American’s Attitudes Towards Convicted Felons Based on the Demographics of the Convict

Introduction

America’s prison system has roots in slavery and its original purpose was to punish run away slaves. Since the beginning our prison system has had problems and play a part in systematic racism and negative stigmas within society. Ideally our prisons would serve as rehabilitation centers for criminals rather than just a place of punishment. America has one of the highest prison return rates among other developed countries in the world. That is because we do not focus on rehabilitating the inmates, therefore they are usually not ready to reenter the free world. Many parts of our prison systems need to be improved as we could do a much better job at rehabilitation than we do, but we could also do a better job at preparing them to be released. Once someone is released from prison, it is extremely hard for them to get a decent job, have lost some of their rights, and usually do not have anything to their name. This leads these people to become homeless and impoverished. This livelihood is not one people want to live and oftentimes leaves freed prisoners to revert to the behavior they were doing to get in jail in the first place and ends them back in jail. This all plays an important part in Americans attitudes towards convicts. In jail people become extremely dehumanized and tend to keep that reputation once they are released. Most Americans have extremely negative attitudes towards freed convicts. If we as Americans focused more on rehabilitation and helping people to not commit crimes we could help them stay out of jail, rather than focusing on the mistakes they made in their past and making them suffer for it forever. Although the attitudes towards convicts tend to be negative, there is a wide variety of why. Research suggests that race, offenses, and education play a major part of the way Americans view convicted felons (Binnall 2021; Bontrager 2005; Coulter 1954). Over the past couple of years, systematic racism and the issues that come along with it has become more prevalent in mainstream media and has become an increasingly more important issue for people. Outside of race it is an important issue as we try to minimize crime and the homeless and impoverished populations.

Literature Review

According to research there are many factors that play into how convicted felons are viewed. Things like race, gender, education, and politics are just some of what seem to be the main reasons. One of, if not the main factor of Americans' attitudes towards convicted felons is race. A convict's race will oftentimes determine how one feels about the conflict (Wilson, Owens, and Davis 2015). As every other system in the U.S. our imprisonment system faces systematic racism. A white convict will be more likely to have a positive experience in receiving rehabilitation or readjustment into the free world (Bontrager, Bales, and Chiricos 2005). White felons receive lesser charges and sentencing resulting in a better reputation. This better reputation leads to better support from their community once they are released. They have an easier time getting jobs and help over a felon of a minority group. Another physical factor that could determine how a felon is perceived is gender (Chricos, Barrick, Bales, and Bontrager 2007). Women often have an easier time being accepted by society in general, so it is not surprising that this holds true regarding felons. Once they get out and are trying to relearn life outside of jail/prison, they have a more welcoming return and more resource opportunities.

Outside of physical appearance factors, a highly considered factor of Americans' attitudes towards convicts is if the offense is violent or not (Myers 1980; Ross 2022). There seems to be a major difference in attitude based on the violence level of the crime. A violent felon will have a harder time finding help, resources, and jobs than someone who was convicted of a nonviolent crime. Felons convicted of violent convictions are seen in a more inhumane light than nonviolent offenders (Binall and Peterson 2021). In a similar light, if someone is convicted of a sexual felony, they have an even harder time as a lot of establishments of help and work have no tolerance policies for sexual crimes. Another important factor is the felon’s education level. The title of uneducated adds to the already negative reputation and attitude towards them. An education level comes with a lot of other factors such as whether they were educated before committing the crime or while they were doing their sentence (Lucken and Brancale 2023). Someone who gained a higher education level while doing their time will have a more positive reputation in society and may have an easier time finding outside resources. Another important factor would be politics (Dawson-Edwards 2008; Manza, Clem, and Christopher 2004). Politics oftentimes push people to have a certain belief, and this is no different in regards to convicted felons. People with conservative views are more likely to want felons to be punished harsher while liberals tend to want felons to experience rehabilitation (Coulter and Korpi 1954). Once a felon is released there seems to be more negative comments made by people who claim to be conservatives than those who claim to be liberal.

A factor that is more important in the sentencing of a felon is mental illness. During trial is when we see the mental illness debate the most. People deemed to have forms of mental illness usually receive lesser sentences or are offered more accommodations during their sentences. This can also result in a more positive attitude once they get out. When a person is labeled mentally ill they receive more empathy from society, so their reputation remains intact and they receive more opportunities for help (Cloyes, Wong, Latimer, and Abarca 2010).

Research Questions

After reading these articles and analyzing how all these factors impact Americans attitudes towards convicted felons, some more specific questions have arisen for me. I want to know the true impact of how race and gender determines one’s attitude towards convicted felons. Also, how politics are set up to create a division in society around the topic and how impactful that is in determining societies attitudes towards convicted felons. I most importantly want to put them together to potentially find a solution in harmonizing these attitudes and providing better help for felons before, during, and after their sentencing and time served.

