It is no doubt that the inter-relationships between social problems highly affect an individual’s quality of life, individual identity and social development (Social Problems Style Sheet, 2014). The socioeconomic positions of individuals tend to affect their behaviours as well as enthusiasm and thus the connection between crime and poverty. Racial categorization also carries the burden of social problems such as crime and poverty. The article “Race, poverty and punishment: The impact of criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality” by D. Wheelock and C. Uggen argues the influence of criminal sanctions on racial and gender inequality. Therefore, this paper illustrates the overlap of social problems brought by poverty, crime and punishment drawing much insight from this article. To facilitate this discussion, five core arguments from the article form the pillars of the discussion which is aimed at helping the reader recognize the interlink between crime, punishment and poverty.
The starting argument is that criminal sanctions and victimization work to form a system of disadvantage that perpetuates stratification and poverty. On page 1 of the article, “ Recent patterns of criminal justice policy marked by dramatic increases in all forms of criminal justice sanctions, however, have shifted attention to the role of punishment in contributing to racial and ethnic inequality” ( Wheelock & Uggen, 2006). Thus it punishment and victimization influence racial stratification because the prisons consume a higher number of racial minorities as opposed to the white lot. In this regard, therefore, victimization strains family relationships and promotes high levels of poverty. Therefore criminal sanctions are obstacles of having productive folks, active people in community life as well as a barrier to responsible people pertaining to family life (Wheelock & Uggen, 2006).
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The second argument is that the punishment impacts individuals convicted of felonies, as well as their families, peer groups, neighbourhoods, and racial group. On page three of the article, Wheelock and Uggen argue that both federal and state legal procedures do not permit individuals who are convicted of felonies to play any role in daily given activities of families, labour markets politics and educational centres (Wheelock & Uggen, 2006). This insinuates the importance of gaining the background of the limited freedoms which also carries a burden of civil disabilities.
The third argument is that; after controlling for population differences, African Americans are incarcerated approximately seven times as often as Whites. This is expounded by the prolonged racial discrimination in the American criminal system of obtaining justice. Bulk incarceration is a new stage in the history of American racial inequality according to (Panggabean, 2018). This means that the social impact is always strained by the bulk incarceration which however endangers the new African- American generations.
Further, another argument is that the variation in criminal punishment is linked to economic deprivation. Most of the criminal sanctions as well as many other types of criminal penalties tend to be on the side of the poor or the less privileged in the society. The product of economic deprivation is a criminal activity (Heppler, 2018). Economic inequality highly affects the minorities which aggravate the repercussions of the system which highly impacts the families of the blacks because of linking criminal punishment to economic deprivation.
The last argument is that: as the number of felons and former felons rises, collateral sanctions play an ever-larger role in racial and ethnic stratification, operating as an interconnected system of disadvantage. Local authorities are similarly strained by the high level of crime rates because of the need for more prisons. Collateral sanctions also influence racial stratifications through because the consequences strain the citizens who dwell in highly incarcerated surroundings (Tzur, 2014). Therefore such status is socially risky and thus collateral sanctions function as components of an interwoven scheme of harm raising racial stratification. A large number of African Americans in Prisons is a promotion towards racial stratification (Wheelock and Uggen, 2006).
In conclusion, the communal perception of crime, punishment and poverty is related to unending worries. Increased criminal activity is produced by poverty and connected to poverty. Research findings show that the interconnection between social problems requires detailed exploration. Criminal sanctions and oppression contribute to the growth of the system of disadvantage that promotes racial stratification and poverty.
References
Heppler, J. A. (2018). Renewing Inequality and Mapping Inequality. American Quarterly , 70 (3), 721-725. doi:10.1353/aq.2018.0058
Panggabean, H. (2018). A Legal Punishment by Judgement in Prosecuting Minor Committed of Criminal Act of Murdering. International Journal of Advanced Engineering, Management and Science , 4 (6), 436-440. doi:10.22161/ijaems.4.6.1
Social Problems Style Sheet. (2014). Social Problems . doi:10.1525/socialproblem/25.1.118
Tzur, P. (2014). I Know Economic Activity When I See Economic Activity: An Operational Overhaul of the Measure by Which Federal Criminal Conduct Is Deemed "Economic". The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-) , 94 (4), 1105. doi:10.2307/3491417
Varma, A., & Laubach, M. (2010). Solving interconnection problems. IEEE Micro , 20 (1), 15-17. doi:10.1109/mm.2000.820047
Wheelock, D. &Uggen, C. (2006). Race, poverty and punishment: The impact of criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Working Papers: National Poverty Center. Retrieved from http://npc.umich.edu/publications/workingpaper06/paper15/working_paper06-15.pdf
