US has the biggest prison population

[alkemical]

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf


This is interesting, but why?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf


This is interesting, but why?
Gang bangers and drugs.

[Hotrod]

Gang bangers and drugs.

Kind of what I was thinking actually. It prolly has something to do with the fact we have so much freedom people cant fricking control themselves. Also violent movies/music videos/violent video games/porn everywhere/lack of christian religion in our schools and government

[alkemical]

Gang bangers and drugs.


Because of what's seen on cops?

[alkemical]

Kind of what I was thinking actually. It prolly has something to do with the fact we have so much freedom people cant fricking control themselves. Also violent movies/music videos/violent video games/porn everywhere/lack of christian religion in our schools and government


I disagree, strongly.

[Hotrod]

I disagree, strongly.

So you think more porn & drugs are the answer ???

[alkemical]

So you think more porn & drugs are the answer ???


It's the problem for the prison population as a whole.


You have root causes to problems that aren't blanketed statems - not to mention that prisons are a big business -

For a 'free' country we dwarf just about anyother country with our prison population -

[Hotrod]

Are they taking into account countrys where they just shoot you and put you in a mass grave instead of jail???

[alkemical]

Of course not, you aren't in prison then.


But over 2million people incarcerated - and most of them non-violent offenders.

[Hotrod]

I still think my reasons are a major contributing factor. Especially the removal of Christian values from peoples lives.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Because of what's seen on cops?
Cops?

[Hotrod]

Cops?

You know the show on TV where the cops are always arresting someone whos sporting a mullet goes about 325lbs and has no shirt or shoes Ha!

[Bronco_Beerslug]

You know the show on TV where the cops are always arresting someone whos sporting a mullet goes about 325lbs and has no shirt or shoes Ha!

Well, I don't watch network TV besides sports but I think I know that show.

I said drugs and gang bangers because...

# Over 60% of inmates are minorities.
# Half of jail inmates in 2002 were held for a violent or drug offense, almost unchanged from 1996.
# Drug offenders, up 37%, represented the largest source of jail population growth between 1996 and 2002.
# More than two-thirds of the growth in inmates held in local jails for drug law violations was due to an increase in persons charged with drug trafficking.


Lifetime likelihood of going to State or Federal prison

* If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of every 15 persons (6.6%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.

* Lifetime chances of a person going to prison are higher for

-- men (11.3%) than for women (1.8%)
-- blacks (18.6%) and Hispanics (10%) than for whites (3.4%)

* Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 32% of black males will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 17% of Hispanic males and 5.9% of white males.

[alkemical]

That's the man, man.

[Old Dude]

We have more people in prisons nowadays because it's cheaper.

The privatized prison system makes some big money, and they haven't missed many tricks. For example, knowing that the primary means of family communication for most prisoners is over the phone, almost all private prisons have worked out special deals with the applicable phone companies ... where the business gets the discount and the inmates pay more.

Nifty, huh?

Prisoners are pretty cheap labor ... even cheaper than illegal immigrants if you don't count the room & board.

Prisons also make nice pork-barrel projects for rural towns that would otherwise wilt up and blow away in the wind.

Oh, and can you say Haliburton?

I knew you could.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf


This is interesting, but why?

One of the main reasons is that we put so little effort into understanding the various factors that cause kids to grow up to be criminals and even less effort into prevention.

Instead of identifying the factors that go into creating criminals and doing something to alleviate or eliminate those factors, we put all of our focus on putting out fires and punishment.

[DBruleU]

One of the main reasons is that we put so little effort into understanding the various factors that cause kids to grow up to be criminals and even less effort into prevention.

Instead of identifying the factors that go into creating criminals and doing something to alleviate or eliminate those factors, we put all of our focus on putting out fires and punishment.

Proper Parenting.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Proper Parenting.

Yep - that's probably the most important thing.

Unfortunately, any public scrutiny of how people raise their kids is taboo in our culture. There's still a prevalent mentality that says "how I raise my kid is nobody's business but my own."

Nothing could be further from the truth insofar as society as a whole pays the price when kids who are abused grow up to be Ted Bundys or BTKs.

[DBruleU]

Yep - that's probably the most important thing.

Unfortunately, any public scrutiny of how people raise their kids is taboo in our culture. There's still a prevalent mentality that says "how I raise my kid is nobody's business but my own."

Nothing could be further from the truth insofar as society as a whole pays the price when kids who are abused grow up to be Ted Bundys or BTKs.

I agree.

Parents these day's don't really care what their kids are doing, and are not informed with what their kids do on a consisten basis. And alot of them just want to be the "cool parent."

Complete opposite way I was raised.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I agree.

Parents these day's don't really care what their kids are doing, and are not informed with what their kids do on a consisten basis. And alot of them just want to be the "cool parent."

Complete opposite way I was raised.

There isn't a sufficient "social infrastructure," if you will, to identify kids who are being abused or neglected at an early age. The rightards scoffed at Hillary's famous "it takes a village" comment, but she was spot-on on that occasion, IMO.

[Jesterhole]

Because we treat drugs as a law enforcement problem, instead of a health problem.

It's been said many times, but worth saying again. Legalize drugs and you destroy the black market. Our courts get unclogged, and the police have time to catch real criminals...the rapists, robbers and murderers.

Get people with addictions treatment, and let other adults use whatever they want responsibly. Alcohol is still the worst drug I've ever used...and I've used my fair share...

