COMMON DREAMS– Many of those who have lost their jobs and homes in the United States
due to the lingering economic recession are ending up in jail, according
to a new study released by an independent think tank Thursday.
There is a strong link between poverty and incarceration in the
United states, according to the report, “Money Well Spent: How positive
social investments will reduce incarceration rates”, by the Justice
Policy Institute (JPI).
The report’s findings on the relationship
between poverty and the justice system suggests that more and more
people from poor and low-income communities are being arrested and
jailed, even though nationwide, crime rates have fallen.
“What we have seen in this research is that there is less focus on
safety for the poor and more on policing and arrests,” Tracy Velázquez,
executive director of the Washington-based JPI, told IPS.
The report notes that as prison populations have grown, so too have racial disparities in the justice system.
“This
is especially evident in arrest and incarceration patterns for drug
offences,” said Sarah Lyons, National Emerson Hunger Fellow and primary
author of the report, who added that without adequate funding for social
services, it is less likely that people will be able to succeed and
avoid contact with the justice system.
Despite comparable usage of
illicit drugs, in 2008, African Americans, who make up 12.2 percent of
the general population, comprised 44 percent of those incarcerated for
drug offences, according to the report.
Researchers say that
disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in communities of colour
destabilises families and communities and decreases the likelihood of
positive outcomes for children and other family members left behind.
Due
to the prolonged economic meltdown, many states are now making drastic
cuts in funding for social services – such as health, education, and
public housing – but not on policing and prison improvement and
expansion.
There are nearly two million people behind bars in the
U.S., most poor whites and people of colour, making the United States
the number one country in the world in terms of the imprisonment rate.
The report notes that about 16 percent of incarcerated people also experienced homelessness before being arrested.
“Most
of these people are significantly more likely to have both a mental
illness and a substance addiction, which frequently go untreated,” said
Nastassia Walsh of JPI. She said that states with higher high school
graduation rates and college enrollment have lower crime rates than
those with lower educational attainment levels.
The JPI study
points out that the stress of living in poverty is a “risk factor” for
experiencing mental health problems, and that many people who want
treatment can’t afford it.
“More than 50 percent people in prisons
are suffering from mental illness of some kind,” said Walsh, who holds
that increased investment in mental health and substance abuse treatment
can improve public safety and reduce criminal justice involvement.
According
to the study’s findings, investments in job training and employment
have been associated with heightened public safety. Youth who are
employed are more likely to avoid justice involvement. In addition,
people who are incarcerated are more likely to report having had
extended periods of unemployment and lower wages than people in the
general population.
“It’s time for our elected officials to
realise that creating safe, healthy communities is a better investment
in our country’s future than more prison beds,” stated Velázquez.
“Low-income communities and people of colour are bearing the brunt of
this recession, as well as of our policies that have led to mass
incarceration.”
“By shifting our priorities, we can reduce these
disproportionate impacts and make a real difference, especially for our
country’s children and families,” she said.
More funding for
affordable housing, education and employment could help turn around the
lives of people struggling with homelessness, including children and
youth, who are particularly affected by lack of housing, the report
says.
‘It’s a question of where we choose to spend our money,”
said Velázquez. “Until we quit funneling tax dollars into prisons and
policing practices that sweep large numbers of people into the system –
many of whom pose little risk to public safety – we should not be
surprised to see incarceration rates continue to climb.”
Last
year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) expressed similar concerns about the lack of
progress to end racial discrimination in the U.S. criminal justice
system and urged Washington to take practical actions to end unjust
police actions against the poor and minorities.
The international
body documented a number of cases that showed that police officials in
many cities were not only engaged in acts that violated the U.S.
constitution, but also the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The report’s authors urged the U.S. government to take actions to comply with that international human rights treaty.
© 2010 IPS-Inter Press Service
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