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The Disproportionate Number of African-American Males Incarcerated Within the United States

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The disproportionate number of African-American males incarcerated within the United States is a difficult social dilemma that needs to be more fully understood and addressed. This paper will explore the mass incarceration of African-American men. The paper will look into the prevalence, causes, consequences, and offer solutions to this crisis. Specifically, seeking to find what factors have created such high levels of criminal justice control for African-American males, and explore the impact on the family and community.

Incarceration is immense in the United States. Since the 1980s, the United States has experienced a massive increase in incarceration. The overall rate has increased from 139 prisoners per hundred thousand US …show more content…

Similarly, since the 1980s there has been the initiation of privatization of prisons, in the United States. Today, for-profit companies operate 264 correctional facilities, housing almost 99,000 inmates (Glans, 2011). The two largest are Correction Corporations of America (CCA) and the GEO Group, which together combined for a capacity of 129,000 prisoners. According to Think progress, in 2010 Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group made over 2.9 billion in revenue (Sanchez, 2011). Equally important, these companies exert influence on public policy, in order to fashion the marketplace environment (i.e. more prisoners/African American males) required to increase its businesses. This is done through lobbying politicians, direct campaign contributions, and political networking.

Most economists would characterize incarceration as a public good. In contrast most racial minorities, in particular African American males, would consider the business of incarceration, the laws that lead to incarceration and the way the law are enforced as biased. The racial minorities in the United States, particularly the African American male, have come to understand this as racial profiling. The term “profile” initially was linked

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