According to a project run by The Huffington Post, 40% of juvenile offenders sent to private prisons on account of drug related crimes are arrested and convicted of harsher crimes in less than a year from their release (Kirkham). Moreover, the concept of combating drugs with the threat of imprisonment is counterproductive. Imprisoning low level drug-dealers for long periods of time creates a gaping void in the market, quickly replaced by desperate individuals wanting to generate an income, and the number of potential “criminals” skyrockets. Thus, by locking away non-violent offenders with such long sentences, the incarceration boom is being promoted, and wrecking societal
As a U.S. Department of Justice publication notes, “Their organization was so firmly entrenched before authorities understood the danger confronting them that control of the institution was seriously threatened (Seiter, p. 250). There were initially five major prison gangs which were known as the “Traditional Prison Gangs”. These gangs were initially formed to protect themselves from other inmates and predators. Through the years these gangs have went from self protection to now being known for their viciousness and violence to maintain power and control over other inmates. The Aryan Brotherhood (AB) originated in the San Quintin Prison in 1967.
Minorities in America’s Prisons Renita Redding ENG 122 Instructor: Sharon Linne November 23, 2014 Since the 18th century imprisonment has been the method of punishing crime in America. Today there are about two million people incarcerated in federal and state prison institutions in the United States (Page, Whetstone, 2014). The most alarming statistic associated with America’s prison population is the disproportionate number of minorities that are represented. According to Page and Whetstone, “the United States’ unprecedented expansion of imprisonment since the late 1970’s has disproportionately affected African Americans, intensifying inequality and transferring the way some people look at race issues”. Even though, there is an array
One in every 100 adults in the United States is incarcerated according to the PCS. The Pew Center on the States (PCS) conducts credible research and analyzes states’ experiences to determine what works and what does not work. Overcrowding has been a problem in the United States for many years. The government has tried different ways to fix it, but it has steadily gotten worse. Overcrowding has become a major issue in the United States mainly because nonviolent drug addicted offenders are repeating behaviors and ending up in jail.
In 2006, law enforcement agencies reported 1,337,365 arrests of persons under age 18. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth who are transferred from the juvenile court system to the adult criminal system are approximately 34% more likely than youth retained in the juvenile court system to be re-arrested for violent or other crime. Many youth who are held in adult jails have not even been convicted. On any given day, nearly 7,500 young people are locked up in adult jails. On any given
And contrary to what many believe, it’s not just girls who are at risk. Boys and girls both suffer from sexual abuse. In fact, sexual abuse of boys is less likely to be reported due to shame. Aside from the physical damage that sexual abuse can cause, the emotional component is powerful and far reaching. Sexually abused children are tormented by shame and guilt.
These offenders usually choose their targets at random but may be have personal preferences like gender or size. The last classifications of sexual offenders are sex offenders who commit crimes of sexual violence against children within their own families. Currently these types of sexual offenders seem to be most popular. According to “RAINN” Rape, Abuse, Incest Nation Network, someone the victim knows commits most sexual assaults and rapes. They reported that up to 73% of sexual offenses were perpetrated by non-strangers.
It has gotten to the point where mental patients in prisons are handcuffed and regularly shackled every time they leave their cells. Terms such as: segregation, solitary confinement, and isolation will be used frequently to describe these conditions of confinement (Jeffrey Metzner, 2010). These types of restraints could cause psychological effects including anxiety, anger, cognitive disturbances, depression, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis. Many negative effects of solitary confinement mainly exist in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder (Jeffrey Metzner,
Fighting drug abuse is draining our economic resources. The United States spend thirty billion dollars out of a total of thirty-eight billion dollars in corrections nationwide on people who had a history of drug abuse, convicted of drug violations, or were using drugs at the time of their arrest. (oathout). This statistic shows that a majority of our correctional facilities and almost all of our money in corrections is being spent on those who are involved with drugs. “Mass incarceration of convicted drug offenders is a substantial contributor to America’s prison and jail overcrowding.
Since the mid-1970s, the prison population in the nation’s largest state has risen by more than 750%, from about 20,000 to more than 160,000 (Equal Justice Initiative, 2010). California’s prison system is among one of the worst in the system and part of it is due to their adaptation of their “Three Strikes” laws. The laws are harsh and the criminals, especially the ones already having two strikes don’t seem to care about the seriousness of committing crimes. California’s prisons, 33 total, are operating at almost twice their design capacity. Overcrowding is a very serious issue that worries the state officials such as Governor Schwarzenegger.