Propositions

Attitudes towards convicted felons are not simply black and white. Some people think that convicted felons should have an easier time getting out of jail then joining back into the free world. Some think that there should be harsher restrictions on them getting out of jail. Some think that is dependent on their crime. Through every step of our prison system in the US there are many issues with how the system is set up. Even before people Commit a crime there are systematic issues that lead people to do so. These systematic issues continue to play a part after a charge is given, during his sentencing, during their sentence, and once they get out. Once a felon is released, they are oftentimes forgot about, which should not be the case because the majority of the time they still need help. Leaving jail and entering the free world, especially after serving a longer sentence, is a big adjustment and if the right support is not given could lead the felon to go back to jail. Like everything else in this country, the attitudes around convicted felons can be determined by racism, sexism, and politics.

The main causal factor in attitudes towards convicted felons is race. People of minority groups are more likely to have a negative reputation and little support then someone of the majority race. One of the major issues America is known for is racism (Bontrager, Bales, and Chiricos 2005). Most white people display attitudes of racism even if they are not trying to or are aware that they are doing it. When talking about our prison system is important to talk about its early years in our country. Some of the first prisons were put into place to capture runaway slaves and return them to their owners. With an origin like this rooted in race these negative thoughts about people based on race were passed on for generations. Because of this we tend to see minority groups incarcerated at disproportionate rates. Sentencing for the same crimes is also extremely inconsistent amongst different races. There are crimes that a white person can commit and will only get probation whereas a minority can commit the same crime under the same circumstances and will get jail time (Wilson, Owens, and Davis 2015). There are simple traffic stops that for a white person will result in a warning but for a minority will result in a night in jail. Race is a very important topic especially when talking about imprisonment and we can use these aspects of history to explain why. They also help understand why race is an important factor in the attitudes towards felons. The race of the felon can determine if he is labeled a criminal or just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The support they have once getting out or the label they gain is usually dependent on their race. (Bontrager, Bales, and Chiricos 2005)

Another causal factor in attitudes towards convicted felons is gender. Similarly to race gender can play a large part on the attitude of a convicted felon. Women tend to receive lesser sentencing than men do. Women oftentimes receive lesser sentences for crimes and men do. We as a society tend to give women passes that men do not receive simply for being women. This is seen in the courts in ways of convictions and sentencing. A woman could commit a more heinous crime than a man could and still receive lesser sentencing (Chricos, Barrick, Bales, and Bontrager 2007).

The last casual factor of attitudes towards convicted felons, and potentially the most impactful, is politics. Liberals tend to be more forgiving of villains whereas conservatives are not (Dawson-Edwards 2008). The US’s political system is add two party system, therefore the liberal opinion and the conservative opinion usually play out to be the democratic and republican opinion, which are the only two that truly make a difference in American politics. This is extremely evident when we compare the prison systems in each state, as each state has its own prison system. States that are politically more liberal are going to be more forgiving and supportive of a felon getting out of jail than one that is politically conservative. This kind of serves as a problem when talking about convicted felons on a national level as they are not treated the same nationally. There is a federal prison system but most convicts don't end up at that level, and even when they do once they get out they are treated how this state functions politically. (Binall and Peterson 2021)

Bibliography

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Bontrager, Stephanie, William Bales, and Ted Chiricos. 2005. “Race, Ethnicity, Threat and the Labeling of Convicted Felons.” 43(3): 589–622.

Chiricos, Ted, Kelle Barrick, William Bales, and Stephanie Bontrager. 2007. “The Labeling of Convicted Felons and Its Consequences for Recidivism.” 45(3): 547–581.

Cloyes, Kristin G., Bob Wong, Seth Latimer, and Jose Abarca. 2010. “TIME TO PRISON RETURN FOR OFFENDERS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS RELEASED FROM PRISON” 37(2): 175–187.

Coulter, Charles W. and Orvo E. Korpi. 1954. “Rehabilitation Programs in American Prisons and Correctional Institutions.” 44(5): 611–615.

Dawson-Edwards, Cherie. 2008. “Enfranchising Convicted Felons: Current Research on Opinions Towards Felon Voting Rights.” 46(3/4): 13–29.

Manza, Jeff, Clem Brooks, and Christopher Uggen. 2004. “Public Attitudes Toward Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States Public.” 68(2): 275–286

Lucken, Karol and Julie Brancale. 2023. “Getting down to work: the employment attitudes of persons with a felony conviction and their behavioral implications.” 46(5): 647-665  

Myers, Martha A. 1980. “Personal and Situational Contingencies in the Processing of Convicted Felons.” 50(1): 65–74.

Ross, Jeffrey I. 2022. “Twenty Million Angry Men: The Case For Including Convicted Felons In Our Jury System.” 62(3): 793–795.

Wilson, David C., Michael L. Owens, and Darren W. Davis. 2015. “HOW RACIAL ATTITUDES AND IDEOLOGY AFFECT POLITICAL RIGHTS FOR FELONS.” 12(1): 73–93.