Research Paper on "Role of Microaggression in Mass Incarceration"

Research Paper 12 pages (3450 words) Sources: 49 December 14, 2018

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Role of Microaggression in Mass Incarceration

A considerable portion of literature on the subject of conflict resolution generally considers crime within domestic “conflict- free” groups in the nation as an issue that lies, to a certain extent, beyond the scope of exploration or intervention. Researchers typically do not raise questions pertaining to normative suppositions surrounding victimhood and criminality; the accounts of offenders reflect them as independent players, with the offenses they perpetrate being presented as acts of one- directional damage. For dealing with crime, the US has resorted to mass imprisonment from the multitude of potential solutions – a choice that has major consequences for criminals’ as well as their victims’ self- and social- perception. Narrative analyses indicate that mass imprisonment is the result of a long- drawn- out latent conflict, evidently supported by cultural and structural violence, and maintained by public accounts dating back several generations (Allen, 1995, 12).

Mass imprisonment does not come under regular conflict conceptualizations, frequently criminalizing victimhood, victimizing offenders and making the criminal/ victim dichotomy complicated. Re-visualizing crime as an outcome of conflict permits flexibility in interpretation; the roles of crime participants and entities impacted are less defined. Re- visualizing offenses’ narrative framing demonstrates the profound potential effect of narratives as interventions on conflict resolution theoreticians and practitioners, in addition to all participating entities’ legal outcomes and individual experiences.

The US has consistently displayed the highest global incarceration rates since the year 2002. While inmate populations have been growing in some areas across the globe, natural imprisonment rates for nations similar to America are typically 100 inmates for every 100,000 residents of the nation. For America, this rate as of 2010 was around 500 inmates for every 100,000 residents (i.e., roughly 1.6 million inmates), as per BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics) figures.

Males constitute ninety percent of local jail and state prison populations, with their incarceration rate being fourteen times greater than that for females. Further, they are surprisingly young, most of them being 20 - 35 years of age. Moreover, inmates typically have low educational attainment: on an average, state inmates only complete the 10th grade. Approximately 70% fail to graduate high school. Imprisonment rates have been found to be substantially higher in case of Latinos and African- Americans as compared to White-Americans. According to 2010 estimates, the African- American male incarceration rate was 3,074 inmates for every 100,000 residents and that of Latinos was 1,258 inmates for every 100,000. Meanwhile, the figure for White males was 459 for every 100,000. But a slight downturn has been witnessed since the year 2007, and the inmate population three years later witnessed a rare drop of 0.3% (for the very first time since the year 1972, as per BJS records) (Allen, 1995, 62).

America has a rather more political character than that commonly acknowledged by CAR (conflict analysis and resolution), with criminal accounts impacting people’s understanding of criminals, race, and crime victims. Though several types of offenses are perpetrated in the nation, this study will be restricted to those reaching the nation’s judicial system.

While the year 2010 saw a decline in incarceration rates in as many as thirty- four states, they underwent an increase in the remaining, with the highest growths reported in Iowa, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Illinois.

In the Southern States, where imprisonment rates have traditionally remained high, the imprisonment rate is roughly twice that of Northeastern states. Latest policies encouraging law enforcers to be firm with criminals are chiefly accountable for the growth in Southern inmate populations and their prolonged incarceration. The state depicting the highest imprisonment rate in America is Louisiana (867 inmates for every 100,000 residents) (Allen, 1995, 54).

Table 1

Male and Female Imprisonment Rates by Region, 2010

Total

Male

Female

United States

500

943

67

  Northeast

296

577

27

  Midwest

389

735

53

  South

552

1,039

78

  West

418

772

60

In second place is Texas State with 648 inmates for every 100,000 people. However, the state, together with other states known for their harsh sentencing, have started controlling crime and associated costs through developing more varied correctional systems including expanded drug therapy and parole practice modifications. Owing to such measures, the BJS claims that a never- before- seen trend of prison releases exceeding admissions has been witnessed in the nation (Dilts, 2012, 191-194).

African- Americans, in particular African- American youth, are disproportionately imprisoned. A fresh analysis by a sociologist from Washington University, Becky Pettit, revealed that as of 2008, African- American males aged 18 - 34 years were no less than 6 times more prone to being imprisoned as compared to their White counterparts. The author of the study states that youth who haven’t graduated high school depicted greater incarceration likelihood (37%) on a given day as compared to that of being seen at work (26%).

Table 2

Percentage of Male Civilian Incarceration, by Race and Education, Ages 20-34

1990

2000

2008

White Men

1.1

1.6

1.8

  Less Than High School

3.8

7.7

12.0

  High School Graduate

1.4

2.3

2.0

  Some College

0.4

0.3

0.3

Black Men

8.3

11.2

11.4

  Less Than High School

19.6

30.2

37.2

  High School Graduate

7.1

11.7

9.1

  Some College

2.9

2.1

2.1

Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress (New York: Russell Sage Foundation: 2012).

Evaluations of incarcerated populations’ high school diploma attainment fail to suggest any improvement in the gap between Whites’ and Blacks’ high school diploma attainment since the former part of the 1990s. According to estimates, this gap has been nearly the same as its present level (11 pp (percentage points)) over most of the last two decades.

Further information on socially-marginalized populations such as less- educated African-American youth is direly required for most efficiently understanding disparity patterns and causes within the nation (Dilts, 2012, 191-194)

Considering the dearth of published works revolving around crime within the nation (issued in conflict and peace related publications), one may reasonably presume that the field basically perceives crime within the nation’s “conflict free” societies as an issue lying fairly beyond the scope of examination or intervention. In fact, most scholarly papers and books on the subject of domestic crime rest within criminological research.

CAR lends its techniques to understanding or resolving crime, chiefly dealing with interpersonal conflict via resolution strategies like restorative justice, mediation, and criminal- victim conferencing, besides other smaller- scale strategies (Umbreit, Coates & Robert, 2000).

Certain fields such as criminology, political science, history, law, and urban development, deal with domestic crimes. But experts in these fields are inconsistent in their questioning of normative theories. In several instances, accounts of offenders generally reflect them as independent players, with the offenses they perpetrate being presented as acts of one-directional damage (Lammers et al., 2015, 45), or Criminalizing Victimhood and Victimizing Offenders (Campbell et al., 2015, 109).

Within the present context, one can view crime using a structural point of view (Rengifo&Stemmen, 2015, 32); additionally, it can be tackled by perceiving it as behavioral and structural elements combined (Sampson &Laub, 2005, 67). Offending, within such contexts, is simply an issue to be resolved and not a matter to be meta- analyzed. This ensures the maintenance of innate social dynamics.

The crux of the argument may be articulated as follows: Within the United States, accounts of criminals indicate that crime- players have neither been portrayed as being organized in groups, nor do they possess broader group goals or interests. Rather, their motives are only personal in nature. These interests and intents have frequently been portrayed within accounts of criminals as immoral (for instance, violent offenses) or material (for instance, property crimes), bypassing the need for critical questioning of how certain behaviors may be deemed to be an offense. Such portrayals underline players’ alleged inhumanity (Dilts, 2012, 191-194).

It is a known fact that Blacks (one of the several population groups that has been targeted owing to their race’s social structure) have commonly been linked to crime such that they are presumed to be guilty prior to the actual occurrence of any suspicious or wrong activity.

Very often, crime in the nation has been assumed to have no political support or context, thereby being gullibly deemed to be a space that lies beyond the field of political control. CAR’s… READ MORE

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