Katherine Beckett in her book "Making Crime Pay" charts this trends and discusses the political motivations behind it all as she records a shifting role of the state (going from one of social welfare created in the wake of the Great Depression to one of Social Control, created in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement). Those most effected by this shift in incarceration are poor, non-whites.
Lots of criminologists have been talking about the need to reduce this trend and we expect it to start soon as the money to continue simply is not there (ignoring, of course, the moral reasons).
Well, to make a long story short (too late), here's a report what a number of states are doing to reduce the number of people they house in their prisons.
Well, that is an interesting trend, in my opinion. The key for change, as always, is for it to be a carefully thought-out process that enables the most significant ones that are involved, such as the inmates. Prisoners shouldn't be treated as numbers, but as people with social agency. It is best to re-evaluate the extent of the agency and give more to those who are deserving, such as the ones who committed petty violations or are even wrongfully accused.
ReplyDeleteNorma Richards @ Just Bail Bonds