Ethnic Issues of Incarceration - Essay Example

Ethnic Issues of Incarceration Ethnic Issues of Incarceration Outline The of the paper. IntroductionThe rationale of the paper study. Body of the Paper 1. Prevalence: consideration of the fact of prevalence of the African American men incarcerated. 2. Causes of the Phenomenon: studying of the causes of the phenomenon of the topic. 3. Consequences: clarifying the results of the phenomenon. 4. Solutions: offering the possible measures aimed at resolution of the problem. 5. Conclusion: drawing conclusions from the information studied. Reference List: list of the sources used. Abstract Incarceration has been serving as a punishment and sometimes prevention measure in terms of public and governmental reaction to conviction of various crimes. Due to its peculiarities it has proved its positive effects in terms of reconsideration of the criminals’ behavior, though the ratio of those who reconsidered their world perception is not an ultimate number. There have also been cases of faulty incarceration due to different reasons, which, obviously, negatively affected the incarcerated. The US is a specific country from ethnic perspective because it comprises numerous nations which are great in relation to the number of population, and there is a point of concern today that, for example, the Black is the nation which is the most subjected to criminal prosecution with the subsequent incarceration. Ethnic Issues of Incarceration Introduction This paper will consider the phenomenon of incarceration in the US from the ethnic perspective in relation to three nations: the Black, the Hispanic and the non-Hispanic population. The point of concern here is also that men are considered to be criminals more often than women, and this sex will be an object of this paper study. Prevalence The consideration of the topic mentioned will be done by means of information analysis from the national data sources. This data will provide explanation of the fact of racial division of incarceration and prevalence of one category over the others. This information will also consider geography of the incarceration, that is, which states and cities have the biggest rates and which categories in these areas are the most incarcerated ones. McDaniel et al. state that the Black men make the biggest part out of the 100,000 incarcerated men, making the quantity of the incarcerated 3023, whereas there are 1238 Hispanic men and only 478 White men incarcerated per the same quantity mentioned. (McDaniel et al., 2013). The authors also emphasize that the ratio of incarcerated men aged between 20 and 34 year, that is, relatively young and capable of performing labor activity and usual social roles, has increased since the year 1980 within all the three mentioned ethnic categories, as of the data of 2008. (McDaniel et al., 2013). In this regard, the point of concern is that this growth has become very significant: in 1980, the White incarcerated men made only 0,6 per cent, while the data of 2008 shows 1,8 per cent, that is, three times increase; the number of African American incarcerated men increased by 2 times – from 5,2 per cent in 1980 to 11,4 per cent in 2008; and the Hispanic male incarceration has demonstrated the lowest increase - 3,7 per cent in 2008 against 2,3 per cent as compared to the year 1980. (McDaniel et al., 2013). This is explained by an obvious reason and an overwhelming nation-wide trend: since the 1970s the rates of persons in jails and prisons in the United states of America has increased by a rise of more than 500 per cent resulting in 2,2 million incarcerated. (Mauer, King, 2007). The geography of the incarceration practice is another important issue to mention. Such states as Wisconsin, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Iowa (the Midwest and Northeast regions) have the highest ratio of incarceration of the Black to the White. “This geographic concentration is true as well for the Hispanic-to-white ratio, with the most disproportionate states being Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey…” (Mauer, King, 2007). The problem of incarceration also relates to the ration between the Blakc and the White judges. According to the official information, the number of the African American judges of all the state courts makes only 3,8 per cent which is, obviously, very low and creates a basis for prejudice when making decisions on incarceration. (Ifill, 1998). Causes of the Phenomenon There are certain causes which have led to such distribution of the ethnic ratios of the incarcerated men in the USA. They explain high rates of, for example, the African Americans in prisons and jails and, on the contrary, an outstandingly low percentage of the White men who make part of the population behind the bars. These causes may also be referred to as the drivers which make people choose criminal model of behavior and, as a consequence, to end up in the places of their freedom limitation. The high rate of incarceration of the Black population of male sex is explained by their concentration in the areas and neighborhoods which are poor. (McDaniel et al., 2013). As it was mentioned above, the occupation for the young men, not only of the African American ethnicity, is performing labor activity which is possible to be done where the state of affairs with the job offer is relatively stable and good. Absence of job and the salary which is gained by its means makes people search for other sources of income. As the trend of a man as a breadwinner is still relatively strong, desperate situation leaves no choice for men to take up criminal activity as their last resort for money making. The areas of the Black population residence are usually characterized by high level of unemployment, which