Why does the United States have the highest documented incarceration rate?
A better question would be: Does it matter that the US has the highest incarceration rate? If you think incarceration is bad the answer is yes. If you think incarceration is good the answer is no. The current debate centers on these two extremes. I think we should think of this differently.
We don’t think of hospitalization as either good or bad. Hospitalization. in and of itself, is neither good nor bad. We think of it as appropriate or inappropriate within the healthcare system. Likewise incarceration, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad. It’s an appropriate or inappropriate tool within the criminal justice system.
Statistics on world incarceration rates can be false and misleading. Some countries do a very poor job of record keeping and may have no idea of how many people are in their prisons. Some oppressive regimes may not send all their "undesirables" to prison. They simply make them "disappear." Other countries make no distinction between jail and prison. A person can be picked up for a relatively minor crime and spend several years in jail before even being formally charged, tried and sentenced.
What’s never mentioned about our system is that the vast majority of our corrections population (about 70%) is on some type of community supervision (alternative) program instead of being locked up. In some states it’s as high as 80% or more. In many countries jail or prison are the only options. But don’t our prisons hold a high number of non-violent offenders?
What is exactly is a non-violent offender? Is it someone who committed a non-violent crime? Is it someone convicted of a non-violent crime but with a history of violence? Is it someone who committed a violent crime which was plea bargained down to a non-violent crime? Is it someone convicted of their third, fourth or twenty fourth non-violent crime. Statistics only provide a snapshot of an offender’s current offense. They don’t tell anything about their individual histories.
So why do we have so many people locked up (even though the vast majority are in alternatives)? I think a big part of the answer is that we’re getting better at catching criminals through new technologies and strategies. CSI on TV is not all Hollywood hype, although some of it is.
Most people admit that it’s because of racism in the Justice system. The US incarcerates minorities for even the smallest crimes at a disproportionately higher rate than almost any other country. By doing this, they often create the criminals people complain about. Here are some stats: ” • African-American youths are 4.5 times more likely, and Latinos 2.3 times more likely, than white youths to be detained for identical offenses. • About half of white teenagers arrested on a drug charge go home without being formally charged and drawn into the system. Only a quarter of black teens arrested on drug charges catch a similar break. • When charges are filed, white youths are more likely to be placed on probation while black youth are more likely to get locked up. Unequal treatment didn’t stop upon entry into the juvenile justice system. NCCD researchers found that African-American youths are more likely than whites to be charged, tried, and incarcerated as adults. African Americans comprise
I think it is due to the breakdown of the family unit. It’s pretty well documented that a broken home is a common trait of prisoners in America. A certain prison ministry offered free Mother’s Day cards to any convict (hardcore prison, not jailed inmates) who wanted to send his Mom a card. All he had to do was write what he wanted to write and address the card. The ministry paid the postage. It was a great success with nearly 70% of convicts taking part. A few years later, based upon the success of the Mother’s Day offer, the ministry decided to offer the same deal to the convicts who wanted to send their Father a card on Father’s Day. Less than 10% of convicts participated! Why? Most of them didn’t know who or where their Fathers were, or their Fathers mistreated them so badly they didn’t care to send anything. Many of the Fathers had abandoned the family when the convicts were very young. Of the prisoners who did send a card to their Fathers, many of them were addressed to other pris
