The United States currently has one of the largest prison populations in the world. According to statistics provided by the Bureau of Statistics 1 out of every 108 adults are were incarcerated in some form of facility at the end of 2012 (Glaze, 2013). Despite having one of the largest prison populations in the world, the United States is still suffering from high levels of criminal activity. The ways, in which this country is currently dealing with crime, do not appear to be all that helpful and some ways seem to be promoting a higher rate of crime. Too often the criminal justice system is relying on incarceration as a way of handling criminal activity when in fact they should be relying on other means. This is particularly true when discussing
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The media coverage on drugs, especially crack/cocaine, in the wake of basketball star Len Bias helped promote the idea of stricter penalties for drug offenses (Chiricos, 2013). Before the death of Len Bias, drug reports made up roughly 1% of the overall coverage, after his death drug reports shot up to about 6% (Chiricos, 2013). The general population became heavily influenced by the crack/cocaine ‘epidemic’ that the media was selling them; therefore several politicians began to run on a platform that promised to directly deal with the problem. Politicians would push for bills that promoted stricter penalties, longer sentences, for drug offenders in order to keep the population in office. After the Congress passed the Drug Abuse Act of 1986, this country saw arrests for drug offenses go up by 65% and state prison admissions go up by 214% (Chiricos, 2013). These numbers demonstrate the large influence that the media has had when it comes to legislature dealing with drug …show more content…
The over reliance on incarceration has cost the criminal justice system billions of dollars and often is not the best way to handle offenders. However legislation that promotes prevention and treatment does not get passed due to the role that mass media plays in this country. Mass media largely reports on topics that garner the highest number of views, as it is a business that runs on money. As a result of this the media often over exaggerate problems, which than causes a misunderstanding with the audience (Chiricos, 2013). It is this misunderstanding in which that politicians run on and is ultimately the reason that the criminal justice system continues to rely on legislature that places more people in prison. The criminal justice system is using incarceration as the simple answer to a complex
The media coverage on drugs, especially crack/cocaine, in the wake of basketball star Len Bias helped promote the idea of stricter penalties for drug offenses (Chiricos, 2013). Before the death of Len Bias, drug reports made up roughly 1% of the overall coverage, after his death drug reports shot up to about 6% (Chiricos, 2013). The general population became heavily influenced by the crack/cocaine ‘epidemic’ that the media was selling them; therefore several politicians began to run on a platform that promised to directly deal with the problem. Politicians would push for bills that promoted stricter penalties, longer sentences, for drug offenders in order to keep the population in office. After the Congress passed the Drug Abuse Act of 1986, this country saw arrests for drug offenses go up by 65% and state prison admissions go up by 214% (Chiricos, 2013). These numbers demonstrate the large influence that the media has had when it comes to legislature dealing with drug …show more content…
The over reliance on incarceration has cost the criminal justice system billions of dollars and often is not the best way to handle offenders. However legislation that promotes prevention and treatment does not get passed due to the role that mass media plays in this country. Mass media largely reports on topics that garner the highest number of views, as it is a business that runs on money. As a result of this the media often over exaggerate problems, which than causes a misunderstanding with the audience (Chiricos, 2013). It is this misunderstanding in which that politicians run on and is ultimately the reason that the criminal justice system continues to rely on legislature that places more people in prison. The criminal justice system is using incarceration as the simple answer to a complex