Topic: Why poor people are incarcerated more than upper and middle-class people.

Thesis:

Inequality in incarceration has recently assumed focal discourse in the penal arena. It has
pervaded most penal incarceration (Bruce & Becky, 2010) and largely places the marginalized
groups at the centre of adversities. With specific reference to class inequality, the poor people
are strikingly overrepresented in the prison population than any other social class. They are
more likely to face incarceration and at rates greater than the rich people. The clause “The rich
get richer and the poor get prison” beautifully summarizes the wide inequality that exists
between the poor and the rich. The major reasons for this inequality are outlined as follows:

 Lack of access to quality education (Bernadette & Daniel, 2015) or low educational and
skills level (Caroline, 2003; Bruce, 2006; Becky, 2012);
 Lack of access to good jobs and employment opportunities (Justice Policy Institute and
Prison Policy Initiative, 2015; Richard, 2020);
 Inability to afford the cost of some legal fees such as the payment of a lawyer/counsel,
bail amount or the cost of release (Hayes & Barnhorst, 2020); and
 A partial justice system (Richard, 2020).

In a nutshell, poor people face a greater predisposition to incarceration than the upper and
middle class people as a result of lack of education, unemployment, non-affordability of some
legal fees and a failed justice system. Aside from class inequality in penal incarceration, there is
also a major discourse on racial inequality. Other research can focus on this discourse as well
as investigate the connection between racial and class inequality in incarceration. By and large,
it should be noted that social inequality takes in different forms and cannot totally be written off.
Thus, this paper recommends that they are utilized in beneficial manners such as using power
and wealth to reduce poverty and weakness.

References
Bruce, W. and Becky, P. (2010) Incarceration and social inequality, American Academy of Arts
and Sciences
Bruce, W. (2006) Punishment and inequality in America, New York: Russell Sage Foundation
Caroline, W. H. (2003) Education and correctional populations, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of
Justice Statistics.
Becky, P. (2012) Invisible men: Mass incarceration and the myth of black progress, New York:
Russell Sage Foundation
Bernadette, R. and Daniel, K. (2015). Prisons of Poverty: Uncovering the Pre-incarceration
incomes of the imprisoned. Prison Policy Initiative.
Justice Policy Institute and Prison Policy Initiative (2015), ‘Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park,’
The Right Investment? Corrections Spending on Baltimore City.
Richard, G. (2020) ‘Living in poverty is punishment itself’. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.
Hayes, T.O. and Barnhorst, M. (2020). Incarceration and poverty in the United States. American
Action Forum. Retrieved from
https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/incarceration-and-poverty-in-the-states/