Mass Incarceration

Question 1

What is “Mass Incarceration”?

Answer 1

The incarceration of inmates is a correctional policy; “it represents a decision to use long-term confinement of individuals to achieve some goal, such as retribution, rehabilitation, or public safety.” (Mears, p.71)

Question 2

Contemporary incarceration is multifaceted

Answer 2

Children, prisons, jails, immigration, civil commitment centers

Detention of children in the juvenile justice system, states and federal prisons, local jails, immigration detention centers, civil commitment centers for the mentally ill and sex offenders

Question 3

Trends in Prison Populations, 2013

Answer 3

About 6.9 million people (2.8% of all U.S. adults or 1 in every 35 adults) were involved with the criminal justice system in some way.

Over 1.5 million persons in prison or jail

About 70% of the persons under correctional supervision were supervised in the community, while 30% were incarcerated in the nation’s prisons or jails.
3.9 million+ adults on probation
850,000+ on parole or mandatory conditional release following a prison term

Question 4

The United States has an incarceration of approximately seven times greater than the average of all Western European democracies. TRUE OR FALSE

Answer 4

TRUE

Question 5

Incarceration Disparities Matter: Women

Answer 5

Men historically have made up the overwhelming majority of prison inmates

However, the incarceration rates of women are on the rise
Increased six fold from 1980-2013 from 11 to 65 per 100,000
Rate for men only increased threefold from 275 to 904 per 100,000

Question 6

Two factors contributing to the increase: RISE IN WOMEN INCARCERATED

Answer 6

The shift from indeterminate to determinate sentencing

The war on drugs

Question 7

One consequence of involvement with the criminal justice system is a loss of voting rights (felon disenfranchisement)

Answer 7

In 48 states a felony conviction can result in the loss of voting rights

The period of disenfranchisement varies
by state, with some states restoring the vote upon completion of a prison term, and others effectively disenfranchising for life

Question 8

5.85 million Americans are unable to vote due to state felony disenfranchisement policies

Answer 8

The loss of rights disproportionately affects men and minorities

Question 9

There are two primary mechanisms through which the crime rate and the incarceration rate may be related:

Answer 9

Crime Rate-

Policy Changes-

Question 10

Crime Rate-

Answer 10

Criminal offending determines the number of people who might be arrested and the serve time in prison

Question 11

Policy Changes-

Answer 11

Criminal Justice policy determines the likelihood and duration of incarceration for those arrested

Question 12

In 1971-1991

Answer 12

increases in violent and property crimes were unassociated with increases in incarceration rates among states (Greenberg and West, 2001).

Question 13

Incarceration is generally inefficient at reducing crime.

Answer 13

Reviews of the empirical literature find mixed effects

Some studies finding no effect of prison on recidivism, some finding that it increase recidivism, and others finding that it decrease it.

Question 14

Sentencing reforms at the state and local levels have had the largest influence on incarceration rates

Answer 14

Policy has moved primarily towards the development of sentencing guidelines and determinant sentencing policies

Question 15

Policy reforms over time:Mid-1970s to mid-1980s

Answer 15

Reforms aimed to make sentencing procedures fairer and outcomes more predictable and consistent

Question 16

Policy reforms over time:Mid-1980s to 1996

Answer 16

Changes in sentencing policy were aimed primarily at making sentences for drug and violent crimes harsher and their imposition more certain

*Mandatory minimum sentencing “ 3 strikes law” , laws mandating life with out possibility of parole for certain offenses.