contributes to the mentioned choice of criminal activities. The fact of inequality in employment of the Black and the White men, as Bruce Western states, is another negative actor which makes Black male population consider illegal ways of income gaining acceptable. (Western, 2001). The mentioned economic situation also promotes drug dealing. According to McDaniel et al., “twenty-one percent of the African American prison population was incarcerated on drug offenses compared with 15 percent of the white prison population.” (McDaniel et al.,, 2013). Such a boom in incarceration rate for drug dealing adversely affects the population of the African American community depriving it of active male population. (Hattery, Smith, 2007). Consequences The process of incarceration affects both the personality of the incarcerated and the part of society to which they belong. The consequences of this process are positive and negative. The point of concern here is that the negative ones are seen more explicitly and open that the positive because they have greater effect. The fact that the incarcerated Black men of the relatively young age spend a significant part of their time in prisons or jails means that they have less time left for ordinary activities when they come out of their place of incarceration or this time may be lost completely at all. Young African American Men “…enter the state and federal prison system… at the prime of their economic and reproductive lives, and when they emerge, they will be behind in these life stages if not aged out of them entirely.” (Hattery, Smith, 2007). In the meantime, the rest of the African American citizens of the same age graduate from the universities, start their careers, create their families, that is, develop the human capital of the African American society, whereas the incarcerated affect this human capital from the opposite part (Hattery, Smith, 2007). These men, of course, have a chance for employment, but after the release this usually happens a decade later than normal, which directly reduces the savings and earnings of the lifetime and retirement. Moreover, the felony record given to the released men negatively affects their success in searching for employment and distracts the potential employers from them. This also means that such people will not be able to exercise their right for voting, which adversely affects the self-esteem of such people and may lead to their thinking of themselves as useless and minor elements of society which has no power and influence. (Hattery, Smith, 2007). The economic cost of the Black men incarceration is high both for the family and the community as well. As about 50 per cent of all the African American men have low income rates and belong to the class which is lower than the middle one, they are similarly to be incarcerated, which inevitably leads to a felony record. This, in its turn, leads to unemployment which deprives the families of such people of their living. The poverty is a consequence of such state of affairs, which, again, provokes high crime rate and drug dealing with the subsequent incarceration. (Hattery, Smith, 2007). Incarceration also negatively affects the human capital. Men are incarcerated during their reproductive age, that is, when they are capable of becoming fathers, which means introduction of their children as the new elements to the society, and after their release they are mostly incapable of this and are, consequently, useless for the society from this perspective. (Hattery, Smith, 2007). Another negative consequence of incarceration on human capital is in the sphere of employment. The law guarantees the employer’s right to clarify whether certain prospective employees have felony records and arrest notes. In practice, this is widely used to turn the applicants down, and those having the mentioned records are refused more often that the others. (Hattery, Smith, 2007). Solutions As the causes for incarceration concern the sphere of economy and employment, the solutions shall be offered from the same perspectives as well. The problem of unemployment is the most actual one, and it needs to be solved by means of creation of the new working places. Another possible solution of this problem is material stimulating of the population which lives on the poverty threshold or below the minimally established income level. Material measures would probably have the best effect in this regard because they would help the prospective incarcerated solve the problem of money making and reconsideration of their decision of taking up criminal activity. Conclusion The above mentioned information gives an opportunity to draw a following conclusion. The African American men is the category of people which is the most incarcerated, and this is due to economic, criminal and labor situation in the places of their residence. The incredibly low number of the judges who represent African American community in federal states means that there is also inequality in decisions making which leads to extremely high number of the Black incarcerated men. References Hattery, A., Smith, E. (2007). African American Families. Wake Forest: SAGE Publications. Ifill, S. (1998). Judging the Judges: Racial Diversity, Impartiality and Representation on State Trial Courts. Boston College Law Review, 39 (1). Mauer, M., King, R. (2007). Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration By Race and Ethnicity. Washington: The Sentencing Project. McDaniel, M., Simms, M., Monson, W., Fortuny, K. (2013). Imprisonment and Disenfranchisement of Disconnected Low-Income Men. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services ASPE/Human Services Policy Western, B. (2001). Incarceration, Unemployment, and Inequality. Focus, 21. Read More