Mass Incarceration Essays (Examples)

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Mass Incarceration in Arizona: Trends and History
Mass incarceration is an example of one of the more profound injustices of our time. Arizona is one of the states in America that currently struggles with mass incarceration, as its penal system has spiraled out of control, becoming a factor of injustice, rather than a necessary and notable part of the justice system. This paper will look at how the penal system has changed—in Arizona and in America as a whole, and discuss how Arizona has also gotten on the corrupt bandwagon of for-profit prisons, something that does a tremendous disservice to all the citizens of the nation. Finally, this paper will examine the race relations in Arizona from a more historical perspective, ultimately demonstrating that mass incarceration impacts black and brown men more than white men, and is ultimately a form of segregation revived. This paper seeks to prove the undeniable connection….

Michelle Alexander does not assume full credit for the striking title of her book The New Jim Crow, recounting having seen the slogan on a “bright orange poster” in 1998.[footnoteRef:1] Former ACLU attorney turned law professor, Michelle Alexander had always been aware of the need for justice system reform. Alexander worked headed the ACLU Racial Justice Project but it took that bright orange poster to help her draw the connection between drug policy and race-related social justice issues in America. Her initial research revealed that up to three quarters of the prison terms being served for drug offences are Black or Latino, even though the “majority of the country’s illegal drug users and dealers are white.”[footnoteRef:2] Alexander herself is bi-racial, with a white mother and a black father. She experienced discrimination from an early age, forcing her parents out of their community. Her childhood experiences spurned racial awareness, and prompted….

Diversity Inc: eflecting on MLK DayArticle SummaryThe article eflecting on the History of MLK Day by DiversityInc Contributer (2023) discusses the history of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was established in the US to honor the civil rights leader and his legacy. The article begins by discussing the background of MLK, how he came from humble origins, and how he went on to be revered around the world before being assassinated. It then moves on to the topic of memorializing MLK with his own national holiday. This is the main point of the article, which is that there is a lesson in the story of how King received his own day.The article states for instance that it was not easy for recognition to be gained: It took 15 years of lobbying to get the U.S. Congress to establish MLK Day, which finally became an official holiday in 1986 (DiversityInc….

Sentencing in the US versus in Germany and the Netherlands
There is one major difference between the sentencing and corrections policies of the US and the sentencing and corrections policies of Germany and the Netherlands. The former bases its policy on the ideas of retribution and incapacitation, whereas the latter base their policies on the ideas of rehabilitation and socialization (Vera Institute of Justice, 2013). This basic philosophical orientation towards the corrections is what distinguishes the two policies. The US views corrections as a punitive measure while Germany and the Netherlands view corrections in a positive light -- a measure that is designed to return the inmate to society. Indeed, recidivism rate in the US is 40% -- meaning that 4 out of every 10 inmates released will return to prison within the first three years (Vera Institute of Justice, 2013). In Germany and the Netherlands, such a rate is unheard….

Milwaukee Experiment
The seeming injustice of so many African-American males serving time in prisons has been seen as a national problem for a long time. But the report in The New Yorker about the ratio of black males in prisons in isconsin shows a problem that is considerably greater than the national picture. This paper delves into that issue, and reports on what one prosecutor is trying to do about the situation.

In isconsin, African-Americans are only 6% of the entire population, but they constitute 37% of all imprisoned persons. Of all the African-American males in isconsin, studies completed in 2010 show that 13% of them are in prison; and worse yet, in Milwaukee County " ... more than half of African-American men in their thirties had served time in state prison" (Toobin, 2015). The article that points out that Milwaukee County's District Attorney, John Chisholm, who is fully aware of course….

Juvenile Offenders
The author of this report is asked to answer several questions relating to the handling of treatment of juvenile criminal offenders and how some alternatives to some current practices might yield better efficacy and benefits than simply throwing them in juvenile facilities and/or treating them like adult offenders committing the same crime. In question are the historical and economic reasons behind the quest of alternatives for housing and rehabbing juvenile offenders, three alternatives to incarceration that are currently used and the significant societal and individual benefits that can be reaped from these efforts as well as others. While some horrific crimes are committed by teenagers and younger, most juvenile offenders should be given ample chance to rebuild their life and self-esteem so that they can become contributing members of society.

Questions Answered

egarding the underlying historical and economic reasons for treating juvenile offenders differently than just throwing them in jail,….

ace, Class and Gender and Correctional Settings
Today, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of low-income young black males, so it is reasonable to suggest that there is an inextricable relationship between race, socioeconomic class and gender and the institutional correctional community. It is also reasonable to suggest that this relationship has a corresponding impact on clients, staff and the administration of correctional institutions. To determine the facts, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to identify the role of race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community and the impact of these variables on clients, staff, and administration. Finally, an analysis concerning the impact of race, class, and gender on current correctional institutions is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the relationship between race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community in the conclusion.

eview and Discussion

The role of race,….

