Resolving Conflict

Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment

Punishing places by Simes Jessica is a book that demonstrates that the highest imprisonment rates are currently in the small cities, rural areas and the suburbs. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)According to the author, mass incarceration should be recognized today as one of the leading legacies of racial residential segregation in the US.

The author also argues that much focus on the large cities has shifted policy attention away from the communities that have suffered mass incarceration today. Accordingly, the book provides various measures that can aid the estimation of the levels of incarceration in the communities through quantitative and qualitative methods. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)The book has provided a broader analysis of the implications of various policy reforms that ameliorate mass incarceration's effects on the community while also suggesting an alternative to the carceral system. This paper is based on the argument that punishing places contributes to understanding key correctional systems and practices in society.

The author has extensively discussed the consequences of mass incarceration in the US and proposed the various implications of policy reforms.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) Citing examples of communities where the government spends millions of dollars in prisons, she creates an imagination of if such huge funds were channeled to support various essential services such as healthcare, education, social welfare and infrastructural development. The author believes that the government is spending a lot on prisons at the expense of essential services that have created a wide disparity within the cities.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment)

Accordingly, the book adequately points out the reasons for the existing inequality in the delivery of essential public services as a result of poor priorities by the government. According to the author, incarceration is a violent and harmful experience that deprives people of their basic needs while also subjecting them to dehumanizing conditions. The author placed the current social factors affecting society into context, giving the real picture of what is happening the society. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)According to Palmen and colleague (2022), incarceration in most cities has contributed to more harm than the primary intended purposes. The challenges associated with incarceration outweigh its contributions to society.

Through analysis of a unique dataset about the previous addresses that people lived before the incidence of incarceration in Massachusetts, Simes argued that most prisons fail to collect such data. She also argued that researchers on behalf of the prisons rely on estimated information regarding where people were convicted by the court, not considering that the same situation may not apply to where people live. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)The argument by Simes is justified by Lehrer (2021), who argued that most prison researchers rely on the assumptions of where people come from rather than using accurate and reliable data for court cases. The book pointed out the cases of unfair treatment of regions by both the police administration and justice systems.

There is the general notion that people living in large cities are morally upright and that they are likely to behave well as opposed to people in the local or suburban regions. Accordingly, justice has been served selectively in a way that suits the notions; people living in the local regions are sentenced and imprisoned in large numbers compared to those living in large cities or dwellings. What is not clear to the police administrations and institutions of justice is the fact that not all people behave the same way as much as they may be living in the same environment. In this context, it can be argued that punishing places contributes significantly to the people's understanding of the current malpractices that lead to unnecessary spending on prisons by the government. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)Relying on the assumptions of where people stay rather than collecting real data leads to inaccurate reports, hence unnecessary expenditure by the government on prisons at the expense of other essential services.

The book is spatial and contextual in analyzing the various conditions that make communities more vulnerable, especially in terms of policing and punishment like racial discrimination, extreme poverty and other crimes such as drug addiction. The book investigates deeply into how such social factors have gone deep into the boundaries to the extent that they have created room for mass incarceration in areas where it did not exist before. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)The same argument is held by Shrum (2021), who believes that social crimes such as the trade in drugs and its abuse, poverty and social discrimination have contributed to the increase in mass incarceration in new areas.

It implies that Simes accurately analyzed social problems as a major cause of mass incarceration in the small cities and suburbs. From a different perspective, Simes’s arguments could be interpreted to mean that social crimes expose people to high risks of violating the already established law and policies.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) This is due to the fact that more crime rates characterize densely populated areas without proper employment. However, if this was the case with ideas in Simes’s book, the government would still be blamed for the social challenges affecting the people in such areas as unemployment. In this context, the government would be expected to redistribute resources from the large cities to developing cities to reduce overpopulation and social crimes in specific regions. The author failed to account for the other factors apart from social problems that contribute to the same.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) The author also failed to recognize the importance of prisons in response to the increase in social crimes, especially in the new cities and suburbs and instead looked deep into the negative perspectives of the pluralism in the number of prisons.

Simes describes her analysis and intervention into the lives of people across Massachusetts, especially those directly involved in the organizations that support reentry after incarceration, such as mental illness and drug abuse. In her findings, Simes noted that most people believed that the state gave a lot of resources to Boston while providing a small share of the same resources to growing cities such as Worcester, even though it is the second largest city in New England. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)For instance, the author reported that Massachusetts town did not have a sheltered town as there was already one established at Springfield.

However, there was no proper public transportation for the communities around. Similarly, people sought residential treatment and other forms of medication outside their states as there are inadequate local resources. This analysis supports an initial argument by Palmen and colleague (2022), who believed that the disparity in the distribution of economic resources is a result of the overspending on unnecessary projects which fail to yield return in terms of essential services. In this context, Sime explicitly explained how poor priority by governments might translate to struggle for the little essential services.

Simes also explained through supportive arguments how the fundamental laws had not been applied uniformly to the people across states. She noted that large cities such as Boston had experienced the effects of reform efforts that have prompted significant changes within cities, including progressive policies and practices. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)On the other hand, rural and suburban areas are characterized by harsh sentencing, rules and regulations, especially the ones guiding drug-related offences and other social crimes. The harsh sentencing subjects the rural communities to severe losses as productive people and their activities are put on hold or brought to a stop in the areas that are affected.

