Social control is defined as “mechanisms that ensure conformity” (Eitzen, 107) while deviance is defined as “any behavior that does not conform to social expectations” (Eitzen, 130). These two words play a huge role in the U.S. Prison system considering a vast majority of inmates and ex-inmates are those who were or still are unable to conform to the current time’s norms, values, and laws. It is important to sociologists and those who run prison systems to consider social control and deviance to examine if there is anything we can do as a society to prevent others from straying off course and becoming labeled as a deviant.
Literature Review In Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in the U.S. Incarceration by Becky Pettit and Bruce Western, Pettit and Western discuss prison inequality “by estimating the lifetime risks of imprisonment for black and white men at different levels of education” (Pettit). To obtain this information, Pettit and Western used administrative surveys and census data. After collecting the data, Pettit and Western found that men who were born from 1965 to 1969, about 3% of white men and 20% of blacks were in prison by the time they were 30. Becky and Brice also confirmed that education level does have an impact on incarceration risks, “among black men…30% of those without college education and nearly 60% of high school dropouts went to prison” (Pettit). Becky Pettit and Christopher Lyons, who wrote Compounded Disadvantage: Race, Incarceration, and Wage Growth examined how spending time in prison will affects wage trajectories for a group of men. To examine how prison time will affect wages, Becky and Christopher use data drawn from state administrative records. Initially, the results did not show any evidence of a divergence in wages; however, later evidence showed that “wages grow at a 21% slower rate for black compared to white ex-inmates. Blacks will also enjoy fewer wage returns to work history compared to their white counterparts” (Lyons). Results According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics “Minority State prison inmate [are] less likely than whites to have a high school diploma or GED.” It is clear through the data collected that prison minorities are also less likely than whites to be a college graduate or more. Betty Pettit and Bruce Western state that “Among black men… 30% of those without college education and nearly 60% of high school dropouts went to prison...” After looking at the above table and adding the percentages of prison inmates who have an education attainment less than college, the data is supportive of Pettit and Western’s conclusion since the table also shows that approximately 89.9% of black state prison inmates have attained an education level less than a college degree. However, blacks are more likely to further their education while in prison. Theory Order theorists believe that social control is brought together …show more content…
"Compounded Disadvantage: Race, Incarceration, and Wage Growth." Social Problems: 257-80. Print.
Pettit, B., and B. Western. "Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration." American Sociological Review (2004): 151-69. Print. …show more content…
Becky Pettit and Bruce Western examine the inequality of education found throughout the U.S. prison systems. In a four year period of births Pettit and Western found that only 3% of these white men went to prison by their mid-thirties while nearly 20% of these black men went to prison by the time they were in the mid-thirties. Out of the black men, nearly 90% of them had an education that was less than equivalent to college. While examining this inequality, Lyons and Pettit found that the 17% difference had a correlation with the difference in white and black men education levels. In another journal, Pettit and Christopher Lyons examined the inequality of wage increases among black and white men who previously went to jail. Theorists who have examined the inequality in prison systems will look at it one of two ways: both the deviant was unable to conform to modern time’s norms, values, and laws, or the society was unable to meet the needs of individuals to keep them from acting out. Unfortunately, no matter what view a theorist may take on the subject it is nearly impossible for every member of a society to completely conform to the ever changing norms, values, and