Free
How the Criminal Justice System is Dysfunctional according to Paul Butler's Let's Get Free

The American criminal justice system has had a long history of prejudice. From the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision that institutionalized the false concept of "separate but equal" to the Jim Crow laws that followed to the methods of "control" enacted by police in urban communities, criminal justice in the U.S. has seen lots of crime but little justice. Part of the reason for the inherent dysfunction in the way minorities have always been treated in America is that the country was founded on prejudiced WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) principles: the principle of "manifest destiny" was based on the supposedly "divine right" that WASPs had to "control" the New World and eradicate the "lesser" races (such as the Native Americans and the African-Americans). These prejudiced principles were absorbed into the criminal justice system through lawmakers (as….

Ex Offenders
The United States is regarded as having the world's highest incarceration rate. It has been estimated that the prisons are holding more than 2.3 million people as of now. Due to this reason, overcrowding is a significant issue in the prison system of the country. It is seen that for every hundred thousand population, there are seven hundred and forty eight inmates and this number is expected to increase. Due to the increased incarceration, the state and the federal prisons are made to release a decent number of ex-offenders every year. The trend of releasing has only been a result of the mass incarceration that the country has experienced. It was seen that during the 1972 till the 1997 period, the number of state and federal prisoners increased from 196,000 to a record of 1,159,000 (Mauer, 1999) In 2000, a total of 600,000 ex-offenders were released to the communities….

Penal Practices
Penal is a word pertaining to punishment and the penal system or penal practices are those related to trial of a person to judge if he should be punished or not and if yes, how much and for how long should he be punished. The penal practices are governed by standard penal laws that are similar yet customized in every country. For example, theft is the same crime but punished with imprisonment in USA, cutting of hands in Saudi Arabia and some time ago, punished by being shot in China. Thus the penal practices can vary from country to country and region to region.

Objective of Penal System

The objectives of penal system are evident and clear. There is a party, a person a group or an organization that committed crime and another party that was wronged. The first objective of penal system is to compensate the affected party by punishing….

New Jim Crow
When considering the introduction and chapter three of Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, arguably the most important conceptional foundation to remember is the notion of social oppression, and particularly the fact that social oppression can occur with or without the knowledge or intention of the dominant social group. As Hardiman, Jackson, and Griffin note in their contribution to eadings for Diversity and Social Justice, social oppression that occurs on the institutional level is oftentimes the product of oppressive beliefs and behaviors on the level of the individual and society, making it extremely difficult to pinpoint, and thus challenge, the roots of institutional oppression. Chapter three of Alexander's book highlights this difficulty in its discussion of the Supreme Court's inability or unwillingness to confront qualitatively obvious discrimination in favor of the near-impossible task of identifying specific, individual cases of racial….

ole and Evolution of the American Prison System
Explain the Primary ole and Evolution of the American Prison System and Determine if Incarceration educes Crime

The United States constitution is the fundamental foundation of the American criminal justice system. Given that the document is now over two hundred years old, it constantly experiences numerous amendments and interpretations. As a result, the criminal justice system over the years experienced alterations in order to reflect the needs and beliefs of each subsequent generation. The configuration of the modern prison system has its basis in the late 1700's and early 1800s. The development of the modern prison system aims at protecting innocent members of the society from criminals. The prison systems also deter criminals from committing more crimes through detaining and rehabilitating them. However, more and more deluge of white-collar crimes and other crimes, burdens the American criminal justice system and the prison system.….

New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness offers a scathing and disturbing portrait of institutionalized racism in the United States. In an article written for the Huffington Post that supplements her book, Alexander states plainly: "There are more African-Americans under correctional control today -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil ar began." Beginning with this central fact, Alexander discusses the use of incarceration as a new form of slavery and segregation. African-Americans have been systematically excluded from access to social and cultural capital, excluded from access to economic and political empowerment. The election of Barak Obama has not changed much for the majority of African-Americans who contend with institutionalized racism and systematic poverty and disenfranchisement. "As of 2004, more African-American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than….

Incarceration on Prisoners Families
There can be little doubt that incarceration will impact on families as well as the prisoner. ith more than 1 million women and 6 million men within the correctional system in the U.S. (Clarke and Adashi 923), indicating an exponentially large number of family members being impacted. The family members most impacted are the immediate family; partners, and children, as well as parents, as well as impacting on the wider communities (Braman 5). This paper reviews the problems faced by prisoners' families, focusing on partners and children of those incarcerated.

