Prison Survey

The flaws in the prison system have been covered throughout the last few sustained argument posts with use of online newspaper articles along with online videos as evidence. Using that information a survey with a sample of 26 people was created to see if the evidence recorded is matched with the public’s understanding of the rising Incarceration Rates that are at large.

The questions were simple Yes, No, Maybe or I don’t know questions that related to the other sustained argument posts. Questions were included that mentioned how the 2016 US Presidential will effect this as well.

Attached above is sample of the survey itself. Looking at the results of the survey gave a good real world perspective to the topics at hand.

Unlike other real world topics such as climate change, rest assured that most people do in fact see an problem with the current Prison System in the United States. When you look at other current world problems you see that they are often times ignored as not even being true or existing as a problem. The first step to fixing an issue is willingly admitting that there is in fact a problem that needs to be fixed.

As the wave of the election is passing through it is also interesting to see how the President-Elect is taken by the public. As the poll shows more than half of the the people believe President -Elect will no help reform our prison system. As far as what is actually to come: no one knows. However, this just goes to show the american public is split and some fearful of its future with progress.

While appears to be an oddly specific question, it is in reference to my previous post about the documentary “13th”. The 13th goes into detail about the US Prison System and it’s relation to 13th which gives African Americans the right to vote. While on paper the 13th amendment is a great step forward there is still decades of oppression following suit before African Americans could start to become equal citizens.

In another post we discuss the use of credible sources when looking for information on topics. It appears that the survey had an assortment of answers when asked the question “Do you believe there to be inaccurate information circulating around about the Prison System in the United States”. This is understandable as this is a very specific topic and question but on a larger note: there are a lot of fake websites and articles that spread false news which gain millions of viewer’s attention.

In one of my first posts the New York Times has a detailed article showing how rural area having a higher incarceration rate per capita than any other major city in the US does. It highlight the apparent drug abuse issues and shows that locking people up isn’t necessarily the answer. The data in this poll shows the same common misunderstand. The survey found that more than half of the participant believed there to be a higher incarceration rate in cities over rural areas. When in fact the opposite is true.

These polls gave the articles and movies discussed in the last 5 posts a great conclusion. It shows that while there is a general consensus there is in fact a problem with our Prison System most of the people surveyed didn’t know exactly what needs to be fixed. Luckily, educating the public is the first step into fixing the larger issue at hand.