Crime and Incarceration
ALC – Summer 2007
Alicia Simmons
Questions for Today
1. How much crime is there?
2. What are the trends in incarceration?
3. What are the social impacts of
incarceration?
1. How Much Crime?
• Different types of crime
– Property
– Violent
• The number of occurrences
• The % of the population that are victims
The Big Picture
• 2005: approximately 23 million crimes in the U.S.
Crime Distribution
20%
Property
Violent
80%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
Property Crimes
• Motor vehicle theft
• Burglary
• Theft
Property Crime Statistics (2005)
# of crimes
% of victims
2.5 million
0.8
Burglary
8.9
3
Theft
35.1
12
Motor vehicle
theft
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
What Cars are Stolen Most Often?
Property crime
• # of crimes = 46.5 million
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
• % victims in pop.= 15%
Violent crimes
• Simple & aggravated assault
• Robbery
• Rape
• Homicide
Violent Crime Statistics (2005)
Simple assault
# of crimes
% of victims
4.1 million
1
Aggravated
assault
Robbery
1.3
0.4
785,000
0.3
Rape
151,000
0.05
Homicide
30,200
0.01
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
Violent crime
• # of crimes = 6.3 million
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005
• % victims in pop.= 3%
2. Trends in Incarceration
• Incarceration around the world
• Current trends and their causes in the U.S.
• Impacts on specific groups
Incarceration Around the World
874,171
http://www.prisonstudies.org
1,548,498
2,193,798
Incarceration Rate (per 100,000 population)
737
United States
French Guiana
630
Russian Federation
624
604
St. Kitts & Nevis
281
Taiwan
149
England & Wales
118
China
97
Republic of Korea
62
Japan
30
India
0
100
http://www.prisonstudies.org
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Causes of Prison Growth
• Pre 1970s: Indeterminate
Sentencing
• 1970s – today: Tough on
Crime
– Politicization of crime
– Growing conservative
climate
– American individualism
Mauer, 2001
Determinant Sentencing
•
Moves us from an offender-based to an
offense-based system
•
88% of  in incarceration from 19801996 is due to changes in punishment
– 51% results from  in the number of people
doing time
– 37% results from  in term length
Mauer, 2001
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Did Prison Growth
Cause the Crime Drop?
• Ways an  in incarceration could lead
to a  in crime
– Rehabilitation: fixing criminals
– Incapacitation: stopping current criminals
– Deterrence: stopping future criminals
• 1993-2001: incarceration  the crime
rate 2-5%
Western, 2006
Impact on Specific Groups
• Immigrants
• Gender
• Race
• Social class
Immigrants & Crime
• Longstanding public fear of immigrant
crime
• 1st generations do not commit many
crimes
– 2nd and 3rd generations commit more
Martinez & Valenzuela, 2006
Gender and Incarceration
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Race & Incarceration
Free pop. Incarcerated
pop.
12%
43
Lifetime
likelihood of
incarceration
30
Hispanic
35
35
20
White
70
36
4.4
Black
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Social Class & Incarceration
% in Prison or Jail by Social Class and
Race
Males age 20-40
White
1.6%
Hispanic
4.6
Black
11.5
Non-College Males age 20-40
White
3.2
Hispanic
5.5
Black
17.0
High School Dropout Males
age 20-40
White
6.7
Hispanic
6.0
Black
32.4
Tying the Trends Together
• Mass imprisonment:
– “A rate of imprisonment and a size of prison
population that is markedly above the
historical and comparative norm for societies
of this type.” (1)
– “Social concentration of imprisonment’s
effects.” (1)
Garland, 2006
Why are things Unequal?
• Racial bias in the following institutions
– Police: racial profiling
– Courts: unequal representation
– Laws: powder vs. crack cocaine
• A double standard exists for the upper vs.
lower classes
– Creates legitimacy issues
Cole, 2001
3. What are the Social Impacts?
• Stereotypes
– Police interactions
– Job opportunities
• Stereotype: a conventional, formulaic,
and oversimplified conception, opinion, or
image that a person applies to both a
group and each individual within it
– Black men are stereotyped as criminals
– Whites are stereotyped as law abiding
citizens
Interactions with the Police
• Black men are often wary of interactions
with the police
• Worried about being innocent but getting
into trouble
– Demeanor with police
• Convictions create records that follow
throughout your life
Anderson, 1990
Job Opportunities
Effect of Criminal Record by Race
34
35
30
25
17
20
14
Record
No record
15
10
5
5
0
Black
Pager, 2003
White
Questions for Today
1. How much crime is there?
2. What are the trends in incarceration?
3. What are the social impacts of
incarceration?