THE HIGH INCARNATION RATE 1
The High Incarceration Rate
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The High Incarceration Rate
Despite the reduction in national crime rates, incarceration has increased gradually over the past few years. Most of the offenders in the United States have been imprisoned in federal prisons, state prisons, local jails, and privately operated facilities. The increase in incarceration rates has resulted from the rise in the likelihood of imprisonment and longer prison sentences. Longer prison sentences have been the primary cause of the rise in incarceration rates. The rates of incarceration in low-income areas are higher as compared to the wealthier neighborhoods due to high crime rates. Also, drug crimes have remained a predominant reason for the increase f incarceration. Incarceration has increased over the last decades due to mandatory minimums and the fifth against drugs. The majority of the offenders sentenced to jails in the United States are blacks. In this context, the paper discusses the high rate of incarceration.
The problem of incarceration has resulted in high budgetary and human costs. The individuals on parole or probation are not allowed to vote, and their ability to secure jobs and certain federal benefits have been affected. People convicted of criminal issues face severe challenges in finding decent and stable employment. Also, incarceration increases the levels of poverty for prior inmates and their household members. Incarceration results in profound harmful effects on the mental and physical health of the offender after release (Wildeman &Wang, 2017). The act of keeping offenders longer in the prison results in long incarceration periods. The communities are negatively affected in myriad ways resulting in damage to social relationships, social networks, and long-term life chances. Moreover, incarceration has also affected the functioning of families has been changed, political and economic infrastructures.
Different solutions can be used to solve the problem of high incarceration rates. One of the working solutions that can be used is reducing the length of prison terms and probation as well as parole periods. Policymakers can change unreasonably punitive sentencing policies that include mandatory minimum sentences and truth-in-sentencing requirements. Also, earned time and good time policies can be used to reduce the sentences of inmates. In states where the rate of granting parole has remained low, the programs that allow inmates meeting specific requirements to get favorable decisions can to be expended. Changes in court orders and policies can result in a steady decline in prison populations.
During the research on the high incarceration rate, one of the key points to research on will be whether technology can be the critical key to unlocking the substitutes to long-term prison punishments. The research will be aimed at testing whether the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and ankle bracelets are useful in monitoring individuals convicted with nonviolent offenses. Also, the research will be aimed at establishing whether individuals out on release under mandatory minimums use mobile devices to keep in touch with probation officers. Booking log and forms will be used to collect data on the individuals arrested and confined in the incarceration facility. Classical screening forms will also be used to gather legal status, criminal history, and recommendation regarding the prisoner. Other data collection sources to be used include arrest report and jail lists. The data collected will be analyzed to get the frequency distributions by diving all the data points onto a series of categories. Measures of central tendency will be used to get the mean, mode, and median of jail populations.
Different ethical and legal responsibilities will be used to ensure that the final report will be of the highest ethical standards. The research will provide a moral framework across all the activity cycle. Integrity will be applied in the research work, and consultations will be built with the stakeholders in implementing the research. Also, efforts will be made to ensure that the study complies with the department guidelines for conducting research. Research findings will be communicated in a manner that is respective and sensitive to the religious and cultural differences among the participants in the study.
In conclusion, a high rate of incarceration has been experienced in the United States. The problem has resulted in high budget costs, damage to social networks, and difficulties in securing decent job opportunities for those affected by incarceration. A working solution that can be used to curb the problem is a reduction in the time of parole periods and prison terms.
Reference
Wildeman, C., and Wang, E.A., 2017. Mass incarceration, public health, and widening inequality in the USA. The Lancet, 389(10077), pp.1464-1474.