What are the causes of Mass Incarceration?
Abrams, Eve. āThe Human Stories Behind Mass Incarceration.ā TED, 2017, www.ted.com/talks/eve_abrams_the_human_stories_behind_mass_incarceration.
In this TED talk by Eve Abrams she speaks about her experience making her audio project, “Unprisoned” and gives an overall analysis of her goal of the project. The judicial system is flawed, and because citizens are not as involved in government the issues remain. Mass incarceration leads to crime rates rising due to the chaos it creates in the lives of individuals, she emphasizes on getting everyone involved from different races and beliefs to combat this issue.
A cause for mass incarceration she centers on is the disproportional targeting of people of color, by fourteen years old 1 in 4 children will see their father go to prison. These numbers are essentially fueled by the stereotypes and racial profiling that people of color endure by the police and other aspects of the justice system. She involves multiple recordings of her interviewing people, ranging from black’s who have family members in jail to prosecutors just observing what they see when they walk into a court room. The generalization people of color being criminals places a target on their back, pushing people to accuse them of crimes and make them susceptible toĀ being victims of mass incarceration.
While another aspect she emphasizes towards the end of her talk is the role prosecutors play in the judicial process. She states we don’t put enough checks on our prosecutors, meaning they are not monitored and can manage cases at their discretion. The amount of hired prosecutors have increased as well as the cases being filed. Though they are checked in the aspect of defense, many individuals are poorly defended due to lack of funding for public defenders. In order for the justice system to effectively protect the people it must work for everyone and equally represent them.
I agree with her perspective on this issue because the statistics state just that, the predominant race in prisons are people of color. which does come as shocking being that blacks are considered a minority, thus further pushing the idea that people of color are targeted by the justice system. The use of the multiple anecdotes in the articles emphasize the importance of this issue, and how it is affecting so many individuals in various aspects of their lives. It forces people to place themselves in this situation and acknowledge that fact that this issue can become widespread.
“When a crime is committed,Ā our hunger for swift retribution has fed a police cultureĀ bent on finding culprits fast,Ā often without adequate resources to conduct thorough investigationsĀ or strict scrutiny of those investigations.”
Collective, Empty Cages. āWhat Is the Prison Industrial Complex?ā Empty Cages Collective, 2020, www.prisonabolition.org/what-is-the-prison-industrial-complex/.
In this article by the Empty Cages Collective organization, itĀ discusses the relationship between the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration. The prison industrial complex is a term used to describe the interests of the government and industry to solve economic, social and political interests with surveillance and policing. The United States sees the economic system as the most important aspect of society and the government goes to extreme lengths to maintain it. This country was built upon capitalism (a small group of people maintain ownership and control means of production of goods and services), and two essential needs of it is growth and expansion (new markets and/or products). Due to the high demand of products and work, the government would see an opportunity with the prison system; the prison industrial complex. This system would work as followed, when someone is incarcerated they loose all of their rights and are surrendered to the state, they are then subjected to what is instructed by the prison. When the government forms this agreement, it entails them providing the prisons with the neccesities needed to run the prison, and the amount of beds that need to be filled. They then use the prisoners for cheap labor to fuel the capitalist agenda, they are then paid little to nothing for their labor while working extensive hours. This system would aid in mass incarceration by giving the government another form of income for the economic system, pushing the justice system to place more individuals in jail.
I agree with this article because it provides a clear cut description on what the prison industrial complex is and how it contributes to mass incarceration. The Prison industrial complex is interesting because it is essentially a reflection of the past, this system could be considered modern day slavery. When prisoners loose their rights their labor is not regulated, which is slavery when you compare it to how people normally work. There is a lack in pay rate, no benefits, no medical coverage; and when they refuse to work they are punished through no parole, loss of programs, and even solitary confinement. This impact of this issue is large, because of the boost in the economy this could create it is hard to abolish.
ā’The prison has become a black hole in which the detritus of contemporary capitalism is deposited. Mass imprisonment generates profits as it devours social wealth, and thus it tends to reproduce the very conditions that lead people to prison’ – Angela Davisā
Don’t forget to comment on the genre, writing style, and credibility of the piece.