Social groups in prisonsA’ Senior High School 2014-2015

• Leda Kollia

• Milonas-Tsoumas Georgios

• Kyriakos Eleftheriadis

• Alia Panetsou

Teacher: C. TzivaClass: A’ Senior High School Age of Students: 15 years oldDuration of Project: 2 months

Aims/ Objectives of project: to enhance students’ vocabulary in

legal jargon and the theme of violence and justice

to broaden their cultural knowledge regarding the treatment of offenders depending on their age, sex, race and religion worldwide.

to encourage their critical thinking regarding judicial equality.

SOCIAL GROUPS in PRISON

OTHER

RELIGIOUS

BLACK

AGED

JUVENILE

MALE

FEMALE

What is the purpose of incarceration?

•Main form of punishment

• Rehabilitation

• Both

How many go to prison?

•According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics ,2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2011 In total, 6,977,700 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2011

FEMALE

In the United States, authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men in the 1870s.

As of 2009 the female prison population of federal and state prisons in the United States was 113,462.Within the US, the rate of female incarceration increased fivefold in a two decade span ending in 2001. The increase occurred because of increased prosecutions and convictions of offenses related to recreational drugs, increases in the severities of offenses etc.

Social Group Ratios

Midyear 2010 incarceration rates by race and gender per 100,000 US residents of all ages (adult rates would be higher).

Ethnicity Male Female

White 678 91

Black 4,347 260

Hispanic 1,775 133

FEMALE

Pregnancy among inmates is a unique challenge. According to a 2008 report on female prisoners, 4% of state and 3% of federal inmates said they were pregnant at the time they began their incarceration. However, it is difficult to accurately assess their development.It is estimated that 9% of women in prisons give birth while completing their sentence. In spite of a Supreme Court, in1976, which declared entitlement to basic health care for all people who are incarcerated, provision of adequate prenatal care in U.S. prisons has been inconsistent at best.

FEMALE

A few years women where not allowed to have children in prison.Today in most countries, including Greece imprisoned mothers are allowed to raise a kid until it becomes 3 years old.

Pictures from where they keep babies in a Greek prison:

After the births of their child, many women return to the jail or prison, and their infant immediately enters foster or kinship care. “For 50% of all incarcerated mothers, this separation becomes a lifelong sentence of permanent separation between mothers and their children”

MALE

In 2009, 92.9% of prisoners (not jail inmates) were male.

In 2013, by age 18, 26% of Hispanic males, and 22% of white males have been arrested. By age 23, 44% of Hispanic males, and 38% of white males have been arrested .

In 2010 black non-Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 4,347 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents of the same race and gender. White males were incarcerated at the rate of 678 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents.

ELDERLY

The percentage of prisoners in federal and state prisons aged 55 and older increased by 33% from 2000 to 2005 while the prison population grew by 8%. The Southern Legislative Conference found that in 16 southern states the elderly prisoner population increased on average by 145% between 1997 and 2007. The growth in the elderly population brought along higher health care costs, most notably seen in the 10% average increase in state prison budgets from 2005 to 2006.

One out of six prisoners in California is serving a life sentence. It is predicted that by 2020 ,16% percent of those serving life sentences will be elderly.

The American Civil Liberties Union published a report in 2012 which asserts that the elderly prison population has climbed 1300% since the 1980s, with 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now incarcerated .

JUVENILE OFFENDERS

BEFORE WE START….Did you know that :

●Thousand of children are sent to prison every year. Just in the Philippines over 50.000 kids have been prosecuted the last 2 years.

●In the US over 3000 children have been sentenced to life. Among them were kids as young as 13.

●A lot of them are abused in prison by their peers or even by the staff. This is mostly common in developing countries.

ALSO…..

A teen’s life in prison isn’t as easy as you might imagine. Conditions are hard and in some cases similar to those in adult prisons. There have also been claims on children’s part of serious violations such as torture , rape and in some cases even murder.

