Understanding Mass Incarceration
Getting Answers
What is mass incarceration?
Incarceration in the United States is one of the main modes of rehab and punishment for wrong doing such as felonies and other criminal offenses. According the the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 2 million adults were incarcerated in The United States county jails, and federal and state prisons in 2013. The United States has the largest population of prison inmates in the world, and the second highest per-capita incarceration rate.
Gender
In 2013, there were 628,900 adult males in local jails in the United States, and 1,463,500 adult males in state and federal prisons. A study of sentencing in the United States in 1984 found that males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type, and noted that females receive even shorter sentences relative to men than whites relative to blacks. Sentences for men are to be up to 60% higher when controlling for more variables. Several explanations for this disparity have been offered, including that women have more to lose from incarceration, and that men are the targets of discrimination in sentencing. In 2013, there were 102,400 adult females in local jails in the United States, and 111,300 adult females in state and federal prisons. Within the US, the rate of female incarceration increased by five times in a two decade span ending in 2001. This incline occurred because of increased prosecutions and convictions of offenses related to recreational drugs, increases in the severity of offenses, and a lack of community sanctions and treatment for women who violate laws. It was not until 1870 in the United States that authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men.
The War On Drugs
The War on Drugs is a phrase used to refer to a government-led initiative that aims to stop illegal drug use, distribution and trade by increasing and enforcing penalties for offenders. The movement started in the 1970's and is still evolving today. One major defining characteristic of the federal prison system are nonviolent drug offenses. 1 in 5 incarcerated individuals are locked up for a drug related offense. Drug arrests give residents of over-policed communities criminal records, which in turn reduces prospective employment and increases the chance of longer future sentences.
Immigrants
As for those locked up criminally for immigration-related issues, over 16,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws. Aside from this, approximately 41,000 are civilly detained by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separate from any criminal proceedings. These detained individuals are confined in federally run or privately run immigration detention center or inn local jails under contract with ICE.
Juvenilles
Through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, the United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world. There are almost 7,000 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense. Further, 600 youth are behind bars for “status” offenses, which are behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.
sources:
Bureau of Justice Statistics Home page. (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2017, from https://bjs.gov/
Gottschalk, M. (2011). The past, present, and future of mass incarceration in the United States. Criminology & Public Policy,10(3), 483-504. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2011.00755.x