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The incarceration rate and the number of people in jail have increased drastically during the last decades. Looking at the overall incarceration rates reveals an even greater range depending on race and gender. The statistical evidence stated by Krisberg illustrates the incarceration rate is calculated per 100,000 people. In 2011, the incarceration rate for sentenced men was 932, and the rate for women was 65. The race rate was also calculated per 100,000 persons as followed: white women, 51, Hispanic women 71, and African American women 129. For white men, the rate was 478, for Hispanic men 1,238, and for African American men 3,023 (Krisberg 123). Note that there are some enormous differences between groups. Almost half in jail have not been put on trial or convicted, and the poorest cannot afford bail and must wait behind bars. There are some alternatives to penitentiaries, like electronic monitoring, probation, and hard labor, but more research needs to be done to determine if this is effective or not. Later in Krisberg's book he mentions the means of probation as: "Probation is a form of community supervision that can be imposed by the court either before or after conviction" (137). The savings that could be made by probation instead of incarceration is eye-popping. A prisoner on probation costs $1200 a year but incarcerated cost is $28,000 annually (Krisberg 125). Probation and alternatives to incarceration sit on the most challenging problems of the correction system: balancing punishment and fairness, protecting public safety, and at the same time trying to reduce expenses. Judges have the authority to 'customize' punishments that could include: electronic monitoring, day reporting centers, work release, drug courts, and drug treatment (Krisberg 126). A problem with alternatives, however, is when there are budget cuts, it is easier to cut alternative programs than it is to cut funding for jails and prisons.
