Mass Incarceration Research Paper

Mass Incarceration

There has been a debate over the usefulness of correctional institutions. Some argue that incarceration prevents offenders while others argue that the involvement of being incarcerated causes individuals to continue committing crimes. It is no argument that the incarceration in the United States has changed throughout the years. In 1980’s rehabilitation had occurred. It gave a focus on equality and fairness in sentencing but it also increased focus on incapacitation, and restriction strategies for not committing a crime. Crime during this time increased, it motivated the United States to get tough on crime. Today incapacitation is the main reason for Imprisonment in the U.S criminal justice system (Zimring and Hawkins, 1995)

Being imprison is suppose to take criminals off the street so that they will not commit a new crime and prevent the people that are not criminals yet from committing a crime (deterrence). Some studies and research shows that neither of this outcomes transpired. In a scholarly paper I read by Michael Mueller-Smith from University of Michigan looked at court records from Harris County, Texas from 1980-2009. He noticed from is research that in Harris County people that are charged with similar crimes received different sentences depending on the judge that was appointed to them. After he notice the differences of the sentencing and the crime he than analyze what happen to the prisoners. He calculated roughly that each year in prison increases the chances that a prisoner would reoffend by 5.6%. Even the people who went to prison for lesser crimes would wound up committing more serious offenses the more time they spent in prison. To conclude with what Michael Mueller-Smith stated in his paper he thinks that letting criminals out of jail would increase crime and the lesser crime criminals would turn into career criminals. Within five years after the criminal has been release more than 75% of prisoner are arrested

There are several of reasons of why they don’t, one would be criminals who are younger males are usually emotional because they don’t know how to take being incarcerated for the first time. Second when they are over 18 there is still a chance of a lengthy sentence. According to the data that Meuller- Smith collected the Harris County jail data show jail time often depends on the judge that is assigned, the prosecutor, evidence, and sometimes how busy the court is on that day and that determines weather someone that has been convicted end up with a plea bargain. Longer sentences are not much a deterrent because in our period of mass incarceration is too uncertain and to far ahead to impact behavior. One exception would be that there is a higher quantity around punishment. The 3 strike rule in California puts strict sentences on three time offenders even if the crime is minor. Some people say that if offenders has 2 strikes they are less likely to commit a third offense. So they ask the question if mass incarceration has not restraint crimes, what would work for