The Disproportionate Minority Prison Populations

Abstract

The rate of disproportionate minority in prisons in American states is very high as well as uneven. About 60% of the total people in prison are observed as minorities of the total general population. The minority group that is ethnic and racial groups is represented in the courts of the country, jails and prison in a very uneven population as compared to the rate of the overall population. The fact behind the disproportionate minority in our justice system is indisputable.

This paper will focus on answering the fact that why this disproportional system exists. We examined facially neutral policies, differential commission rates, and bias as possible contributing causes.

Races and stereotypes are considered as vital during the judgments and the process of decision making with the system of criminal justice regarding human actors. The evidences on disproportionality by the justice system of America were reviewed.

Researchers, Policymakers, practitioners and advocates are aware of the fact that minority (Black males) are disproportionately represented throughout the criminal justice system. The focus of this research paper is to inspect what are the factors and figures that overrepresentation of young Black males.

Table of contents

Abstractii

Research question4

Discussion4

Causes for Disproportionality6

Crime Commission Rates6

Structural Racism: Neutral Policies with Disparate Outcomes7

Bias7

Racial homogeneity8

Few Statistics of Different States8

Outcomes of the Research Data9

Conclusion10

References12

Appendices14

The Disproportionate Minority Prison Populations

Research question

Why disproportional systems exist in the prison population?

Discussion

The rate of Mass incarceration United States of America has risen up to fivefold increase. This has risen the population in the jails and prisons from 330,000 (1972) to exceeding the limits of 2.3 million (Stevenson, 2006). In 1980, Washington possesses the maximum rate of disproportionate minority among all the states of America. The Bureau of the Census, in 1918, has found that blacks, that form 11% of the total U.S. population, held for 22% of the convict of prisons and jails. (U.S. Department of Commerce 1918, p. 438).

The history of United States of America is considered to be mixed type when it comes to the treatment minority groups. In the context of this report, Disproportionality is defined as divergence or differences between the two indicated groups that are the part or the constituents of the general populations in the institution of criminal justice. The imprisonment is defined as “being held in state prisons”. Similarly, Incarceration is referred as “being held in state prison or local jail”. Minority or the minority groups is actually a term that can be defined on the comparison or the differential aspect with the majority in the general population. This is discriminated on the social aspect that is characteristics based on human observations. These characteristics can be divided according to race, ethnicity, wealth, gender or sexual orientation.

Many reforms have been introduced in order to answer the question regarding the reasons that why there exist a disproportionate Minority Prison Populations. Many researches have been carried out. Many reforms have been suggested, but the question remained controversial and was not answered on a satisfactory basis (Langan, 1985).

Disproportionality is elucidated in part by the dominance of racial prejudice whether it ...