The Rising Cost Of Crime... The Loss Of Personhood
.US Prison Population On The Rise: DOJ Report
What does it say when a third of our adult population is somehow entagled in our correctional programs? What does it mean when the percentage of our adult population in jail is higher than any other developed nation? Something is missing in our nation... genuine spirituality, connections and concern for each other. In a nation that has claimed a "Christian identity," we seem to be very un-Christian and very screwed up.
One of the problems in our nation is that we continue to treat addiction as a social disorder of a criminal nature rather than a disease... and we would rather spend money on incarceration than on effective treatment programming. We have listened to insurance companies on matters of addiction (and mental health) and severely limited treatment to a certain number of days rather than an outcome. Halfway houses and long-term treatment programs are not supported and only detox and incarceration are given any real consideration. Still, some states insist on a harsh line on any type of substance possesion, with some folks in jail for long-term sentences without hope for parole or leniency for scant amounts while murderers and robbers are let out for over crowding relief.
The report also showed racial disparities among prisoners that are similar among men and women inmates. Among male prisoners ages 25-29, 8.1 percent of black men are in prison, while 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of white men are incarcerated. South Dakota accounted for the highest increase in inmate population with a rise of 11 percent, followed by Montana with 10.4 percent, and Kentucky with 7.9 percent. Georgia's prison population dropped the most with a decrease of 4.6 percent, followed by Maryland with a 2.4 percent drop, and Louisiana with a 2.3 percent decrease.
We continue to provide disproportionate enforcement and discipline for all sorts of things.
No wonder the rest of the world looks at us as hypocrites.
What does it say when a third of our adult population is somehow entagled in our correctional programs? What does it mean when the percentage of our adult population in jail is higher than any other developed nation? Something is missing in our nation... genuine spirituality, connections and concern for each other. In a nation that has claimed a "Christian identity," we seem to be very un-Christian and very screwed up.
The population of individuals in US prisons rose by 2.7 percent in 2005, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics. The report indicates that over 7 million people were either in jail, on probation, or on parole by the end of last year, with 2.2 million of them in prison. The Justice Department statistics also show that the percentage of female prisoners is rising - the number of female inmates rose 2.6 percent in 2005 with the male population only increasing by 1.9 percent. Sentencing Project, an advocacy group that promotes criminal justice reform, has blamed the increase in women prisoners on harsh sentences handed down for nonviolent drug offenses.
One of the problems in our nation is that we continue to treat addiction as a social disorder of a criminal nature rather than a disease... and we would rather spend money on incarceration than on effective treatment programming. We have listened to insurance companies on matters of addiction (and mental health) and severely limited treatment to a certain number of days rather than an outcome. Halfway houses and long-term treatment programs are not supported and only detox and incarceration are given any real consideration. Still, some states insist on a harsh line on any type of substance possesion, with some folks in jail for long-term sentences without hope for parole or leniency for scant amounts while murderers and robbers are let out for over crowding relief.
The report also showed racial disparities among prisoners that are similar among men and women inmates. Among male prisoners ages 25-29, 8.1 percent of black men are in prison, while 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of white men are incarcerated. South Dakota accounted for the highest increase in inmate population with a rise of 11 percent, followed by Montana with 10.4 percent, and Kentucky with 7.9 percent. Georgia's prison population dropped the most with a decrease of 4.6 percent, followed by Maryland with a 2.4 percent drop, and Louisiana with a 2.3 percent decrease.
We continue to provide disproportionate enforcement and discipline for all sorts of things.
No wonder the rest of the world looks at us as hypocrites.
posted by Jim Downey at 9:15 PM
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