A Skyrocketing Prison Population

Transcription

1 A Skyrocketing Prison Population Alexis Greenblatt U.S. State and Federal Prison Population, Number of people Year Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoners Series. See < for more statistics, information, and news. First, share what you see in the graph. Then, identify specific things that you notice and/or questions you have. Finally, use the graph to answer the following questions. 1. From , the number of incarcerated citizens was more or less at or below what number? 2. For about how many years did the number of incarcerated people in the U.S. remain relatively consistent? 3. From , the number of incarcerated people increased by approximately A. 2 times B. 3 times C. 4 times 4. Write a true sentence about what happened to the number of incarcerated people between 1980 and In one sentence, summarize the data you see in this chart. 6. What might explain the dramatic shift in the number of people incarcerated? To help answer this question, read articles on pp. 8, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, and 29. Alexis Greenblatt teaches adult basic education at Springfield Technical Community College. NOTE: questions #2 and #4 are different from what appeared in the print version of the magazine. Subscribe at The Change Agent March

2 Answers to questions about A Skyrocketing Prison Population : First, share what you see in the graph. Students may notice things like: there numbers of people on the y axis and years on the x axis that the graph is level for many decades and then rises very steeply. Then, identify specific things that you notice and/or questions you have. Students might notice and/or ask things like: the numbers are in increments of 200,000 the title refers to state and federal prisons. Does that mean it does not include other places that people are incarcerated, such as jails and juvenile detention centers? Finally, use the graph to answer the following questions. 1. From , the number of incarcerated citizens was more or less at or below what number? Answer: 200, For about how many years did the number of incarcerated people in the U.S. remain relatively consistent? Answers may vary. Possible answers include: For almost 50 years (between 1925 and 1975), the number of incarcerated people was between 100,000 and 200,000. For 32 years (from 1940 to 1972), the number of incarcerated people was fairly consistent, ranging between approximately 180,000 and 200, From , the number of incarcerated people increased by approximately A. 2 times B. 3 times C. 4 times Answer: B. 3 times 4. Write a true sentence about what happened to the number of incarcerated people between 1980 and Answers may vary. Possible answers include: From , the number of incarcerated people quadrupled. The prison population doubled from 1972 to Then it doubled again from 1982 to 1990 to In one sentence, summarize the data you see in this chart. Answers may vary. Here is one possible answer: The U.S. prison population was relatively stable for many years, but then it started to rise very rapidly starting in the 1980s. 6. What might explain the dramatic shift in the number of people incarcerated? To help answer this question, read articles on pp. 8, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, and 29. These articles address trends like people waiting a long time for trial, indefinite detention for immigrants and others (8-9, 29), non-violent repeat offenders being jailed for life (14), the War on Drugs (p. 16), stop and frisk (p. 18), prison labor (p. 20), and the business of mass incarceration (p. 24). 2 Subscribe at The Change Agent March 2015

3 Incarceration Rates in OECD Countries Alexis Greenblatt 1) Let your eye roam around the chart. What do you notice? 2) Get more specific. What type of countries are listed? What countries are left out? Discuss what the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is. 3) What does rate per 100,000 mean? Discuss the difference between rate and hard numbers. Iceland Japan Denmark Finland Norway Sweden Switzerland Ireland Germany Italy Belgium France South Korea Austria Netherlands Portugal Greece Canada Australia Slovakia Hungary England and Wales Luxembourg Turkey Spain New Zealand Czech Republic Mexico Poland United States (Rate per 100,000) ) Use the chart above to answer the following math questions: a) Round each country s incarceration rate number to the nearest 10, then answer the following questions. b) Which country incarcerates people at approximately twice the rate as the Netherlands does? c) Which country incarcerates people at half the rate as Turkey? d) The U.S. incarceration rate is approximately how many times greater than the country with the next largest incarceration rate? e) Which country has an incarceration rate that is three times greater than that of Norway? f) Which countries incarcerate around 100 citizens per 100,000? g) Does it make sense to compare countries that have a similar level of economic development and have similar democratic political structures? Why or why not? Alexis Greenblatt teaches at Springfield Technical Community College. Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research, ANSWERS ON REVERSE. Also, for another way of looking at U.S. incarceration rates in a global context, see the infographic on the next page. Subscribe at The Change Agent March

4 This graphic provides another way to get a global perspective on the U.S. incarceration rate. Credit: Meg McLain Answers to questions about Incarceration Rates in OECD Countries : 1) Students may notice that there are countries listed on the y axis and numbers listed on the x axis, that all the countries have developed economies, that the majority of the countries are European, that there are no African countries on the list, that one line is much longer than all the other lines, etc. 2) The OECD says that it is a forum of countries that are committed to democracy and the market economy. See < for more information. 3) Rate per 100,000 means that for every 100,000 people in the population, there are x number of prisoners. Rate tells you the proportion of prisoners to total population. Hard numbers tell you the actual number of prisoners. To practice using rates, look up the populations of select countries and calculate the actual number of prisoners in that country. 4a) 40, 60, 70, 70, 70, 70, 90, 90, 90, 90, etc. b) New Zealand, c) Switzerland, d) more than 3x greater than Turkey, e) Mexico, f) France, South Korea, Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, g) answers may vary and may include: Yes, because then you are comparing countries that are more alike than different. They might have simliar resources for solving social problems, so you might think they would have similar incarceration rates. Or: No. These countries have many differences even if they all favor a free market economy and have similiar levels of democracy in their political structure. 4 Subscribe at The Change Agent March 2015

5 Education vs. Prison Costs Alexis Greenblatt Data from 40 states depict how much government money is spent per year to educate an elementary/ secondary school student compared to the cost of keeping an inmate imprisoned. Cost per student Cost per inmate Alabama Arizona Arkansas Califrnia Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Yorl North Carolina North Dakora Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Study the Chart $0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 1) Say what you notice when you look at this chart. 2) Be more specific. Describe what the chart is saying. What information is it giving us? 3) Use the chart to answer these questions: a) Write a true statement about how much Maine spends on students and prisoners. b) Which 3 states spend the least per student on education? Which 2 states spend the most? c) Make up your own questions about this chart. d) Find your state. What do you think about what you see? Do some research. Find out more about your state s policies regarding funding for education and prisons. Source: <money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prisoncosts>. ANSWERS ON REVERSE. Subscribe at The Change Agent March

6 Answers to questions about Education vs. Prison Costs : 1) Students may say things like, I see yellow dots and blue dots. The yellow dots are mostly gathered on the left side, and the blue dots are scattered on the right side. I see states listed on the y axis and dollar amounts on the x axis, etc. 2) Answers will vary, but they should include the basic information that the chart is communicating: The 40 states included in this chart generally spend less on education than they do on inmates, and in some cases, the difference is very large. 3a) Answers will vary. They could include: Maine spends more than four times more per year per inmate than it does per student. Maine spends approximately $35,000 less per student per year than it does per inmate per year. Maine spends about $10,000 per year per student and about $45,000 per year per inmate. b) Least: Utah, Idaho, and Oklahoma. Most: New Jersey and New York. c) Examples could include: Does any state spend more per student than they do per prisoner? Why do you think per inmate costs are generally higher than per student costs? Which states have the biggest divergence between cost per student and their cost per inmate? d) Answers will vary. 6 Subscribe at The Change Agent March 2015