Today in the United States, there is more than 7.1 million individuals under correctional supervision. For every 100,000 people, there is approximately 737 people incarcerated, nearly seven times higher than the world average incarceration rate of 166 per 100,000 people. This rapid explosion of prison populations over the past 25 years can largely be attributed to The War on Drugs and mandatory minimums which have primarily target the African-American community. Mandatory sentencing guides have led to many individuals being locked up for minor drug offences and non-violent crimes. As a result, prisons are overflowing with incarcerated individuals. Overcrowded and dysfunctional, the prison system overwhelmingly treats the inmates in a dehumanizing …show more content…
The consequences of this means that when inmates are released back into society, they are unable to function as productive citizens and are more likely to be repeat offenders. In essence, the emphasis on retribution within prisons actually makes society more dangerous by releasing mentally and emotionally damaged inmates without a support of system or medical treatment. Angela Davis addresses this specific issue within her book, Are Prisons Obsolete? In her effort to analyze the harmful effects of incarceration, she recognizes that many people within prison suffer emotional and mental illnesses but are not helped or treated for them. In addition, solitary confinement, which can cause people severe and lasting mental distress after only 15 days, breaks individuals down and leaves them with lasting negative ramifications. With such traumatic experiences or undiagnosed mental illnesses, inmates who are released from prison have an extremely hard time readjusting to society and often lash out and commit crimes as a result of their untreated problems. It is for this particular reason that Davis says we must focus on rehabilitation and provide services for inmates while incarcerated and before they are released. Solutions she proposes are shorter sentences, education and job training programs, humane prison conditions, and better medical facilities and service. With adequate care and conditions, released inmates will able to find jobs, start families, and become functioning members of society rather then returning to
Eduardo Mendieta constructs an adequate response to Angela Davis’ Are Prisons Obsolete? in his article, The Prison Contract and Surplus Punishment: On Angela Y. Davis’ Abolitionism. While Mendieta discusses the pioneering abolitionist efforts of Angela Davis, the author begins to analyze Davis’ anti-prison narrative, ultimately agreeing with Davis’ polarizing stance. Due to the fact Mendieta is so quick to begin analyzing Davis’ work, the article’s author inadvertently makes several assumptions about readers of his piece. For instance, Mendieta assumes that readers will automatically be familiar with Angela Davis.
With prisoners released from this power structure there is this struggle to reconnect with society after being denied basic rights and privacy while in this facility. Alexander expresses how former inmates "never truly reenter the society they inhabited prior to their conviction" (Alexander 261). With this confession this allows for one to understand that former convicts do struggle to reincorporate themselves into society because they are no longer seen as trustworthy and honest people, but rather someone that has been locked in a cage as a consequence for their actions. This just truly illustrates how the prison industrial complex affects whether society is willing to accept convicts back into white society. Knowing this as a consequence of the prison industrial complex demonstrates injustice because of how prison affects the lives of
Affirmative Action Reader pg. 244 “ those many in our society that are darker, poorer, more identifiably foreign will continue to suffer the poverty, marginalization, immersion and incarceration.” Statistics are staggering Racial Disparities in Incarceration African Americans constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population, they are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites, what’s shocking is that one in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001 and if the trends continues one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime. I am for affirmative action, as I believe that when the late President John F Kennedy signed the affirmative action on March 6th 1961,
Topic: Prison overcrowding General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to identify and describe the key reasons and issues of prison overcrowding. Introduction Attention Getter Imagine being locked up in a confined space with little to no air conditioning, concrete walls, concrete floors, poor sanitation, rowdy peers, no soft comforts of a home, and a lack of the everyday basic needs.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 20% of inmates spent time in solitary confinement between 2011 and 2012 (1). Solitary confinement, or more commonly known as extreme isolation, is when prisoners are locked up in small cells and have no contact with the outside world for at least 23 hours a day. This could last for several months, and sometimes decades. What are the effects of this sort of treatment towards inmates in prisons and jails?
First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the
Racial bias has long since plagued our country. Ever since our country was founded, there was a divide among our citizens. When the first pilgrims landed in America, African-American were unwillingly enslaved and were stripped basic human rights and seen as property.. The possession of slaves and slave trade has been abolished and America is a diverse melting pot of culture, yet racial bias and discrimination still influences us today. Today African Americans are still being marginalized in our prisons and courts and the outcome is not good.
Inmate-on-Inmate Violence About half of all male inmates incarcerated in state correctional facilities have been convicted of violent offenses, and a large percentage of them have long criminal histories (Seiter, 2008). This sets the stage for a hostile environment. Because of boredom, sexual tensions, and feelings of powerlessness, many inmates engage in violence as a way to mentally escape the reality of prison. Thus, by engaging in proactive aggression, they can focus their attention on fighting other inmates.
It is often difficult for people to question the standards of modern-day society, especially the prejudiced norms present in the United States. A particular establishment historically justified is prisons, which many deem an acceptable punishment for crime. However, criticisms have surfaced about their foundations and operations in contemporary times. Political activist Angela Davis wrote an argumentative composition, Are Prisons Obsolete, which considers the cruciality of imprisonment and questions the societal need for institutions made especially for punishment. At the core of her consideration of abolishing incarnation institutions, Davis suggests her readers are to humanize their perceptions of those who have been ostracized in society for their wrongdoings by analyzing the concept of freedom and absolute liberties, as reviewing our preconceived notions of the relationship between criminality and human rights enable us to think of more suitable methods of
¨1 in every 15 African American men, 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men. 2. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime¨. Our prison system is looked at as a place of violence. Many people may argue that it should be that way and many people argue to disagree. Prisons most important function must be to rehabilitate and reintegrate criminals into society so prisons can have a positive effect on inmates, when or if they come home.
Working Ex-Prisoners The move from prisoner to the community is not a new occurrence. The huge majority of prisoners are released to society and come across the challenges of adjusting to the freedom, attractions, duties, and struggles of the street. With over the years, there has been an increase of inmate releases that is amplified even further because prisoners are spending longer periods of time in prison and have fading access to education and training programs that could support their transition upon release. Over the past years, inmates have been released without post-prison supervision and without services to help them with finding jobs, housing, and supported services.
The United States has a larger 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 growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several 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. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.
Prison overcrowding is the escalating number of inmates incarcerated beyond the prison’s capacity. Some reasons causing the increase of prisoners are tough on crime laws and drug offenses. In this report we’ll go over the history of California’s inmate increase. The steps taken to help reduce the high numbers of incarcerated prisoners within the years. Although, it’s an open discussion within society, race has a huge impact on incarcerated prisoners, especially in drug offenses.
About 1 in 3 black males are likely to go to jail,while 1 in 17 white men are likely to go to jail. Blacks and hispanics make up 58% of all prisons in 2008. It is estimated that if blacks and hispanic people are arrested at the same rates as whites,the jail population would decline approximately 50%. This wouldn’t be possible because there are laws enacted to keep prison cells filled, in order for certain people to continue making a profit from these prisons. These laws are similar to the ones in the time of jim crow, are used as a method to keep blacks down just like slavery.
The American prison system incarcerates more people than any other country, being the 5 percent of the world’s population yet is home to 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. There is approximately 2.2 million inmates incarcerated in The United States, the grand majority serving minor nonviolent offenses. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate statistics, drug offences make up 46.4 percent of offences in prisons combining that of homicide, aggravated assault, immigration, embezzlement, sex offences, burglary, weapons and extortion all combined.