EVERY DAY, Americans plop down on their respective couches to enjoy some of television’s ample entertainment, varying from the impressive to the abysmal. Alongside the reality television and hospital dramas filling the airwaves, there are now nearly 20 “different” dramatic crime-solving shows on mainstream television.
What does it say about Americans that so many television series can be pigeonholed into one genre? Considering the fact that most of these programs deal with murder, rape and the full spectrum of narcotics, it shows that Americans love seeing violent criminals or drug offenders busted for their actions. No wonder CBS has nine crime-driven dramas, including three of the same title with only a variance in their urban locations (CSI: Name of City Here).
Employing television to make social commentaries is hazardous because it risks oversimplifying American culture. Nevertheless, the overabundance of crime-solving programs and Hollywood’s choice to continue churning out new depictions of the same basic concept indicates Americans like watching law and order at work. This glut of crime dramas serves as a representation of the fact that Americans enjoy seeing real criminals go to jail, even to the point where it is maddeningly apparent that the American justice system is overdoing it.
In February, the Pew Center on the States reported that more than one out of every 100 American adults is currently incarcerated. Incredibly, while having only about 5 percent of the world’s population, America houses 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Since the advent of programs like the “War on Drugs” created more stringent sentencing for numerous crimes, the number of inmates in this country has tripled between 1987 and 2007. Many argue this corresponds to the parallel drop in crime; however, one only has to look at major urban centers, where many of the poorest people in this country live, to see evidence of the claim that criminal activity depends far more on socio-economic factors than the number of people placed behind bars. In fact, Florida has nearly doubled its prison population over the last 15 years yet has not seen as great a decrease in crime as New York, which has actually decreased its incarceration totals.
As many politicians rattle the saber of law and order, the impact of these numbers is sometimes missed. Five states are now spending as much or more on corrections than education, with 22 other states spending at least $.50 for every dollar invested in schooling. It shouldn’t take a genius to realize that the more someone is educated, the less likely that person is to commit a crime. Exemplifying this is pre-kindergarten education, considered one of the most effective long-term strategies to preventing crime; nevertheless, it has to compete in most states for funding with state corrections systems, the very area of spending that could be lowered if more were invested in preschool care.
A few states like Texas have realized that increasing drug treatment programs and creating more flexible parole policies saves money for more important expenditures while maintaining public safety. However, most states continue to jail more people — like Virginia, where there was a 5.1 percent increase in 2007. As long as states like California maintain “three-strike” rules and hand out exorbitant sentences for non-violent crimes, the costs of prisoner healthcare, new prison facilities and overtime work by prison staffs will continue to spiral out of control. These increasing expenditures make it imperative that states recognize that treatment programs and means other than throwing away the key can not only protect society from its most dangerous members but rehabilitate petty criminals so they are less likely to commit another crime.
There are intangible costs to accompany the monetary ones: Policies like mandatory minimums send crack offenders (generally black) to jail for longer than cocaine offenders (generally white), creating an intrinsic racism in the system. 60 percent of prisoners are black or Hispanic, as they often are in worse socio-economic conditions and correspondingly commit more crimes, many of which are petty and not equivalent to the long sentences doled out for them. The longer imprisonments rob impoverished families not only of a wage earner but of the familial contributions of one of its members, exacerbating the problems of single-parent households and role model-less childhoods.
Although there is no debating the incarceration of violent offenders, Americans must realize many criminals are harshly sentenced for relatively trivial crimes, thus preventing the proper investment of government funding in areas like education and failing to fight recidivism as well as treatment programs, all the while maintaining an institutional racism. Unless Americans adjust their viewpoints and change laws dealing with these problems, the United States will face harming succeeding generations and continuing an ever-costlier cycle, both tangibly and intangibly, that fails to better society.
Geoff Skelley is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer.
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