Essay On Prisons In America

In any given year now, incarceration rates has tripled with approximately 13 million people introduced to American jails in any given year. This increase in the prison population far outpaced the crime rate and the US population growth. Today, America has around 5% of the world’s population but a quarter of the world’s prison population.

Over the past few decades, the United States has witnessed a huge surge in the number of individuals in jail and in prison. Evidence suggests the mass imprisonment policy from the last 40 years was a horrible catastrophe. Putting more people in prison not only ruined lives, it disrupted families, prevented ex-prisoners to find housing, to get an education, or even a good job. Regrettably, the United States has a higher percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is increasing exponentially. The expense produced by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. Although people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. By researching mass incarceration, I hope to get society to understand that incarcerating an individual not only effects the family, but we will look at the long term consequences on society and how the United States can remain safe and, at the same time, undo much of the damage that results from large-scale imprisonment.

Mass Incarceration in the United States has been a large topic of choice because rapid growth in the prison and jail populations, the long sentences the inmates face, and the inability for some inmates to incorporate themselves back into society. Since the 1970’s the U.S. prison population quadrupled from 158 to 635 people per 100,000, causing the U.S. to gain the title of country with the highest incarceration rate. (Massoglia, Firebaugh, & Warner, 2013, p. 142; Muller, 2012) As the growth of the U.S prison and jail population rapidly increased, so did the growth of the three major contributors to that population – African Americans, Hispanics, and whites – with African American and

Mass Incarceration is a predicament in the U.S. because in the land of the free, there are more than two million people in prison. Prisons are homes to the majority of twenty-two percent of the U.S. population. The U.S. has a massive incarceration rate, seven hundred and sixteen per every one hundred thousand. The U.S. makes five percent of the world’s population and the third country in which most people live in but number one incarcerating humans.

The criminal justice system focuses more on criminalization and incarceration than it does on rehabilitation. The United States of America wins the award for the highest incarceration rate in the world with over 2.3 million people in correctional facilities. America itself contains only about five percent of the world population, but accounts for twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners (American Civil Liberties Union). With a longstanding history of mass incarceration and

Have you ever been to prison before? Unfortunately it is not uncommon for many people in the United States to end up in prison at any given time in their life. Chances are, if you have not been to prison you know somebody that has been imprisoned, as America has the highest rate of incarceration in the whole world. Although America’s population only accounts for 5% of the world's population, we have the highest prison rate at 25% of the whole world’s incarcerated population (Hillary Rodham Clinton, 2015). Why do we continue to see these prisons overcrowded, and how exactly does this affect the inmates?

The number of privately owned prisons has grown, as has the imprisonment rate of Americans. “In 2005 more than 2.3 million Americans (or .7% of the US population) were incarcerated, in nearly 1700 state, federal, and private prisons, with many more under other forms of custodial supervision including probation and parole”(Smith and Hattery 2). “In 1980, only 474,368 citizens in the US were imprisoned, but in just a little over two decades, 2,042,270 people

Over the last decade the prison population in the United States has increased but the total admissions has decreased. In 2004, the national statistics for the prison population showed 1,497,100 persons to be incarcerated from Federal Institutions to State Institutions. Ten years later in 2014, the prison population increased to 1,562,525. This increase in population is not as dramatic when it comes to comparing 2004 and 2014. However, comparing 2014 to 1978 there is a tremendous increase in population, the total population in 1978 was 307, 276. From the war on drugs to the increase numbers of homicides, in 36 years we have incarcerated over one million additional people. In one year, the justice system admitted 631,

The growth of incarceration in the United States Prison grew over the last four decades. The trend is historically unprecedented and is unique to the world. The majority of those incarcerated come from disadvantaged populations and comprises of main minorities below the age of forty. The communities have the number of people engaging in crime, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, physical and mental illness and lack of employment. The African Americans and Hispanics form the largest prison population compared to the non-Hispanic whites. The high incarceration has the huge impact on the American society since its inception in the 1960s and 1970s. The changed political environment led to policy changes. All levels of the government altered

Mostly everyone today might have some type of relation or connection to a person that may be in jail or prison. That person may have committed a more serious crime than others that probably made a mistake but somehow ended up incarcerated for a very long time whether they were innocent or guilty. The rate of incarceration in the US is indeed high. Nearly, 455 people per every 100,000 people are incarcerated (Smolowe, 1994). These numbers are higher than any other country in the world. Looking at South Africa, our second closest, there are only 311 people per ever 100,000

“The United States has about 5% of the world’s population yet it accounts for about 25% of the world’s prisoners” (Deady 2014). From the “tough on crime” mentality of the last few decades, our prison system has bloated and become focused on punishment

was incarcerated at the age of seventeen years old for armed robbery. He was tried and convicted as an adult due to his criminal activity. At the time I didn’t understand his harsh punishment for his crime but I do understand it now. His actions wasn’t a minor offense; in fact it was a serious offense which could have went south if he would have killed someone. I couldn’t image in a million years that my brother would commit such a selfish and cruel act when he didn’t have a valid reason too. He was raised with both parents in the household with high profile jobs. Thirteen years later, he still don’t understand his reasoning behind his situation. I am proud to say that he is out of prison but is suffering from

He knew them and wanted to help. Does that sound like someone who would commit all of these crimes? I don’t think so. He literally protects me from everything he can from where he’s at. He wouldn’t let me hang out with my friends past a certain time, or go to places that he hasn’t heard of. He isn’t the type of person to do anything bad. Even though he is in prison, he always asks me if anyone is giving me a hard time, or if I have a boyfriend. Being protective vs. being dangerous are two different things.

My Mother, Father and oldest brother all went to the hospital to identify my brothers body. The only reason that I didn 't go with them was because my nephew was upstairs asleep. Once they left I started to make a couple phone calls to see if it was really true. After calling two people I finally found out that it was him that got shot. One of my closest friends was actually with him at the time and he also watched him as he took his last breathe. Before my brother death occurred he was incarcerated for about a year. Once he was released he was home for only 6 months. While my brother was incarcerated he use to write letters to me all the time saying “stay in school” so I won’t end up in the same situation he was in. My brother told me that once he get home he will get back in the boxing

Prisons and jails are both referred to as incarcerations. A prison is where people get physically confined and lack personal freedom, and also those awaiting trails and those serving a term exceeding one year are confined here, while a jail is where inmates are housed prior to their trials on local level and those serving a term of one year or less. The society is protected from the offenders by them being confined in prisons, where their behaviors can be monitored, or they can be placed in community-based facilities which are secured and also offer an opportunity for the prisoners to acquire skills and knowledge through work related activities. The jail on the other hand serves the purpose of detaining law offenders of which they shall