The impact on partners can be far reaching, especially for partners who met their partners prior to any incarceration. The impacts will be tangible and psychological. Firstly, the incarceration of a partner may create financial hardships, this may be due to loss of income, especially where the prisoner was a major wage earner. hen it is remembered….

Drug Laws
The Shortcomings in our Current Drug Law Policy: Research Proposal

As a major policy issue in the United States, the ar on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, America's policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the ar on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the United States has been one of prosecution and imprisonment rather than one of decriminalization, treatment and rehabilitation. As our medical and scientific communities characterize addiction as a disease, the United States government continues to characterize this disease as a crime. And in doing so, it has created an unnecessary criminal class in the United States. The research proposal will set out to prove that stiffer….

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11 Pages
Essay

Politics - State

Mass Incarceration in Arizona Social Cultural and Legislative History

Words: 3499
Length: 11 Pages
Type: Essay

Mass Incarceration in Arizona: Trends and History Mass incarceration is an example of one of the more profound injustices of our time. Arizona is one of the states in America…

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5 Pages
Term Paper

Criminal Justice

new jim crow mass incarceration war on drugs

Words: 1354
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Michelle Alexander does not assume full credit for the striking title of her book The New Jim Crow, recounting having seen the slogan on a “bright orange poster” in…

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2 Pages
Article Review

American History

Civil Rights Issues Today Healthcare Inequities and Mass Incarceration

Words: 535
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Article Review

Diversity Inc: eflecting on MLK DayArticle SummaryThe article eflecting on the History of MLK Day by DiversityInc Contributer (2023) discusses the history of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which…

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5 Pages
Essay

Criminal Justice

Norway and Germany Compared to US in Incarceration

Words: 1669
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Essay

Sentencing in the US versus in Germany and the Netherlands There is one major difference between the sentencing and corrections policies of the US and the sentencing and corrections policies…

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2 Pages
Essay

Sports

Addressing African Americans Incarcerations in Wisconsin

Words: 615
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

Milwaukee Experiment The seeming injustice of so many African-American males serving time in prisons has been seen as a national problem for a long time. But the report in The…

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3 Pages
Essay

Children

Alternatives to Incarceration

Words: 969
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

Juvenile Offenders The author of this report is asked to answer several questions relating to the handling of treatment of juvenile criminal offenders and how some alternatives to some…

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10 Pages
Term Paper

Race

Demographic Trends in Incarceration

Words: 3119
Length: 10 Pages
Type: Term Paper

ace, Class and Gender and Correctional Settings Today, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of low-income young black males, so it is reasonable to suggest that there is…

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7 Pages
Essay

Criminal Justice

Free How the Criminal Justice System Is

Words: 2325
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Essay

Free How the Criminal Justice System is Dysfunctional according to Paul Butler's Let's Get Free The American criminal justice system has had a long history of prejudice. From the Plessy…

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6 Pages
Research Paper

Criminal Justice

Ex-Offenders and the Re-Entry to the Society

Words: 2212
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Research Paper

Ex Offenders The United States is regarded as having the world's highest incarceration rate. It has been estimated that the prisons are holding more than 2.3 million people as of…

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8 Pages
Essay

Criminal Justice

Penal Practices Penal Is a Word Pertaining

Words: 2593
Length: 8 Pages
Type: Essay

Penal Practices Penal is a word pertaining to punishment and the penal system or penal practices are those related to trial of a person to judge if he should be…

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2 Pages
Reaction Paper

American History

New Jim Crow When Considering the Introduction

Words: 667
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Reaction Paper

New Jim Crow When considering the introduction and chapter three of Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, arguably the most important conceptional…

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12 Pages
Research Paper

Criminal Justice

Role and Evolution of the American Prison

Words: 3536
Length: 12 Pages
Type: Research Paper

ole and Evolution of the American Prison System Explain the Primary ole and Evolution of the American Prison System and Determine if Incarceration educes Crime The United States constitution is…

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3 Pages
Essay

Criminal Justice

New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander's the New

Words: 998
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness offers a scathing and disturbing portrait of institutionalized racism in the United States. In…

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3 Pages
Reaction Paper

Criminal Justice - Prisons

The Problems Faced by Families of Prisoners

Words: 1002
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Reaction Paper

Incarceration on Prisoners Families There can be little doubt that incarceration will impact on families as well as the prisoner. ith more than 1 million women and 6 million…

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7 Pages
Research Proposal

Sports - Drugs

Have Stiff Drug Laws Helped or Hurt the Criminal Justice System

Words: 1901
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Research Proposal

Drug Laws The Shortcomings in our Current Drug Law Policy: Research Proposal As a major policy issue in the United States, the ar on Drugs has been one of the most…

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