Essay on Incarceration and Mass Imprisonment - 1062 Words

Nick Loredo Professor Sutton Soc 172 June 8, 2011 Essay (topic #2) In the United States there is in extremely high rate of incarceration and mass imprisonment. Policies and ideas for change are being brought to the table on a daily basis. Is it worth it? Is the question that we always have to ask ourselves and will justice truly be served at the end of the day. Well throughout this course I have found that there is never a true solution to crime rates in general only ideas to decrease problems that have yet to stop rising. For example, the War on Drugs in the early 1980’s and the â€Å"broken window† policy in the mid 1970’s are both examples of putting water on the fire but never putting the fire completely out. These policy have†¦show more content†¦It was not just minorities of course, whites were involved just as much, but it was the minorities being policed at a much higher rate. It was much easier to police the urban areas because the flow of drugs was easier to spot. â€Å"Visible drug dealing and easily arrested dealers are disproportionately to be found in disorganized minority communities in the inner city† (Tonry p. 186). This lead to an easy way to create scapegoats for drug use offenders. The result of these drug offenses were making penalties much more severe. By creating more laws protecting citizens from abusing drugs, the goal behind this logic was to manipulate behavior of offenders. Making penalties more severe barely had any effects on drug users. Those who wanted the help to wean off of drugs had no help from social institutions. â€Å"At no time during the Ragan-Bush War on Drugs was treatment on demand available for all cocaine and heroin addicts who wanted it† (Malign Neglect p 187). One of the solutions to the multiple drug offenders was to not concentrate on replaceable drug dealers but rather to go after the manufactures, importers and major distributors because these positions are harder to come by than that of a drug dealer. The à ¢â‚¬Å"broken window† policy was used to put officers on foot patrol in community neighborhoods in order to prevent household crimes such as burglary and vandalism. This main goal for policing these neighborhoods, â€Å"wasShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Incarceration During The Era Of Mass Imprisonment2337 Words   |  10 Pagesoccurs from 1970-2003—when incarceration rates climbed almost five times higher than they had been in the twentieth century—while stating the effects and consequences that mass imprisonment created within the United States penal system. 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In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, Locke