[gunns]

Over 70% of the people are in prison because of drugs. And they do nothing for them in prison and then release them, a revolving door. In prison you can put a kid who gets messed up on drugs and never had a problem before the drugs and this kid is going to come out having learned more than he ever needed to know.

[spdirty]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that 29% of our prison population is occupied by illegal aliens.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that 29% of our prison population is occupied by illegal aliens. Because it's 4%?

I forgot to link the previous numbers I posted.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm

[DBruleU]

Because it's 4%?

You use google very well.

[enjolras]

I still think my reasons are a major contributing factor. Especially the removal of Christian values from peoples lives.

Of course you'd have to explain why countries that are decidely non-christian have much lower imprisoment rates.

[enjolras]

Because it's 4%?

As far as I can tell (I was able to find literally 5 different numbers in 3 minutes of searching) somewhere around ~25% of federal prison population is illegal immigrants. Which is, of course, a FRACTION of the overall prison population when you include state and county jails.

[DBruleU]

Of course you'd have to explain why countries that are decidely non-christian have much lower imprisoment rates.

Don't have the laws we have?

Don't treat drug abuse the same as we do?

There are probably many reasons why "non-chrsitian" nations have lower prison populations.

[alkemical]

Don't have the laws we have?

Don't treat drug abuse the same as we do?

There are probably many reasons why "non-chrsitian" nations have lower prison populations.


They want to build a prison for yu and me to live in.....

[W*GS]

It's funny.

On the one hand, LABF demands accountability from the Bush administration. In and of itself, that's a Good Thing.

However, on the other (left) hand, he blames society-at-large for criminal behavior. Not directly, but because government bureaucrats don't decree what "correct" parenting is - at least not yet.

How woefully inconsistent (if not hypocritical) he is...

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Mountain States Imprisoning More Women

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer 1 hour, 53 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Oklahoma, Mississippi and the Mountain states have set the pace in increasing the imprisonment of women, while several Northeastern states are curtailing the practice, according to a new report detailing sharp regional differences in the handling of female offenders.

The report, to be released Sunday by the New York-based Women's Prison Association, is touted as the most comprehensive state-by-state breakdown of the huge increase in incarceration of women over the past 30 years.

Overall, the number of female state inmates serving sentences of more than a year grew by 757 percent between 1977 and 2004, nearly twice the 388 percent increase for men, the report said.

Though the surge occurred nationwide, it was most notable in the Mountain states, where the number of incarcerated women soared by 1,600 percent, the report said.

According to federal statistics cited in the report, Colorado had 72 female inmates in 1977 and 1,900 in 2004, while the comparable numbers increased from 28 to 647 in Idaho, from two to 473 in Montana, from 187 to 2,545 in Arizona and from 30 to 502 in Utah.

Idaho, Wyoming and Montana were among six states, along with Oklahoma, North Dakota and Hawaii, where women comprised more than 10 percent of the prison population in 2004 — compared to the national average of 7 percent. In Rhode Island, by contrast, only 3.2 percent of the inmates were women.

Oklahoma had the highest per capita imprisonment rate for women — 129 behind bars for every 100,000 women in its population. Mississippi was second with a rate of 107. Women in those states were roughly 10 times more likely to be imprisoned than women in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which shared the lowest rate of 11.

Nationwide, there were 1.42 million inmates in state and federal prisons at the end of 2004, including 96,125 women — up from 11,212 in 1977.

Though the overall surge of women behind bars has continued in recent years, it has tapered off in the Northeast, the report said. From 1999 to 2004, it said, the number of female inmates dropped by 23 percent in New York and 21 percent in New Jersey — part of broader reductions that also cut the number of male inmates.

The report concurred with previous analyses attributing much of the nationwide increase in women's imprisonment to the war on drugs. The proportion of women serving time for drug offenses has risen sharply in recent years, while the proportion convicted of serious violent crimes has dropped, it said.

Bob Anez, a Corrections Department spokesman in Montana, confirmed that drug offenses — especially related to methamphetamine — were a major factor in the high proportion of female inmates in the state. Half the women imprisoned from January through March had committed meth-related offenses, he said.

Jerry Massie of Oklahoma's Corrections Department also said rising drug convictions were a factor in the high number of imprisoned women, but he noted that Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates for men as well as for women.

Ann Jacobs, executive director of the Women's Prison Association, said states with high rates of women behind bars should look closely at alternative sentencing, particularly mandatory treatment as an option for drug offenders.

"It's startling to think that Oklahoma incarcerates 129 of every 100,000 women, while other states can provide public safety by incarcerating 11 of every 100,000," she said. "Women in Oklahoma can't possibly be 10 times worse."

K.C. Moon, executive director of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center, said the state's high incarceration rate is linked to the types of crimes that are felonies — including simple drug possession and relatively minor thefts.

"Those are two types of crimes that are typically committed by women," Moon said. "In Oklahoma, we choose to make lower-level crimes felonies, therefore we stand out like a sore thumb."

The Women's Prison Association and like-minded groups focus attention on female inmates in part because they are more likely than men to be primary caretakers of children, and their incarceration can place severe strains on families.

The report urged an expansion of research to identify factors that have contributed to the increase of female inmates and to develop policies which help at-risk women lead law-abiding, self-sufficient lives. Jacobs said the reduction of female inmates now occurring in some Northeast states would be worth celebrating only if coupled with investment in social programs that could reduce recidivism.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060521/ap_on_re_us/women_prisoners