Felons
By: Rachel, Kristina, Tomiah, and Esther
Connection to Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 3:
Describe and analyze the dynamics of privilege
and institutional discrimination and design
strategies to support diverse communities
and influence social policy.
Overview
Diversity of Felons
Age
Minorities
Gender
Disabilities
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Stages of the Justice System
Pre-Prison
Prison Experience
Post Prison
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What is a felon?
Merriam-Webster dictionary
Felon:
1 : one who has committed a felony
Felony:
1 : an act on the part of a feudal vassal involving the forfeiture of his fee
2 a : a grave crime formerly differing from a misdemeanor under English
common law by involving forfeiture in addition to any other punishment
b : a grave crime declared to be a felony by the common law or by statute
regardless of the punishment actually imposed
c : a crime declared a felony by statute because of the punishment imposed
d : a crime for which the punishment in federal law may be death or
imprisonment for more than one year
Pre- Prison
“...Race, age, and gender will interact to influence sentencing because of
images or attributions relating these statuses to membership in social
groups thought to be dangerous and crime prone.”
- Criminology, 1998
Includes:
Personal history
Arrests
Convictions
Sentencing
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Pre-Prison: Age
Youth: 18 and under
What is leading youth to become juveniles?
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lack of discipline at home and school
peer pressure
violence at home(home life)
low economic status
instability
Juvenile Arrests
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2.5 million juveniles
violent crimes, property crime, arson, vandalism, larceny-theft, and
burglary arrests
Juvenile Court
1.7 million delinquency cases disposed
nationwide, it is easier to try juveniles in adult criminal court
Pre-Prison: Age
Youth: 18 and under
Children getting sentenced into Adult prison for life
Over 2200 Juveniles nation wide
Unconstitutional for Juveniles to be sentenced to
death
13 and 14 year olds in prison for life
Lack from legal representation
Help of adult in many crimes
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Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gTJgwpcs_Y&feature=related
Pre-Prison: Age
Adults: 18 and older
Average age in prison is 39
Most common offenses
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49% Drug related
15.6% for Weapons, explosives, and arsons
12.2% for Immigration
4.2% for Robbery
Pre-Prison: Minorities
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Racial Profiling:
Assumptions
 colored people=more crimes
 racial profiling
o Disproportionate number of investigations
 1991 chance of spending time in jail at some
point in their life:
• White males is 4%
• Hispanics 16%.
• Black male 29%
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Pre-Prison: Minorities
Prison Populations
o 1984 whites 60% Blacks 40%
o 1991 blacks 54% 42% whites.
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African Americans Nationally 49% inmates
Hispanics grown 219% between 1985-1995
Asian-Americans population increase 4% 1980-1999
Pre-Prison: Minorities
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Drug Policies
o Minorities disproportionately advantaged
 more arrests of minorities for drug crimes;
 overall increases in
severity of drug sentences
over the past 20 years
 harsher treatment of
minority arrestees as
compared to white
arrestees.
Pre-Prison: Gender
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Gender is the strongest non-legal factor that influences
the sentencing of a felon
- Social Science Quarterly,
2006
Non-Violent Crimes
Violent Crimes
Likelihood of Sentencing:
Females < Men
Likelihood of Sentencing:
Females = Men
Length of Sentence:
Females < Men
Length of Sentence:
Females < Men
Pre-Prison: Gender
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Perceived "Threat" Level
o Protecting society from crime
o Criminal records and stereotypes
 Women with childcare responsibilities
Pre-Prison: Disabilities
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Disability: "A physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities of
such individual."
Disabled Population:
20% of general public
30-40% of prison population
Greater percentage in
juvenile facilities
Mental disability vs
mental illness
50% of prison population
Pre-Prison: Disabilities
Factors contributing to high
arrest rates of suspects
with disabilities:
Suspicious behavior
Easily apprehended
May not understand rights
May confuse details
May falsely admit guilt
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Pre-Prison: Disabilities
50% of felons with intellectual disabilities have
been convicted of a sexual offence
Contributing factors:
Lack of social skills and training on
appropriate/safe sexual behavior
A history of sexual or physical abuse
Limited or no available sexual
partners
Difficulty projecting consequences of
behavior
Difficulty recognizing and expressing
emotions
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Prison Experience
Includes:
Length of Stay
Programs Offered
Treatment
Accommodations
Consequences
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Prison Experience:Age
Youth: 18 and under
Juvenile Detention- Secure residential facility for young people that are waiting
for court hearings and/or placement in long- term care facilities and
programs.
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In Juvenile Detention:
medical assessment
education
group care
Option to go to boot camp
Prison Experience: Age
Adults: 18 and older
Institutions: Low security Federal correctional
institutions(FCI's), Medium Security FCI, High Security
FCI, Correctional complexes, Satellite prison camps
o Educational classes
o Work
 Sawyer's work experience
 Wage
o Counseling
*All matters which prison the person is sentenced to
Prison Experience: Minorities
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Convictions
Non Drug
o Drugs
o Violent felony offences
o Weapons
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Length of Stay
o Blacks
 Average 27 months for whites and 46 months for
blacks
o Voting Rights
 Total of 5.3 million people with no voting rights
Prison Experience: Gender
• Perceived Threat Level
o
"...More lenient treatment of women is found for both
racial minorities and Whites”.
