For the past three decades, the United States has incarcerated more individuals than any other nation in the world. The discrepancies between the incarceration rates of Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics highlight further issues in the American correction systems. Incarceration is driven by three main concepts namely punishment, correction, and deterrence. Films and readings discussed in class provide a clear picture of the problems facing the US correctional system. Mass incarceration rose exponentially in the 1970s, after a long period of stability between the 1920s and 1960s. The sudden increase is partly attributed to the war on drugs commissioned by President Nixon in 1971. Mass incarceration is a result of failed correctional policies, racial profiling, and unnecessary focus on punishment rather than correction.
The American Dream was characterized by increased emphasis on amassing wealth. However, it failed leading to increased crime and drug trafficking in the 1970s and 1980s. The American dream encouraged people to apply illegal means in order to achieve the strong pressures of succeeding monetarily. From the film Scarface (Palma, 1983), Tony lives in a deplorable state at the beginning, riddled by poverty and a strong desire to achieve the success of the American Dream. He turns to drug trafficking and crime in order to achieve the success he so much desires. A large portion of incarcerated individuals serving time for various crimes will highlight they went into crime to escape their hand-to-mouth lives and poverty. The American incarceration system continuously locks up criminals without giving a thought to the factors encouraging people to engage in crime and drug-related activities.
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Incarceration undermines the concept of deterrence. The American criminal justice system prioritizes on punishment and fails to give similar attention to the rehabilitation of criminals. Punishment policy in the US is a failed attempt at increasing crime deterrence. Statistics show that 1 in every 37 adults in the United States, or 2.7% of the adult population, is under some form of correctional supervision. Most incarcerated individuals encounter challenges while securing a job after release from prison. In the film Super Fly (Parks, 1972); Priest wants to leave the drug business because it has become too risky. He says that drug money is the only way he can wipe his criminal record, otherwise, no one will give him a job. Mass incarceration fails to help ex-convicts with progressing with their post-prison lives. A majority of ex-convicts end up in prison due to lack of jobs, leaving crime as the only option.
Sentencing laws are racially biased with minority groups including blacks and Hispanics receiving the harshest sanctions. The criminal justice system runs under policies that are designed to produce racially disparate outcomes. African Americans and whites use drugs at similar rates, but the imprisonment rate of African Americans for drug charges is almost 6 times that of whites. Whites receive lesser punishment. In the film Godfather I (Coppola, 1972), one the members in the in the meeting of the five heads, indicates that black people are fair target in the drug trade. It indicates that gangs use black people as pawns in spreading drugs in communities. Black people are more consistently arrested, charged, and incarcerated for petty crimes, drug crimes, and misdemeanors more than whites who also present similar percentage of involvement in such crimes. A black person is often considered guilty until proven innocent against the presumption of innocence right for all individuals. Racial profiling leads to an overrepresentation of African-American and Hispanic communities in prisons.
The incarceration system has become a corporate business. The private prison industry has achieved unprecedented success over the past ten years. Private enterprises are profiting from the concept of incarcerating millions of low-level offenders in order to make American streets free from crime. Private prisons profit from the drug trade by providing special treatment to prisoners. Wardens and correctional officers take care of the needs of wealthy prisoners, earning them large paychecks. In the film Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990), the Mafia would have a specific area in the prison for the “wiseguys”, where they could live like free men and enjoy the pleasures of normal life beyond prison walls. The private prison business in America operates on two fronts-gaining massive payments from the government for their services and money from drug lords to keep their associates safe leading to hyper-incarceration to amass more profits.
The American Gangster film shows how recidivism has led to an exponential increase in incarceration rates in the US. Recidivism rates in the US are at an all-time high in this decade. The punitive policies in the criminal justice focus not on the rehabilitation and correction of prisoners, but instead on mass control over criminals through mass incarceration. Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington is sentenced to 70 years in prison on drug charges but only ends up serving 5 years after becoming an informant for the government (Scott, 2007). He is released but later goes back to prison in 1984 after being caught selling heroin and cocaine. The American Gangster also shows that recidivism rates tend to affect blacks more than whites.
Conclusion
Mass incarceration in the US can be attributed to tough crime policies, private prison corporations, controversial police practices, and racial profiling. Once ex-convicts are released from prison, they encounter issues with unemployment and low education levels resulting in higher levels of recidivism. The correction system has become a business for the private sector to profit from the suffering of heavy sanctions placed on convicts. A majority of incarcerated African-Americans come from low-income neighborhoods, leaving crime and gang-related activities as the only option to feed their families and ensure their survival. The US correctional system is designed to benefit the government more than the general population.
References
Coppola, F. F. (Director). (1972). The Godfather [Film]. Paramount Pictures.
Palma, B. D. (Director). (1983). Scarface [Film]. Universal Pictures
Parks, G. (Director). (1972). Super Fly [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
Scorsese, M. (Director). (1990). Goodfellas [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
Scott, R. (Director). (2007). American Gangster [Film].Universal Pictures.
