Mothers in Federal Prison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mothers in Federal Prison - Essay Example This information also supports the premise that when women are in federal prison it has severe repercussions on the entire family. Historically women who were mothers and sentenced to federal prisons were given lighter sentences. However, the literature indicates that tougher prison sentences, especially federal, are being handed down. As a result, more children are being affected by a parent's incarceration, (The Center for Youth and Families) The repercussions to the entire families of the incarnated women, not just the children are serious. There are emotional, political and economical effects that the entire family must endure. In the "Long Goodbye" by Amanda Coyne, all of these factors are addressed. The major factor that Coyne's work is concerned with is the emotional impact both on the mother and the rest of the family, especially the children. There is an emotional toll that affects the entire family f the imprisoned mothers. The literature suggest that the large numbers of women in federal prisons has a social impact and supports the premise that many women are in federal prisons due to the unsuccessful war on drugs. ... This causes great angst for the mothers in federal prison and it raises concerns as to what and how they will explain their incarceration to young children. The current literature also reveals that mothers in federal prisons have difficulties with adolescents and the adolescents of incarcerated mothers are problematic. (Coyne, p 73) Current literature is concerned with the unintended consequences of the incarceration of parents on children. (Coyne, p 72) These consequences may include problems with separation, caretaking, schooling, and antisocial behavior during childhood, educational failure, precocious sexuality, premature departures from home, early childbearing and marriage, and idleness and joblessness during adolescence and early adulthood. (Bloom, p 21) There is current literature that examines the dimensions and causes of these problems among children of mothers that have been sentenced in the federal district courts system. (Coyne, 74) The literature also suggests that the withdrawal or loss of a parent can result in the loss not only of economic capital, but also of social capital involving relationships among family members and the organization of family life toward the maintenance and improvement of life chances of children. (Bloom, p 22) The presence of mothers in United States prison populations is growing with the increasing reliance on incarceration as a criminal sanction, for women as well as men. (Bloom, p 22) The literature presents the results of a recent survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1991) that revealed that about two-thirds of incarcerated women and more than one-half of incarcerated men are mothers of children under 18 years of age. (The Center for Youth

Race and the Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Race and the Death Penalty - Research Paper Example In every modern society, there are authorities to impose punishments on wrongdoers and the nature of authorities varies with the kind of offenses. For example, a child who breaks the rules of a family at home is punished by his parents or the other elderly members. But, in the society when someone gets involved in illegal activities is punished by the criminal judicial system. There are two major reasons for inflicting punishment on criminals: one belief is that it is fair that people who break the law be punished according to the level of his offence, and the second belief is that punishments will discourage offenders from repeating their wrongdoings in the future and will also put fear in the minds of others from doing wrong. These two beliefs are universal in every human society. The debate surrounding the necessity of punishments including capital punishment, therefore, does not focus on the â€Å"basic principles but on the fairness, appropriateness, and effectiveness of specif ic punishments for specific offenses.†1 Because of the irrevocable nature of the death penalty, it is the most criticized form of punishment. In the United States, racial prejudices were pervasive and played an important role in the decision of the jury in regard to death penalties as â€Å"the color of a defendant and victim’s skin plays a crucial and unacceptable role in deciding who receives the death penalty in America.†2 It has been seen that an offender is more likely to get the death penalty if the murdered victim is a white man. This paper focuses on the racial prejudices surrounding death penalty in the United States. Before studying the death penalty from the angle of racial prejudices it is important to note that racism is a major part of the American society.