Question

• Identify how mental/behavorial illnesses, substance abuse addiction, and deinstitutionalization are related to minority groups in corrections. In your opinion, should these areas of correctional treatment be considered a minority status? Why or why not?
• Why are African Americans and Latino Americans (Hispanics) overrepresented in the correctional population?

Answer 1

Substance abuse, mental illnesses and deinstitutionalized people are considered minority in group and are given this status as their conditions are far more delicate than the average prisoner. These people also require a different level of care to be able to prevent their conditions from further exacerbating. Hence, it is necessary to provide them with this status.

Racial segregation is a concept that is used in housing allocation. Since a while, US has been chiefly racially segregated on the grounds of race, that is, people from one race are confined to a certain location and not usually not given housing in other neighbor hoods. The neighbor hoods that are racially segregated are generally devoid of resources and have high crime rate (the ghetto neighborhoods) owing to the lack of resources and active help, these neighbor hoods resort to crime. Also, there is more locality patrolling in these areas, and sometimes people are incarcerated over the most minor crimes. Hence the density of Latino and African American people is heavy in correctional facilities. The cause is also racial profiling where cops suspect and consequently convict people of color, even if they aren't the perpetrators.