Answer Unit 6 assignment questions using unit 6 PowerPoint.
Incarceration Trends Incarceration Trends Chapter 18 Learning Objectives Discuss the explanations for the dramatic increase in the incarceration rate. Explain what can be done to deal with the prison population crisis. Be familiar with the impact of prison crowding. Discuss whether incarceration pays. 2 Explaining Prison Population Trends Increased Arrests and More Likely Incarceration Tougher Sentencing Prison Construction The War on Drugs State and Local Politics 20XX Pitch deck title 3 From 1930 through 1980, the incarceration rate in the US remained stable. However, the average rate of incarceration increased dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s. This growth trend continued well into the 21st century, with the average rate being 490 per 100,000 from 2000 to 2009. The large amount of growth has changed the demographic and offense makeup of the prison population. Prisoners are more likely to be middle-aged, more women are being incarcerated, etc. The size and growth of the prison population varies by state. For example, Southern states have higher rates of incarceration than northern states, and states in New England have some of the lowest rates of incarceration. So why do we have so many new inmates? Well, there are five main reasons for the increase. Increased Arrests and More Likely Incarceration Some analysts argue that the billions spend by federal, state, and local governments on the crime problem is paying off. When the crime rate began to rise dramatically in the mid-1960s, the incarceration rate was fairly low. Crime rates for serious offense have now declined, but the estimated number of arrests for some offenders has increased dramatically, e.g., drug violations. About 71% of those entering state prisons do so directly as a result of a new court commitment, and nearly 27% of admissions are inmates who returned to prison for violating conditions of their parole. Tougher Sentencing As discussed before, being tough on crime is a popular political standpoint. Therefore, over the decades, promising longer sentences and following through on those promises has increased the number of inmates because there are more individuals serving longer periods of time. Violent offenders serve the longest sentences; property and drug offenders serve less time. New mandatory sentencing laws greatly limit the discretion of judges with regard to the length of sentences for certain offenders. Prison Construction The increased Rate of incarceration may be related to the creation of additional space in the nation's prisons and the economic impact of the construction boom. Public attitudes in favor of more punitive sentencing policies have influenced legislators to approve building more prisons even with the decline in the crime rate during the past decade and tougher economic times in many states, new prison construction continues. According to organizational theorists, available public resources such as hospitals and schools are used to their fullest capacity and prisons are no exception. When prison space is limited, judges reserve incarceration for only the most violent offenders. However, when there are plentiful cells for inmates those cells fill up. Therefore, creation of additional prison space may thus increase the incarceration rate. The War on Drugs The war on drugs came at a time when the country was scared by the advent of crack cocaine, which ravaged many communities and resulted in an increased murder rate. In 1987 Congress imposed stiff mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug law violations, laws that many states copied. The hope was that this would decrease the amount of drugs on the street, punish offenders harshly, and overall reduce the number of drugs being used. The war on drugs has succeeded on one front by packing the nation's prisons with drug law offenders. The number of people sentenced to prison for drug crimes has increased steadily. In 1980 only 6% of state prisoners had been convicted of a drug offense, today that percentage is higher in both state prisons and federal prisons. State and Local Politics Incarceration rates vary among the regions and states. One might think that there would be an association among the states between crime rates and incarceration rates- the more crime, the higher the incarceration rate. However, this is not the case. Even when states have similar socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, various incarceration rates often exist and remain difficult to explain. In recent years, scholars have shown that the location of prisons makes a significant economic and political impact in some states. Greenburg and West have analyzed variations in the levels of incarceration among the 50 states. Some main findings of this research include: 1. States with high violent crime have higher levels of imprisonment 2. States with higher revenues have higher prison populations. 3. States with higher unemployment and where there is a higher percentage of African Americans in the population have higher prison populations 4. States with more-generous welfare benefits have lower prison populations 5. States with more political conservatives not only have higher incarceration rates, but their rates also grew more rapidly than did the rates of states with fewer conservatives. 6. Political incentives for an expansive prison policy transcended Democratic and Republican affiliations. 3 Dealing with Overcrowded Prisons The Null Strategy The Construction Strategy Intermediate Sanctions Prison Population Reduction 20XX Pitch deck title 4 Currently, (read, as the publishing of the textbook) there are 19 state prison systems that are operating above capacity. Crowded prisons may violate constitutional standards, decrease access to programs and services, create major administrative problems, and perhaps increase violence. There are four possible approaches that states may take to address overcrowding. Each approach has economic, social, and political costs and each entails a different amount of time for implementation and impact. The Null Strategy The Null Strategy is exactly what it sounds like. Formally, it is the strategy of doing nothing to relieve crowding in prisons, under the assumption that the problem is temporary and will disappear in time. Opponents of incarceration may support this approach on philosophical grounds because they fear that other strategies will only result in greater numbers being imprisoned. While this may seem like a good idea in the short run (taxpayers are alleviated from paying for new prisons), in the long run the resulting overcrowding may cause prisons to become more disorderly as staff members become demoralized and inmates take control. The Construction Strategy This strategy consists of building new facilities to meet the demand for prison space. Although it does often come to mind, this strategy may not be as feasible as we would like to believe. It costs a lot of money to build, staff, and maintain prisons. Legislatures typically estimate new prison construction costs about $75,000 PER CELL. As noted, opponents of new construction believe that given the nature of bureaucratic organizations, prison cells will always find a way to be full. Intermediate Sanctions Prisons are costly and a scarce resource. Some observers argue that rather than merely building more institutions, corrections should reserve prison space for those violent offenders who have not been deterred by prior punishments. Intermediate sanctions is a way to divert offenders away from prisons, either to community services, boot camps, home confinements, etc. Some critics contend that even if such alternatives were full incorporated, they would affect only first-time, marginal offenders; that they are not appropriate for serious criminals. Prison Population Reduction The main ways that correctional officials can reduce prison populations include various “backdoor strategies”, such as parole, work release, and good time. The utility of such strategies is reduced is legislatures mandate that higher portions of sentences be served and reduce good-time allocations. 4 The Impact of prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding directly affects the ability of correctional officials to do their work because it decreases the proportion of offenders in programs, increase the potential for violence, and greatly strains staff morale As a direct consequence of the higher incarceration rate, courts have cited several states for maintaining so crowded that they violated the 8th amendment. Most researchers agree: Prisoners housed in large open bay dorms are more likely to visit clinics and have higher blood pressure Prisons that contain dorms have somewhat higher assault rates Prisons with populations that allow less than 60 sq feet per inmates tend to have higher assault rates 5 5 Does incarceration pay? Supporters of incarceration believe that current policies have succeeded in lowering the crime rate They argue that prisons have value To not incarcerate offenders is costly to society Others argue that incarceration is harmful to society Removing young men from their families and friends weakens informal social control and causes more crime We have no definitive answer as to whether or not incarceration pays 20XX Pitch deck title 6 6 Take a break! Get a snack Celebrate being almost done with the semester! 7 Race, Ethnicity, and corrections Chapter 19 Learning Objectives Understand the meaning of race and ethnicity Recognize how varying visions of race and punishment influence our thinking on this issue Describe the significance of race and punishment 20XX Pitch deck title 9 Race in the correctional context There are more Black men in prison than there are in college Patterns regarding race and corrections begin early 20XX Pitch deck title 10 Shockingly, there are more Black men in prison than there are in college. Black men born in the 1960s are more likely to go to prison than they are to finish a four year degree or serve in the military. Some have argued that the U.S. prison system is designed as a way to incarcerate Black men, though