Prisoners and the Social Issues They Face - Research Paper Example

? and number Prisoners and the Social Issues They Face submitted Prisoners and the Social Issues They Face The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) compiles and monitors the profile and characteristics of prisoners in the United States since 1926 (Langan and Levin, 1999, p. 1). The demographical details include age, sex, race, length of prison sentence and the offense committed. The statisticians revealed that these information are crucial in identifying patterns and trends, specifically responding to questions like “whether blacks are a growing fraction of the persons being sent to prison (they are); whether prison sentences are getting longer (generally they are not); and whether imprisonment of violent offenders accounts for much of the recent increase in the prison population (it does)” (Langan and Levin, 1999, p. 1). In this regard, the research aims to describe the past and current prisoners, as the population segment; and to explain at least two social issues facing the prisoners. The discourse would provide statistics and background data to document the social issues facing the selected population segment. Likewise, an analysis of the sociocultural factors contributing to the social issues would be presented; as well as a discussion of the political, economic, legal, practical, and ethical aspects. The multiple levels contributing to and/or perpetuating the issues would also be discussed. In terms of presenting the two social issues, the personal, professional, and ethical implications on the society would be determined including two of the most significant challenges to solving the social issues for the selected population segment. Finally, a statistical research project that directly relates to at least one of the two social issues for the prisoners as the population segment would be proposed, describing in detail what one intends to measure and the rationale for measuring the identified variable. A plan to conduct one’s research study would be presented including details on who would be involved, the realistic timeline, the number of people needed to conduct the research project from a staffing perspective, which statistical analysis method would be most appropriate for the proposed application, the number of subjects to be required for the study. The plan would also evaluate the importance of the proposed research study, and would describe how the resulting data could best be used, and what specific agencies would potentially use the proposed research. Profile of Prisoners in the United States The Pew Center on the States (2010) provided information on the statistics of prisoners at the earliest documented date, 1925 with only 85,239 prisoners. The number increased to 174,379 prisoners in 1972 and finally, 1,404,503 prisoners as of January 1, 2010 (p. 1). Another report published by the US Department of Justice, written by Lynch, Smith, Graziadei and Pittayathikhun (1994) provided a general profile of prisoners in the United States as of 1991, as shown below: Number of inmates Characteristic 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009a 2010 Total 621,149 747,529 765,819 780,174 785,536 767,434 748,728 Gender                 Male 550,162 652,958 666,819 679,654 685,865 673,728 656,360   Female 70,987 94,571 99,000 100,520 99,670 93,706 92,368 Adults 613,534 740,770 759,717 773,341 777,832 760,216 741,168   Male 543,120 646,807 661,164 673,346 678,660 667,039 649,284   Female 70,414 93,963 98,552 99,995 99,172 93,176 91,884 Juvenilesb 7,615 6,759 6,102 6,833 7,703 7,218 7,560   Held as adultsc 6,126 5,750 4,835 5,649 6,410 5,846 5,647   Held as juveniles 1,489 1,009 1,268 1,184 1,294 1,373 1,912 Characteristic 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009a 2010 Total 621,149 747,529 765,819 780,174 785,536 767,434 748,728 Race/Hispanic origin                White 260,500 331,000 336,500 338,200 333,300 326,400 331,600   Black/African American 256,300 290,500 295,900 301,700 308,000 300,500 283,200   Hispanic/Latino 94,100 111,900 119,200 125,500 128,500 124,000 118,100   Other 10,200 13,000 13,500 13,900 14,000 14,800 15,000   Two or more races... 1,000 700 800 1,300 1,800 800 The discrepancy in numbers was due to the diversity in sources of information: one coming from state records, and the other coming from court records (Langan and Levin, 1999, p. 1). At mid-year 2010, the BJS (2011) reveal that the following summarized trends and patterns: “About 61% of all jail inmates were awaiting court action or had not been convicted of their current charge, up from 56% in 2000. In 2010, almost 9 out of 10 jail inmates were adult males. At midyear 2010, whites represented 44% of all jail inmates; blacks, 38%; and Hispanics, 16%. These percentages have remained nearly stable since midyear 2005” (BJS, 2011). For comparative purposes, the statistical information of prisoner characteristics as of 1991 from the study conducted by Lynch, et al., (1994, p. 9) are as follows: Sex: Male 93%, Female 7% Race: White 51%; Black 45%, Asian 1% and Others 3% Age: Under 21 9%; 21 – 24 years 17%; 25 – 29 years 24%; 30 – 39 years 34%; 40 – 49 years 12%; 50 – 59 years 3% and Over 59 years 1% Civil Status: Single 55%, Married 19%; Widowed 2%; Divorced 17% and Separated 7% The profile of prisoners in the US have exhibited an increasing trend since the past 40 years except in 2010 where the Pew Center revealed that the number of state prisoners decline in 2010 (Pew, 2010, p. 1). Majority of the prisoners are still male, adult, or white race, followed closely by black. This trend and profile has remained consistent through the years. Social Issues As prisoners face diverse social issues when they are incarcerated and when they are released back to society. With statistics in 1991 indicating that 19% of prisoners are married, there are social issues faced