Effects of Mass Incarceration, The decimation of African American families happens every day thanks to mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is the systemic placement of African Americans in jail for drug possession or smaller crimes like loitering. Over the past three decades, the U. S. prison population has skyrocketed, with six times as many people in prison today as in 1972. More than 600, 000 prisoners will be released this year alone. The effects of this massive prison population stretch to the very foundations of our society and communities. Mass incarceration affects our families and poverty.
An estimated 2.7 million American children have an incarcerated parent. The problem has become so common that same Streetrecentlyintroduced a character with an incarcerated parent to teach children how to cope with this difficult situation and the shame that can accompany it. Even worse, the data suggest an extraordinary racial disparity: 11. 4 percent of black children have an incarcerated parent, 3. 5 percent of Hispanic children, and 1. 8 percent of white children. Non-violent offenses comprise two-thirds of the convictions reflected by these incarceration rates, with about one-quarter coming from drug offenses. Additionally, more than half of imprisoned parents were the principal earners supporting their children. When a wage-earning parent is suddenly removed from the scene, the burden falls on the remaining parent to provide for the children, pressuring families economically. This can continue even after the absent parent has been released from incarceration.
During the past thirty years, U. S. poverty has remained high despite overall economic growth. At...
