the criminal justice system has been used to enforce conforming to societal standards (Godsoe, 2014; Schulze & Bryan, 2017). This is evidence that the issue related to girls is not necessarily offending but a criminal system that is not designed for them and a society that aims to control female behavior. “In 2006, technical

Many people believe mass incarceration is a pivotal issue in recent times. However, mass incarceration has been an issue that has plagued the United States and the world for many decades. The idea of mass incarceration deals with the dramatic rise of incarceration rate sin the Unite sates after the 1960s. In the United states, we hold approximately 3 million people in our jails and prisons, and over 7 million people are involve din our criminal justice system. The more troubling idea is the idea of a prison-industrial system. This idea deals with the overlapping interest of the American government with imprisonment and the criminal justice system. The government is viewing the jail system as an economic boom instead of a racist, power driving

Name: Lecturer: Course: Date of Submission: Mass incarceration in American Prisons Introduction More than 2.3 million Americans today are prisoners, a population that represents more than a quarter of the number of prisoners in the world. This means that 760 Americans in one hundred thousand are prisoners in America (Detotto and Pulina). The rise in prisoners’ numbers has sharply risen since 1980 with the cost of maintaining the prison going to over four hundred percent within the same period.

The reasons incarceration rates raised 500% in the last thirty years had to do with neoliberalism and its use of the prisons and incarceration as means of social control. (Simon) When government does not have social programs it creates crime to give an appearance of governance and to keep people obedient.

Adam Gopnik uses his article “The Caging of America” to illuminate the problems that plague America’s justice and prison systems. Most of his article uses New York City’s history of violent crime in the sixties and seventies along with the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) use of social engineering since the nineties. I applaud the NYPD for reducing major crime without throwing everyone in prison, but Gopnik skips over an important facet of mass incarceration; recidivism.

One major problem facing American prisons are the extremely high incarceration rates. According to a report released by the National Research Council, “The US rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5-to 10-times higher than rates in Western Europe and other democracies.” (Zurcher, 2014, para. 3) Based on this report it is clearly illustrated that the incarceration rates are absurdly high in comparison to other major countries. Furthermore, strict sentencing laws and minor drug offences are a major contributor to America’s prison population. Miller writes, the US prison population grew by 700 percent due to an influx of drug arrests and tough sentencing laws. As of now 1.6 million people are behind bars in federal and state prison, leaving America with the largest prison population in the world (para. 11). With a 700 percent increase in prison population one question comes to mind. Does America have an increase in criminal activity compared to other countries? Despite the massive increase in incarcerations, crime has not increased significantly increased over the years, and prison doors are still clanking at an exorbitant rate.

In the early days of the Unites States criminal justice system, punishment and retribution were the only methods dealing with criminals. It was not until the Pennsylvania Quakers established the first prison in the United States in 1790 that introduced the principle of the rehabilitation rather than capital punishment. Later, other prisons followed the Pennsylvania prison model, and incarceration soon became the center of the country’s criminal justice system. However, it was not until the 1960s that the criminal justice systems started to experience a problem with overcrowding in prisons throughout the nation. Overcrowding became more of a problem as the criminal justice system began to take a more severe approach to deal with crime by incarcerating

Mass incarceration is a major issue in the United States. There are multiple theories as to why this has occurred. According to Martensen, the United States is five percent of the world’s population and we have 25% of the world’s inmates (Martensen, 2012). Statistics show since the 1970s the prison population has increased 300% from 1980 to 2000 and 500% in the last few decades (Patten, D. d., 2016). This appears to be due to the war on drugs during this time period. What is interesting is that even when the crime rate decreased the prison population continually increased.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was signed into law President Clinton in an attempt to reduce crime. The Act called for 100,000 new officers, $9.7 billion budget for prisons and $6.1 billion in funding for programs that are designed for prevention of crimes which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers. (1998) Currently there are 2.2 million adults in the U.S. penal population which is the largest in the world. Slightly under twenty-five percent of the world 's prisoners are held in American prisons. The rate that americans are being incarceration is 5 to 10 times higher than the rates in areas Western Europe and other democracies. (2014, pp 3) Travis states that the American prison population is mostly composed of individuals that are consider “disadvantaged part” of the nation 's population. These type of people included men under age 40, minority, and poorly educated. (pp 6) The growth of incarceration in the United States during four decades has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society. (pp. 11-12)

Since the early 1970's, there has been a significant increase in the incarcerating system. Today, study shows that 1 in 100 adult Americans are behind the bars (B.J.S.). On the other hand, the increase in the use of imprisoning system does not mean that there is an increase in crime. From the research of B.J.S., it signifies that in early 1970's population were around 300,000, while the population in 2006 was over 2.3 million. In the United States of America, each state has their diverse policy to deter the crime rate. On the