In this context, the author elaborately explained how unfair justice is an important factor that derails community developments by ensuring laws are selectively applied the society. As people in the rural areas or small cities are subjected to harsh laws that derail fundamental activities in the regions, people living in large cities are provided with favourable environments within which to operate, resulting in a continued disparity in terms of the essential services in the regions. According to (Eryansyah et al., 2020), harsh sentencing to communities implies the number of years that the people are sentenced away from their communities, hence translating to derailed development in such areas. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)Therefore, it is right to argue that normative commitment to society is measured by the availability of the people within the communities and their contributions to the labour force. People are only important if they directly or indirectly contribute to the progress of society rather than when they are prevented by harsh sentencing.

The book also analyzed racial disparity as an important indicator of incarceration in the cities. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)Using the national data, Simes explained the concept of racial disparity in terms of the number of people from given racial groups who were incarceration victims.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) In her analysis, the black population had twice the chances of getting represented in the prisons than other races. This implies that the criteria or the manner in which people are incarcerated are skewed in a manner that it favours specific racial groups.

According to the author, this has intensified the level of disparity in terms of the application and administration of justice. The arguments of the author are founded on numerical data; hence, it is more reliable and can be validated. Moreover, her arguments on racial discrimination in the administration of justice are supported by Jay (2019), who believes that there is inequality in terms of how the justice systems administer their roles, adding that black people are always put on the wrong side of the law compared to other race groups. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)Whenever a group is placed below others, it is difficult to ensure equal progress in society as the group risks more sentencing compared to other groups that may have all the time for engagement, especially in the labour force. Therefore, it is right to argue that Simes was right in her arguments that it is difficult to achieve uniform progress within the communities if the systems of justice fail to observe fairness in the administration of justice.

While looking into the roles of the government in preventing arrests, Simes compared lynching and incarceration, which are historical and current forms of violence associated more with racial discrimination.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) The author wonders whether it is possible to have harmony between the police and civilians in such a way that all racial groups can interact and express themselves freely before the policing institutions. Her imaginations are completely opposite to what everyone, especially those in rural and developing cities, knows about the relationship between the police and local people.

The public has developed a negative relationship with the policing bodies due to the harsh sentencing conditions that they are subjected to (Antonio & Price, 2020). (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)It can also be argued that Simes illustrated the kind of disparity in terms of the relationship between people and police administration in large cities and local or suburban regions. However, what is not clear from Simes’s analysis is the justification or reference from other sources to back up her arguments, especially about the racial disparity. Moreover, the data used to analyze this idea is not defined in terms of time; hence it raises questions about where it may be more applicable.

Simes highlighted the necessary local changes that can be put forth through federal influence. Her policies seek to create a peaceful coexistence between the police departments, the people and the departments of justice. She was seeing to ensure that police administration is fully operational under the legal system to ensure there are no biases in the application of justice.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) Simes was also seeking to ensure there was no selective justice.

According to Antonio & Price (2020), selective justice is one of the reasons why current policies have failed to fight social injustices such as racial discrimination in society. It implies that Simes, through analysis, proposed a solution to leading social problems that the systems have failed to address. Putting the police administration under the justice system as proposed in the book would ensure that the police not only work under guiding principles but also take into consideration the limitations that guide various social differences in society. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)Therefore, it is right to argue that Simes was right from identifying the gaps in the police administration to suggesting the right policies that would help tame the unethical gaps in the police administration.

The book also proposed restructuring the society to have the prisons, the police and justice systems apologize or compensate the society for the harms that such institutions subject to the people. Simes argued that such a move would ensure all the institutions are responsible for every action they take.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) When the justice systems compel the police administration to compensate the public for wrongdoings such as human rights violations that they cause in the lives of the people, it will act as a regulating factor for the police officers' actions.

Similarly, when the institutions commit and promise not to repeat some heinous acts, it brings confidence to the public, and everyone is willing to comply with the existing rules. Therefore, Simes was creative in coming up with rehabilitative measures that would tame unwarranted actions in society. (Geography of Mass Imprisonment)However, the author failed to provide the context within which such a reparative justice model apparatus would work well. For instance, it is not automatic that compensation and apology from the police administration would translate to good morals among the officials or translate to reduced cases of sentencing and imprisonment. According to Ananth (2019), reparative justice does not fit exactly into most institutional setups; hence it relies on the other policy measures that uphold morals and work ethics.

Punishing places by Simes is spatial and contextual in the dangers of mass incarceration in the community. Simes has critically analyzed how unnecessary expenditures are made at the expense of the essential services for which the communities are constrained; hence, it significantly contributes to understanding key correctional systems and practices.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment) Most of the recommendations proposed by Simes to reduce the cases of incarceration within the cities and local regions depend on the commitments to work effectively. Putting the recommended policies into practice also calls on considering the systems' intergenerational effects. A fundamental question whose answer should guide the implementation of the policies should be about the roles of the prison system in society. Although Simes argues that it is not right to incarcerate people based on their crime alone, crime should be the primary basis of sentencing people before the justice system; hence it should be the number one consideration.(Geography of Mass Imprisonment)