African American male crime rates - Article Example

Program for Action and Number [Pick the Your Mailbox Number Your Social Security Number African American Male Crime Rates According to InfoPlease (2008, pg. 1), "About 10.4% of the entire African-American male population in the United States aged 25 to 29 was incarcerated, by far the largest racial or ethnic group-by comparison, 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% of white men in that same age group were incarcerated."The majority of individuals believe that there are more African American adult males incarcerated because there are more African American adult males that commit crimes than there are from any other demographic.

According to statistics alone, it sure looks that way. This is not in any way meant to be a racist remark; it is instead simply stating the numbers as they appear as being factual (Harris & Miller, 2003).Others disagree with the above statements, instead believing that some sort of social wrongdoing is responsible for incarcerating more African American adult males than anything else. According to Mauer (1999), these social ills include, "education, housing, employment, and health care, among others.

Perhaps in no other area, though, have these problems been displayed as prominently as in the realm of crime and the criminal justice system." Mauer believes that African Americans are more likely to be the victims of crime than any other demographic. He also believes that, "the dramatic rates at which African American males have come under some form of criminal justice supervision has created a complex set of consequences which affect not only individual victims and offenders, but families and communities as well.

"Clearly, the solution of the overall problem depends heavily upon figuring out the truth. Are more African American adult males incarcerated because they commit more crimes than any other demographic, or are their incarceration simply because of some great social wrongdoing or the placement of poor policies within society Once the truth to this question has been made known, an effective solution can be put into place that can serve to help correct the problem and make things right overall (Hattery & Smith, 2007).

Once the aforementioned question has been answered, one can begin to address potential solutions to the problem. One potential way in which this can be accomplished is through the observation of other societies. One can simply observe whether or not the incarceration of African American adult males is disproportionately higher in other societies as compared to their own in order to draw a conclusion. In addition, one can observe the policies that are in place within the society in question in order to determine whether or not they are working as they should be.

According to the American Society of Criminology (2008, pg. 1), "African American males are disproportionately incarcerated. Since the 1960s, African American male inmates have reportedly been disproportionately involved in sexually aggressive behavior while incarcerated as well. However, they are usually underrepresented in prison sexual assault studies, making it difficult to document their experiences as sexual assault victims and perpetrators." One thing that appears over and over in the literature studied is the grave importance of solving the issues, whatever they may be.

ReferencesThe characteristics of incarcerated African American male sexual assault victims and perpetrators: A pilot study. American Society of Criminology. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/2/7/2/2/p127227_index.htmlHarris, O. and R.R. Miller. (2003). Impacts of incarceration on the African American family. Transaction Books. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://books.google.com/booksid=zr0BWzjLrKgC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=african+american+male+incarceration&source=web&ots=jO1Zzg32Dq&sig=0Jj4ajVK0bjQ3ZznNCb_VSkYA1s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=resultHattery, A. and E. Smith. (2007). African American families. Sage. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://books.google.com/booksid=UrRCsOEIchQC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=african+american+male+incarceration&source=web&ots=ciShgeLyTU&sig=bKHnuFDvDfQq6ycpG1Rtei_pKFc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=resultMauer, M. (1999). The crisis of the young African American male and the criminal justice system.

Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://72.14.205.104/searchq=cache:fSWQFSDMznMJ:www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_crisisoftheyoung.pdf+african+american+male+incarceration&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=usPrison population exceeds two million. (2008). InfoPlease. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0881455.html