Over the past few decades, the USA has witnessed an increased number of people being jailed. All this is attributed to the late 1960s and 1970s when the country was faced with increased crime rates forcing the state's legislators to act "tough on crime." This was by setting up policies that would see increased life sentences and arrests among the citizens who involve themselves in criminal activities. By 1979, there were about 314,00 prisoners behind bars and the number has since grown to over 2,000,000 individuals representing about 22%v of the entire globe's prisoners (Eli, 2013). There has been great crime reduction in the USA over the decades as a result of the strict laws that brought forward new incarceration policies though this achievement has been accompanied by severe consequences such as increased burden on the American taxpayers.
Prison Statistics
The high incarceration rates have seen the men constituting about 90 percent of the total population behind bars. This rate is 14 times that of their female counterparts. Of all the men who have been incarcerated, the shocking factor is that most of them are made of young men between the ages of 20-30. Statistics have also been able to show that most of the prisoners in the justice system have petite education with an average prisoner having the 10th-grade education and more than 70% have not yet attained high school qualification diploma. The primary reason behind this is that most of the individuals who drop out of school have no educational background that can help them secure jobs.
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The lack of employment opportunities from these people is what forces them to join criminal gangs as they try to look for money using a means that does not require educational background. In 2008, young male blacks aged between the ages of 18-34 were six times more likely to be incarcerated as compared to the young white men. For the young African Americans without a high school diploma, they have a great chance of being incarcerated by about 37 % in any day as compared to a 26% chance of working young black. For most of the young black men born in the 1970s, serving some jail or prison time has been seen as a typical life event (Tsai and Scommegna, 2012).
In terms of ethnic/race backgrounds, the blacks, and the Latinos have the highest incarceration rates as compared to the whites. The Latinos have an incarceration rate of 3,074 per 100,000 residents as compared to the whites whose incarceration rate is 459 per 100,000 inhabitants (Tsai, & Scommegna, 2012). The African-American community comprises of about 13% of the entire USA population and 40% of the country's inmates. With crime and punishment being a matter that is unsophisticated, anyone who participates in it has to suffer the consequences. However, these two problems are handled in such a way that leads to racial prejudice and unfounded beliefs about the African Americans. This is what has led to the increased numbers of the African Americans being incarnated over the years. The social and political hierarchy in the USA that saw the subjugation of the African Americans from the years of slavery has played a significant role in this too. The public policies, media, criminal justice actors and the criminal behavior have created the African American image among people as being associated with illegal activities. According to Loic Wacquant, a sociologist, he terms this factor as hyper-incarceration of black men (Cox, 2015).
Cost of Incarceration
Despite incarceration playing a significant role in reducing the rates of crime in the USA, it has contributed to high and ever increasing costs in order for the system to function successfully. The costs associated with incarceration are not only measured in monetary terms but also in the failure by the imprisonment to prevent the repetition of the crimes committed, its impact on individual communities in the USA and the effects it has on the democratic values of the country (Eli, 2013).
In fiscal terms, incarceration has very large costs. The housing of a low-security inmate requires about $10,000 annually. The correctional officers who are found in maximum-security facilities earn about $ 100,000 per year. By 2010, the government spent more than $50 billion in prisons and jail facilities which translated to about $500 annually for each USA citizen.
With over two million individuals facing incarceration, it indicates that the labor market has two million people less. The persons who have been incarcerated do not have room for any personal relationships with their families. As a result, many children are living with single parents, and some even have no parents if they all are incarcerated. With such cases, there is a very high likelihood the children will also involve themselves in criminal activities so that they can feed themselves (Eli, 2013).
The high incarceration numbers have also led to the government trying to rehabilitate the prisoners by setting up boot camps. These camps cost the state millions of dollars annually. However, a surprising factor is that the recidivism rates have not been showing any declining trend since the 2000s.This clearly indicates that the government's funds used in the boot camps totaling to millions of dollars each year are going to waste (Eli, 2013).
Policy changes/Prison Reform
Government policies have neglected prisons for such a long time as the minimum tangible public service. The current situation in the American prisons and jails should be a wake-up call for both the federal and the state governments to start prioritizing prison reforms in their agendas. The most tenacious urgency is to restore sanity in the prisons with regard to safety so as to curtail the catastrophic rising of disorders, violence, and suicides in prisons. Further, the American policy makers need to search for alternative means to confront the prison numbers and introduce fundamental sentencing reforms.
The people who cause harm to the society should be punished. After the punishment, it is expected of them that they will have learned their lesson thus avoid further engagements in any form of activities that is associated with crime. However, with the high rates of recidivism in the USA, it is a clear indication that the current measures employed in justice system are failing to achieve what is expected of it. This is in spite of the high incarceration rates in the country.
So as to ensure this is not the case, there is the need for a more efficient justice system that does not just punish the offender but one that ensures prisoners feel sorry for what they have done. Most of the inmates in the prisons do not do any work when they are incarcerated. Forcing them to work will ensure they learn from their mistakes, and this will reduce the recidivism rates. These jobs will also allow them to develop job skills given that most of them do not have any work competencies.
Sentences should also be assigned in a way that it maximizes punishment rather than locking people up in a warehouse. This involves the shortening of the sentences but ensuring the punishment of the crimes is not shortened in any way. This will see the incarceration rates reducing in the USA (Eli, 2013).
Conclusion
With the high cases of incarceration rates in the USA, it is clearly evident that despite it lowering the criminal rates in the country, it has adverse effects on the USA economy. The incarceration of people does not reduce their chances of engaging in illegal activities. This leads to a reduction in their employment prospects while increasing their use of public benefits. With such, the government is forced to pursue more funds in sustaining the individuals and their families. The high cases of incarceration have also taken a toll on the labor force in the USA. The American prisons and jails house close to two million people who have the potential to help in the development of the economy. The high rates of incarceration can, therefore, be regarded as a double-edged sword into the American economy and society.
References
Cox, R. J. (2015). Where Do We Go from Here: Mass Incarceration and the Struggle for Civil Rights . Economic Policy Institute.
Eli L. (2013). Responsible Prison Reform. National Affairs. Retrieved From http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/responsible-prison-reform .
Tsai, T., & Scommegna, P. (2012). US has world's highest incarceration rate . Washington: Population Reference Bureau.
