In many ways, fear can manifest itself in people’s lives and can inherently affect the people that they become, and the practices and mentalities with which they apply in their lives and activities. While it can be said that fear is a common emotion among humans, it can be presently different in how it is manifested depending on one’s gender. One common fear that can be seen among the male population, especially with regards to males who are people of color, is the fear of incarceration and violence as a result of exposure to the criminal justice system. Fears of being ostracized and having one’s life tremendously affected by exposure to this system is something that prominently affects men, given the rates at which individuals are incarcerated per gender.
For instance, approximately 90.6% of the prison population is composed by males, as opposed to the 9.4% that are females. (Goldberg 81) The overall nature of how individuals are viewed and the applications of social structure are often correlative of gendered responses to criminals or individuals who could be administered some sort of justice by the administrations of the penal system. The administration of justice has long been a focal point of American politics, and essentially every other prevalent political system throughout human history. Finding ways to ensure that criminal acts do not go without their just punishment and that certain criminals are offered platforms for rehabilitation has comprised the entire justice system that has been devised in modern America. Yet, given the nature of this system, there are many controversial points that are often highly scrutinized, such as the extent to which America is willing to go to administer what it believes is justice to both its citizens and to those abroad.
This emphasis on preventing moral wrongdoing has defined America’s pursuits into ensuring justice. Many criminal offenses pertain to problems that directly affect either other individuals or one’s own self-interests. Furthermore, the United States has focused large amounts of money and time into ensuring that certain morals and ethical situations are cultivated and fulfilled. Yet, the way in which the criminal justice system is structured in America has often drawn questions regarding the inherent ethical standards that are present and the way in which this system affects those that are caught committing punishable offenses according to the government. (Golbert 81) The prison system itself is an industrial complex, whose sole purpose is to capitalize on the oppression of the citizens that it is intended to protect, often being those who are predominantly males.
In particular, African-American males have historically had much difficulty with the prison system, since Ronald Reagan privatized it during his presidency. Since then, there’s been a precedence placed on keeping young African-American males and Latino males constantly in the servitude of the federal government, but habitually incarcerating them on charges, which quite frankly, aren’t worth the punishment they receive. (Gottschalk 64) These men have little chance to improve their present and long-term situations, because of the wealth gap, and the imbalance between the social classes of the common man and the elite. Men find themselves having served a sentence, unable to pay for the subsequent fees that they have once they’re out and, in turn, forced into more servitude to the system based solely on the fact that they were unable to pay.
This in turn can directly affect their families because of the inability that many of these individuals have to find work and to contribute to ensuring that their families have what they need. This often causes the situation in which people who have been incarcerated are subjected to the same conditions and situations that originally caused them to be incarcerated. 82 percent of property offenders are likely to be arrested within five years of release, as well as 77 percent of all drug offenders. (Gottschalk 70) The effects of the social imbalance have trickled down to the family structure as well. As a result, many families, notably African-American families, and communities have adapted to the constantly changing society in which they live, and the likelihood that members of their families will be imprisoned.
The effects that this has on men and the families of these individuals is extensive. The resulting destabilization of these families can be tremendously detrimental to the stability within their family units and the communities at large. With this percentage of citizens being taken from their homes and communities, there is a loss in terms of positive influence for those that would otherwise be around them. Spouses and children lose crucial members of their families and role models that could provide crucial influence. Furthermore, the loss of these individuals provides a tremendous deficit in terms of economic representation and opportunity. With the way that America’s economy is structured, criminal backgrounds and incarcerations do not bode well for economic success for those that have these offenses on their records. As such, it often catalyzes a cycle in which the people who are incarcerated are subjected to the same circumstances and issues that caused them to go to prison originally. This only perpetuates a cycle which not only affects the prisoners and the offenders, but their families as well. These are all present and real fears that befall many men, as it is far more likely that a male will go to prison than a female. The types of fears that befall men in particular are often those that are correlated to the success and stability of their families and incarceration and exposure to the penal system is a very real fear for these individuals.
- Goldberg, Evans (2009). Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy. Oakland: РM Prеss. p. 81.
- Gottschalk, Marie (2010). “Cell blocks & red ink: mass incarceration, the great recession & penal reform.”. Daedalus. pp. 62–73.