in terms of continuing the marital relationship or seeking the option for divorce, depending on the length of the life sentence and on the gravity of the crime committed. According to Freudenberg (2006), “women bear more parenting responsibilities than their male counterparts and often have to negotiate complicated arrangements with their own parents, relatives or the foster care system” (p. 14). The issue of divorce and diverse family issues would be hereby determined and expounded. Divorce/Family Issues According to Lyman (2005), "between a married man's arrest and the end of his first year in prison, 80 percent of marriages break up. For female inmates, the divorce rate is closer to 100 percent" (p. 2). The family relationship is deemed as the most crucial factor that motivates inmates, with the possibilities for parole, to ensure good behavior. The author likewise added that “when they looked at all the factors affecting whether the inmate returned to prison," he said, "the No. 1 factor, more than drugs, more than race, more than any other demographic category, was whether they were part of a stable family relationship" (Lyman, 2005, p. 2). Sheri and Bob Stritof (2011) reveal that “when a crime is committed, there are victims other than the primary victim(s). These secondary victims include the families of the primary victim and another often overlooked group of victims -- family members of the person who has committed the crime. The families of inmates are often overlooked in research and in designing social programs, yet many suffer devastating consequences as a result of a loved one's incarceration” (par. 3). The sociocultural factors that contribute to the social dilemma of divorce include economic factors (where the remaining partner needs to support the children), practical reasons (another partner is sought to assist in various needs including affiliation needs), social factors (the stigma of being married to an inmate) and legal factors (the need to comply with the requirements of filing a divorce). As deduced, multiple levels exacerbate the problem, the individual (left to support the children), the children (had to adapt to the family figure who was incarcerated and to address issues of divorce), the relatives and friends (who could either support or remain indifferent to the issue). Social Exclusion In terms of addressing the dilemma of social exclusion, prisoners who are returning to society have more challenges in terms of finding employment and in merging into social circles. Freudenberg (2006) contended that “upon returning home from jail, women have to re-establish relationships with children, other family members, and partner” (p. 14), if the marriage survived. In addition, the potentials for gaining employment are more difficult for those who were previously incarcerated due to some state laws that ban people with a history of incarceration (Freudenberg, 2006, p. 7). The sociocultural factors that have contributed to the problem of social exclusion are political factors, where state laws were reported to have banned people identified to have a record of incarceration (especially for work related crimes which could compromise human and organizational resources), practical reasons (where people generally do not want to get involved with someone who has a criminal record for fear that a crime could possibly be committed against them), and the social stigma of having to interrelate with someone of notorious background. In this problem, multi levels of society likewise increase gravity to it in terms of inflicting emotional and psychological problems to the person previously incarcerated and are re-entered to society (individual), creating more problems for inability to support the family through failure to find employment, and lesser productivity and revenues to be returned to society due to inability to be employed. Personal, Professional, and Ethical Implications As briefly noted, both social issues (divorce/family issues and social exclusion) have drastic effects on the individual previously incarcerated in terms of psychological and emotional problems faced for failed reentry. Spouses Stritof (2011) emphasized that “so many of the spouses who are left at home suffer from feelings of being an outcast, guilt, shame, loneliness, financial hardship, and sexual frustration” (p. 1). The inability to find employment would put the person and the family on a more complicated and stressful situation in terms of lesser income to support and sustain the family’s needs. The local community and other state organizations could face ethical dilemmas in terms of accommodating prisoners for re-entry into their community through finding employment opportunities and embracing them in their social circles. Proposals to Solve Social Issues As it has been supported by Lyman (2005) and McGarrell, Hipple and Banks (2004) that the support from the family is the most crucial and significant factor for return to society, one of the proposed solutions for the identified social issues should focus on strengthening the family relationship. This could be implemented by assigning social workers for spouses and children of prisoners to orient and strengthen their bonds through counseling, offering holistic support and determining ways and means to keep marital connections intact. Social workers should likewise work and coordinate with state prisons to identify parolees and possibly determine past work experiences and competences. As proposed by McGarrell, et al., (2004), “the problem was not the need for workers but rather connecting ex-offenders to employers and demonstrating to employers that ex-offenders were appropriate for many jobs” (p. 24). The summarized proposals deemed necessary to assist ex-offenders into reentry to society are as follows: “(1) network of coordinated partners working together to assist those coming out of prison; (2) parole/probation