During the 1970s through to the late 1980s, there was a shift from indeterminate sentencing to determinate sentencing. This was due to an increase in felony convictions which resulted in incarceration in state prisons (Zatz, 1987). In the 1980s, the government implemented strict measures to curb drug abuse which resulted in the imprisonment of many young men on mandatory minimums ad sentences. These tough initiatives resulted in the incarceration of a generation of young men, and there were major safety issues for prison officers due to an increase in violent inmate subculture and disdain for the general society. Moreover, prison populations increased, and between 1987 and 2007, there were over 1 Million inmates which account for 5% of the world’s prison population. Currently, state prisons have exceeded their capacity by approximately 33% and the federal government continue to incur hefty expenses on health, rehabilitation and construction of prisons.
As of 2012, there were over 1.6 million inmates, and state prisons were operating above the expected capacity. Prison facilities expenses have increased by up to 600%, and this will continue as more young men face the risk of imprisonment. Conversely, due to funding constraints, prison spending is minimum, and the rehabilitation process is therefore not as effective as it is supposed to be (Garland, 2012). Consequently, as state and federal prisons seek to tackle such issues, over the next ten years, more than 10 million inmates will be released and the consequences on society may be detrimental. However, crime rates are on the decrease as society becomes more receptive to the need for equal opportunities, education, and progress of the entire society. Additionally, pertinent issues on victimization and racism have decreased significantly and minority groups are no longer targets of law enforcement (Tonry, 2014).
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References
Garland, D. (2012). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society . University of Chicago Press.
Tonry, M. (2014). Why crime rates are falling throughout the Western world. Crime and justice , 43 (1), 1-63.
Zatz, M. S. (1987). The changing forms of racial/ethnic biases in sentencing. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 24 (1), 69-92.