- Criminal Justice Policy
Review, 2000
• Correctional System Services
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Substance Dependency Histories
Trauma Histories
 Programs Offered
• Prison Population
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State Prisons, 2000: 94% Male
Family Effects:
 Minor children
Prison Experience: Disabilities
American with Disabilities Act
of 1990
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Pennsylvania Department of
Corrections v. Yeskey, 1998
What is reasonable?
Lack of funding
Isolation as means of
protection
Post Prison Sentence
Includes:
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Societal Integration
Execution
Parole
Re-offending
Post Prison: Age
Youth: 18 and under
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55% re-offend within one year after
release
o increase in crime
o victimization
o homelessness
o family destabilization
o public health risks
Huge difference of the area of the
arrest
o urban vs. Rural
Most likely not to re-offend if
Post Prison: Age
Adults: 18 and older
1994 results
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300,000 prisoners released in 15 states
68% re-arrested within 3 years
47% convicted a new crime
25% recommitted to prison with new sentence
Parole violation
Employment
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Common jobs were construction, general manual labor, maintenance,
and assembly line or factory jobs
Two month after release 43% respondents had been employed after
leaving prison, only 31% still employed
Struggle to find businesses hiring convicted felons
Housing
Halfway housing (Example, Hope Village)
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Post Prison: Minorities
Re-offending
o
Societal Integration
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48% of ex-offenders
Jobs
 Unemployment rate 50% for people with records
 White former inmates averaged $7,880 per year
and Blacks just $4,762
 Disadvantaged by daily nature of prison
experience
Voting Eligibility
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13% of all Black men in the U.S. have lost their
electoral rights
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Post Prison: Gender
Re-offending
Men
Reasons for
Recidivism
Reasons for
Community
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criminal peer associations
carrying weapons
alcohol abuse
aggressive feelings
job satisfaction
education
Women
urban residence
childhood and recent abuses
living with a criminal partner
selling drugs
stress
depression
fearfulness
suicidal thoughts
number of children
relationships
Execution
o US Capital Punishment favors women
Post Prison: Disabilities
Execution
Atkins v. Virginia
Recidivism
79% of mentally ill felons have prior convictions
60% of disabled felons have prior convictions
Parole
A disabled felon is half as likely to receive parole
Summary
Diversity of Felons
Age
Minorities
Gender
Disabilities
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Stages of the Justice System
Pre-Prison
Prison Experience
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References:
Atkins V. Virginia, 536 US 304 (2002).
BONTRAGER, S., BALES, W. and CHIRICOS, T. (2005). RACE, ETHNICITY,THREAT AND THE LABELING OF
CONVICTED FELONS. Criminology, 43: 589–622. doi: 10.1111/j.0011-1348.2005.00018.x
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004 (10 pp.) (NCJ 210676).
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2004). State court sentencing of convicted felons 2004. Retrieved from
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/html/scscf04/tables/scs04203tab.cfm
Campaign for Youth Justice. (n.d.). National statistics. Retrieved from http://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/nationalstatistics.html
Cockram, J. (2005). People With an Intellectual Disability in the Prisons. Psychiatry, Psychology And Law, 12(1), 163-173.
doi:10.1375/pplt.2005.12.1.163
Equal Justice Initiative. (2011). Children in adult prison. Retrieved from http://eji.org/eji/childrenprison
Equal Justice Initiative. (2011). Death in prison sentences for 13- and 14-year olds. Retrieved from
http://eji.org/eji/childrenprison/deathinprison
Firth, H., Balogh, R., Berney, T. Bretherton, K. Graham, S. & Whibley, S. (2001). Psychopathology of sexual abuse in young
people with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 45 (3), 244-252
Federal Bureau of Prisons. (2012, January 28). Quick facts about the bureau of prisons. Retrieved from
http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp
Fernando Rodriguez, S., Curry, T. R. and Lee, G. (2006), Gender Differences in Criminal Sentencing: Do Effects Vary Across Violent, Property, and Drug
Offenses?. Social Science Quarterly, 87: 318–339. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00383.x
Halperin, A. (2011, January 16). After prison, building a new life means more than just doing right. The Washington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011405709.html
Juvenile court department of the king county superior court. (2012, January 20). Juvenile detention. Retrieved from
http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/JuvenileCourt/detention.aspx
Mauer, M. (1999). THE CRISIS OF THE YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE
AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_crisisoftheyoung.pdf
Oshima, K., Huang, J., Jonson-Reid, M., & Drake, B. (2010). Children with disabilities in poor households: Association with juvenile
and adult offending. Social Work Research, 34(2), 102-113.
Perske, R. (2003). Observations of a water boy. Mental Retardation, 41 (1), 61-64.
Petersilia, J. (August 2000). Doing justice? Criminal offenders with developmental disabilities. CPRC Brief, 12 (4), California Policy
Research Center, University of California.
Sobsey, D. (1994). Violence and abuse in the lives of people with disabilities. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Spohn, C. (2000). Is preferential treatment of female offenders a thing of the past? a multisite study of gender, race, and imprisonment.
Criminal
Justice Policy, Retrieved from
http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/11/2/149.short@psychiatry.uchc.edu
STEFFENSMEIER, D., ULMER, J. an
d KRAMER, J. (1998), THE INTERACTION OF RACE, GENDER, AND AGE IN CRIMINAL SENTENCING: THE PUNISHMENT COST OF BEING YOUNG, BLACK,
AND MALE. Criminology, 36: 763–798. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01265.x
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