mindset change; (3) training for service providers; (4) job bank of employers who will hire ex-offenders; (5) education programs for employers; (6) mentoring programs staffed by those who have “been there”; (7) anger and stress management on an ongoing basis; (8) help with establishing goals; and (9) more shelters” (p. 25). Proposed Statistical Research Project to Address Social Exclusion Since it has been identified that there is a need to establish connections between ex-offenders and community service providers from the time that they are still in prison until they are released, the research project hereby aims to determine the prisoners who are about to be released and to start coordinating with respective community service providers to give orientation and training on their reentry to society. Who would be involved? The people to be involved are parole and probation officers (who would provide information of the prisoners who are about to be released) and a team of social workers or service providers who would orient and train prisoners in line for reentry on the following: determination of family relationships, need for housing, need for employment, skills and capabilities, need for anger management training and other services. What would be a realistic timeline? The timeline should be from six months prior to release. How many people would be needed to conduct the research project from a staffing perspective? From a staffing perspective, at least three people are needed to conduct the research: the research leader, the research assistant to go on field work and the liason person to coordinate between state prisons and the community services. Which statistical analysis method (e.g., statistical tests/measurements) would be most appropriate for your application? The descriptive statistics method in conjunction with qualitative methods would be appropriate for the research. As revealed by Healey (1999), a descriptive statistical method “comprises the kind of analyses we use when we want to describe the population we are studying, and when we have a population that is small enough to permit our including every case” (7). How many subjects would you require for your study? Initially, a group of 5 to 10 subjects could be used for the study for ease of monitoring and control. Importance of the Proposed Research The proposed research could be instrumental in determining the success of the proposed recommendations to assist ex-offenders into entry to society. Using initially a small group of potential subjects who are about to be released, the group could start being trained and re-oriented on finding employment, housing (if needed) and re-establishing familial relationships. The findings could be used by state prisons and community affiliations and groups that assist in looking for employment opportunities for ex-offenders. Through establishing a linkage with potential employers who are willing to hire ex-offenders based on qualifications and skills, there would be immediate employment that awaits them – addressing the problem of social exclusion. By proving that they could be productive members of society, their confidence and belief in themselves could be re-established, resulting in increased morale, higher productivity and personal and professional growth. Conclusion The paper was able to achieve its objectives of describing the past and current profile of prisoners, as the population segment in the study. Two significant social issues in terms of divorce and family issues, as well as social exclusion facing prisoners were discussed through the use of statistics and relevant background information. The sociocultural factors contributing to the social issues would likewise explained, including the multiple levels contributing to and/or perpetuating the issues. Solutions to the social issues were proposed in terms of assisting them through coordinated assistance between parole and probation officers and community service providers. A proposed research seeks to implement the coordination among identified authorities and providers within the prison compounds as potential offenders are lined for release. The study would determine the impact of the measures that aim to address the social exclusion dilemma and ultimately help ex-offenders to live productive lives in society. References Freudenberg, N. (2006). Coming Home from Jail: A Review of Health and Social Problems Facing US Jail Populations and of Opportunities for Reentry Interventions. Retrieved 20 June 2011. < http://www.urban.org/projects/reentry-roundtable/upload/inmate_challenges.pdf> Healey, J.R. (1999). Statistics. 5th edition, Wadsworth Publishing Co. Langan, P.A. and Levin, D. (1999). “Assessing the Accuracy of State Prisoner Statistics.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved 20 June 2011. Lyman, R. (2005). "Marriage Programs Try to Instill Bliss and Stability Behind Bars.” NYTimes.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011. Lynch, J.P., Smith, S.K., Graziadei, H.A. and Pittayathikhun, T. (1994). “Profile of Inmates in the United States and in England and Wales in 1991.” US Department of Justice Statistics. Retrieved 19 June 2011. < http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/Walesus.pdf> McGarrell, E.F., Hipple, N. and Banks, D. (2004). Applying Problem Solving Approach to Issues of Inmate Reentry: The Indianapolis Pilot Project, Final Report. Retrieved 20 June 2011. < http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/203923.pdf> Stritof, B. and Stritof, S. (2011). Prison Marriage: Can a Marriage Survive a Prison Sentence? Retrieved 20 June 2011. < http://marriage.about.com/cs/prisonmarriage/a/prisonmarriage.htm> The Pew Center on the States (2010). Prison Count 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2011. < http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Prison_Count_2010.pdf> Read More