DEALING WITH YOUNG OFFENDERSCriminal justice systems will often deal with young offenders in a different way to adult offenders. The term ‘young offender’ will differ from country to country, depending on the age of criminal responsibility in that country. The age of criminal responsibility is the age that a person is considered to be responsible for a crime. If a child is below the age of criminal responsibility, they cannot be charged with a criminal offence as they’re deprived of any criminal responsibility due to their ignorance to the meaning of basic ideals such as “right” or “wrong” .

FACTORS THAT LEAD TEENAGERS TO CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES

There could be many possible reasons for teenagers to commit illegal actions. But the widely acknowledged factors are these – split in main

categories:

Parental issues: Parents are always the first to bear the responsibility of raising a child properly. A child’s parent is the one that has to inject some

fundamental ideals in its conscience so that it learns to behave in a socially acceptable way. After all, they say that children are like sponges. So teenagers who commit crimes often show antisocial manners that give away irresponsible parenthood. This factor could prove to be decisive especially when the parents themselves are indifferent, or even have a criminal record. But, even if they do behave in a socially acceptable way their common inner family conflicts could

affect their belief for what is right or wrong.

Society: No matter how good a kids family is they will eventually make contact with the outside world. When the society itself is corrupt it is only natural for

children to defy its laws.

School: As we all know school is just like a little society, that puts together all kinds of

personalities under the same rules. But teenagers are often bullied or made fun of and that leads them to antisocial behavior and inner rage. There is also the factor of influence from other kids. Alcohol or drug

abuse makes things even worse. Teenagers are energetic by nature so breaking the rules

often stimulates them and makes the feel accepted. There’s also the role of teachers.

Teachers are the ones that shouldn’t stick to share their knowledge with children, but also encourage them to grow and mature into fine men and women. That is a teacher’s sacred

role and it is also his failure when a child ends up being an outlaw.

TYPES OF PUNISHMENT

Social work

Fines

Time in prison

THE SITUATION IN GREECETeenager criminality is a big issue worldwide and Greece is no exception. What’s more, the economical crisis and the frustration in the political situation encourages illegal actions. In Greece people under 15 years old are considered to be minors so they cannot be punished for committing crimes. So only teenagers from 15 to 18 years old can be charged. Still they would not go to prison in any case. They would be sentenced to reforming centers for reformation until they get back to society. However, a large number of people claim that juvenile detention centers are not made for reforming subjects, just punishing them. So they’re not suitable for adults, let alone teenagers.

BLACK AMERICANBlack majority cities have similar crime statistics for blacks as do cities where majority of population is white. For example, white-majority San Diego has a slightly lower crime rate for blacks than does Atlanta, a city which has black majority in population and city government.

In 2013, by age 18, 30% of black males

By age 23, 49% of black males

RELIGIOUS GROUPS

According to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, not counting members of the Nation of Islam, there were 9,600 Muslim inmates in federal prisons in 2003. Roughly 80% of the prisoners who find faith while in prison convert to Islam and that these converts made up 17-20% (around 350,000) of the total (state and federal) prison population, in 2003. Other converts include Neopagans.

HISPANICHispanics (of all races) were 20.6% of the total jail and prison population in 2009. The Northeast has the highest incarceration rates of Hispanics in the nation.Connecticut has the highest Hispanic-to-White incarceration ratio with 6.6 Hispanic males for every white maleAmong the Hispanic community, Puerto Ricans have the highest incarceration rate. Located primarily in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, they are up to six times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, which may explain the higher incarceration rates for Hispanics overall in the Northeast region. Illegal immigrants, usually Mexican nationals, also make up a substantial number of Hispanics incarceratedHispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,755 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. In 2013, by age 18, 26% of Hispanic males and by age 23,44% of Hispanic males were arrested.

OTHER Asian Americans, however, have lower incarceration rates than any other racial group, including whites.

Homosexual and transgender youth are disproportionately more likely than the general population to come into contact with the criminal justice system. According to the National Center for Equality, 16 percent of transgender adults have been in prison and/or jail, compared to 2.7 percent of all adults. It has also been found that 13-15 percent of youth in detention identify as homosexual or transegender, whereas only an estimated 4-8 percent of the general youth population identify as such.

SOURCES

●WIKIPEDIA

●ENCYCLOPEDIA