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Crime and Incarceration
ALC – Summer 2007
Alicia Simmons
Questions for Today
1. How much crime is there?
2. What are the trends in incarceration?
3. What are the social impacts of incarceration?
1. How Much Crime?
• Different types of crime– Property– Violent
• The number of occurrences
• The % of the population that are victims
The Big Picture
• 2005: approximately 23 million crimes in the U.S.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
Crime Distribution
Property
Violent
20%
80%
Property Crimes
• Motor vehicle theft
• Burglary
• Theft
Property Crime Statistics (2005)
# of crimes % of victims
Motor vehicle theft
2.5 million 0.8
Burglary 8.9 3
Theft 35.1 12
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
What Cars are Stolen Most Often?
Property crime
• # of crimes = 46.5 million • % victims in pop.= 15%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
Violent crimes
• Simple & aggravated assault
• Robbery
• Rape
• Homicide
Violent Crime Statistics (2005)
# of crimes % of victims
Simple assault 4.1 million 1
Aggravated assault
1.3 0.4
Robbery 785,000 0.3
Rape 151,000 0.05
Homicide 30,200 0.01
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
Violent crime
• # of crimes = 6.3 million • % victims in pop.= 3%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
2. Trends in Incarceration
• Incarceration around the world
• Current trends and their causes in the U.S.
• Impacts on specific groups
Incarceration Around the World
874,171 1,548,498
http://www.prisonstudies.org
2,193,798
30
62
97
118
149
281
604
624
630
737
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
India
Japan
Republic of Korea
China
England & Wales
Taiwan
St. Kitts & Nevis
Russian Federation
French Guiana
United States
http://www.prisonstudies.org
Incarceration Rate (per 100,000 population)
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Causes of Prison Growth
• Pre 1970s: Indeterminate Sentencing
• 1970s – today: Tough on Crime– Politicization of crime– Growing conservative
climate– American individualism
Mauer, 2001
Determinant Sentencing
• Moves us from an offender-based to an offense-based system
• 88% of in incarceration from 1980-1996 is due to changes in punishment
– 51% results from in the number of people doing time
– 37% results from in term length
Mauer, 2001
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Did Prison Growth Cause the Crime Drop?
• Ways an in incarceration could lead
to a in crime– Rehabilitation: fixing criminals– Incapacitation: stopping current criminals– Deterrence: stopping future criminals
• 1993-2001: incarceration the crime
rate 2-5%
Western, 2006
Impact on Specific Groups
• Immigrants
• Gender
• Race
• Social class
Immigrants & Crime
• Longstanding public fear of immigrant crime
• 1st generations do not commit many crimes– 2nd and 3rd generations commit more
Martinez & Valenzuela, 2006
Gender and Incarceration
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Race & Incarceration
Free pop. Incarcerated pop.
Lifetime likelihood of incarceration
Black 12% 43 30
Hispanic 35 35 20
White 70 36 4.4
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Social Class & Incarceration% in Prison or Jail by Social Class and
Race
Males age 20-40
White 1.6%
Hispanic 4.6
Black 11.5
Non-College Males age 20-40
White 3.2
Hispanic 5.5
Black 17.0
High School Dropout Males age 20-40
White 6.7
Hispanic 6.0
Black 32.4
Tying the Trends Together
• Mass imprisonment:
– “A rate of imprisonment and a size of prison population that is markedly above the historical and comparative norm for societies of this type.” (1)
– “Social concentration of imprisonment’s effects.” (1)
Garland, 2006
Why are things Unequal?
• Racial bias in the following institutions– Police: racial profiling– Courts: unequal representation– Laws: powder vs. crack cocaine
• A double standard exists for the upper vs. lower classes– Creates legitimacy issues
Cole, 2001
3. What are the Social Impacts?
• Stereotypes
– Police interactions
– Job opportunities
• Stereotype: a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image that a person applies to both a group and each individual within it
– Black men are stereotyped as criminals– Whites are stereotyped as law abiding
citizens
Interactions with the Police
• Black men are often wary of interactions with the police
• Worried about being innocent but getting into trouble– Demeanor with police
• Convictions create records that follow throughout your life
Anderson, 1990
Job Opportunities
5
1417
34
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Black White
Effect of Criminal Record by Race
Record
No record
Pager, 2003
Questions for Today
1. How much crime is there?
2. What are the trends in incarceration?
3. What are the social impacts of incarceration?