Mass Incarceration

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.

One of the hardest challenges for the United States, in terms of the criminal justice system, is the overcrowding of prisons. In fact, the problem has become so big that the U.S. has more people in jail than any other country on earth – about 2.2 million people, to be exact. To deal with this growing issue, governments and correctional administrations began to invent creative alternatives and policies to handle the overcrowding and to reduce the cost. One of these alternatives has been the use of private prisons, where the individuals in charge of the ownership, operation, and responsibility shifts from the public sector (the government) to the private sector (a third party contracted by a government agency). In order to make profits, private

Over the past 40 years U.S. incarceration has grown at an extraordinary rate, with the United States’ prison population increasing from 320,000 inmates in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million inmates in 2013. The growth in prison population is in part due to society’s shift toward tough on crime policies including determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and mandatory minimums. These tough on crime policies resulted in more individuals committing less serious crimes being sentenced to serve time and longer prison sentences. The 1970s-1980s: The War on Drugs and Changes in Sentencing Policy Incarceration rates did rise above 140 persons imprisoned per 100,000 of the population until the mid 1970s.

These factors create vulnerable circumstances for both inmates and the society. Moreover, these are possibly clear symbols of a failed concept, this raises questions on the methodological aspect of private prisons. Another disturbing effect the privatization of prisons has contributed to, is noted by Ecenbarger, (2012). It involves a case whereby thousands of young men, were wrongfully convicted with many not even receiving legal representation.

In the article “Even Prisoners Must Have Hope”, Richard Stratton (the author) talks about his thoughts on the federal prison system in America. Stratton himself had served 8 years in jail for smuggling marijuana. He strongly advises not to make the prisons even worse than they already are. The harsh conditions and other peoples’ vengeful attitudes toward criminals only make the violence and crime continue. According to Stratton, instead of improving the harsh conditions and trying to rehabilitate and help prisoners that could lead to peace, our society inflicts more pain and punishment, enforcing a violent cycle.

Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.

Introduction A late time of mass incarceration has prompted incredible rates of detainment in the United States, especially among probably the most helpless and minimized groups. Given the rising social and financial expenses of detainment and firm open spending plans, this pattern is starting to switch (Petersilia and Cullen, 2014). Toward the commencement of the 21st century, the United States ends up confronting the huge test of decarcerating America, which is in the meantime an enormous open door. Through decarceration, the lives of a vast number of individuals can be immensely enhanced, and the country all in all can desert this limited and dishonorable time of mass detainment.

The industry has much power in states that learn further right-wing in the political sphere; mostly due to the views of many regarding the restriction of the government power and preference for the privation of most all services. When prisons are privatized, profits then become the main purpose and as a result, those incarcerated in privatized institutions often suffer as a result; mostly in the poor food, labor conditions, and overcrowding. This issue of terrible conditions of these prisons doesn’t just influence the incarcerated, they instead affect society as they often fail at rehabilitation, even at a higher rate than public, creating more crime when those incarcerated are reintroduced into

“As of December 2000, there were 153 private correctional facilities (prisons, jails and detention centers) operating in the United States3 with a capacity of over 119,000 (Cheung, 2004).” Some people believe and set an argument that the privatization can save the government money and that the profit can help. Although there has not been much proof of this out of all the research to today says that there is no real difference. After numerous studies it still can’t be proven if it saves money and if it does how much it saves. (Cheung, 2004) says; “Proponents’ Arguments: Proponents contend that cost-savings and efficiency of operation place private prisons at an advantage over public prisons and support the argument for privatization.

Once outlawed in the beginning of the 20th Century Vickers (1991), private corporations have made a come back with possessing and operating prisons for profit. Privatization is a controversial issue that can be dated all the way back to the days of the civil war. The corrections industry analyzes its re-appearance today amidst globalization and the most impressive growth of prisons in all of modern history, painting an analyzable portrait of what few are calling the "prison industrial complex. " Whenever a state wanted to build a new prison, they traditionally would ask the voters to approve the cost through a bond issue. But, voters throughout the country began to say no.

"The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of the world’s people"(Pelaez). The Global Research website publishes new article, commentary, background research and analysis on a broad range of issues, focusing on social, economic, strategic and environmental issues. Within the wealth of articles , there was an article that stood out and talked about the USA 's prison system and provided great statistics like the one above. The imprisonment rate have gone up, and now there is got to be a reason for such a rapid growth

The prison-industrial complex is a corrupt political system that consists of overpowered politicians whose sole ambition is exploiting poor, uneducated, and under-privileged Americans to make money. Although, it wasn’t initially the purpose when Rockefeller started the war on drugs, but he started something bigger than he could’ve imagined at that time. The prison system has been proven to be ineffective, and costly waste of resources. However, it probably won’t be abolished due to the cash flow that it brings to some of the largest corporations in the

Several peculiar institutions have had the ability to effectively control, confine, and define blacks in America’s history. Systems included chattel slavery, which was the turning point of the plantation economy, the Jim Crow era legally upheld segregation and discrimination, and the mechanism of ghettos which are comprised of minorities, parallel to the collective proletarianization and urbanization of blacks. Lastly but not least, the carceral apparatus has helped to perpetuate a social and economic hierarchy, due to the subjugation of minorities, within the US directly affecting life outcomes of those who are directly and indirectly affected.

Eugene Jarecki States that ,“The prison industrial complex, to put it in it’s crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there’s what you call bureaucratic thrust behind it. It’s hard to shut off because politicians rely upon the steady flow of jobs to their district that the prison system and its related industries promise” (Jareckil 1). Mass incarceration is high rates of imprisonment. Even though when you commit the crime you should do the time. The United States has large numbers of mass incarceration and something needs to be done to prevent this or lower the chances. Authorities like to make a profit by locking people up and keeping them there instead of creating more programs or incentives to decrease the number ,the Joe Martinez parable discusses several points that deal with incarceration.

Finally, the cost and quotas associated with these particular prisons further promote dehumanization. Privatized prisons reduce the cost of housing inmates but at what cost? Private prisons have the authority to overcrowd their cells. This can be considered an aspect of dehumanization because the inmates would not have any space. The report from In the Public Interest dove into the areas of prison life that one would not even know existed such as minimum occupancy guarantees or low crime taxes that some states found themselves wrapped up in.