According to Pettit and Western (2004) “The U.S. penal population increased six fold between 1972 and 2000, leaving 1.4 million men in state and federal prisons by the end of the century”(p. 151). This enormous prison population makes the U.S prison population the largest in the world as of today. The prison population explosion that happened during the time period of 1972-2000 was caused by many factors, however this population was disproportionately that of minorities. During the 1980’s there was a nation-wide crack epidemic that caused crime to get out of control (Pettit & Western 2004). The people demanded a get tough approach on drugs and crime. That’s when the government delivered by declaring a War on Drugs. However this War on Drugs
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Even prior to entering the prison walls being an African American male you are the most likely candidate in the U.S to end up there. With the explosion of the drug market of the 1980’s many poor inner city African American that already lacked any type of opportunities for income jumped right on board. Gangs which were once founded for protection saw this huge opportunity to make money consequently many became what they are today which is a drug dealing enterprise. The War on Drugs that was declared by the government as a result of the drug market explosion tore through inner cities which are largely populated by minorities and consequently sent masses of African Americans on a direct ticket to …show more content…
Being that Asians only account for 1.5% of the population in prison (Johnson and Betsinger 2009) it is crucial for them to stick together for survival. Similar to other minorities all gang rivalries are not brought into prison rather they are left out on the streets. One unique thing about Asians in prison is unlike Hispanics and whites they do not have much of a structured prison gang. They tend to operate simply more by sticking together to do their time and if someone is to cause trouble with one of the inmates other Asian inmates get involved.
There is no doubt that the U.S incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world. It is clear that there is a big racial disparity within the prison population. Mass incarcerations followed the days of get tough on crime approach. This era of mass incarcerations caused a big disparity in prison population that is still very much present
Even prior to entering the prison walls being an African American male you are the most likely candidate in the U.S to end up there. With the explosion of the drug market of the 1980’s many poor inner city African American that already lacked any type of opportunities for income jumped right on board. Gangs which were once founded for protection saw this huge opportunity to make money consequently many became what they are today which is a drug dealing enterprise. The War on Drugs that was declared by the government as a result of the drug market explosion tore through inner cities which are largely populated by minorities and consequently sent masses of African Americans on a direct ticket to …show more content…
Being that Asians only account for 1.5% of the population in prison (Johnson and Betsinger 2009) it is crucial for them to stick together for survival. Similar to other minorities all gang rivalries are not brought into prison rather they are left out on the streets. One unique thing about Asians in prison is unlike Hispanics and whites they do not have much of a structured prison gang. They tend to operate simply more by sticking together to do their time and if someone is to cause trouble with one of the inmates other Asian inmates get involved.
There is no doubt that the U.S incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world. It is clear that there is a big racial disparity within the prison population. Mass incarcerations followed the days of get tough on crime approach. This era of mass incarcerations caused a big disparity in prison population that is still very much present