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Cycle Of Poverty And Incarceration

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Cycle Of Poverty And Incarceration
Our society fuels a cycle of poverty and incarceration. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, incarcerated people had a median income (prior to their incarceration) of $19,185 which is 41% less than non-incarcerated people. A large number of people enter prison in poverty and are released with a slim chance to escape poverty due to employment discrimination for prisoners. Poverty is a huge factor in the reason why America’s recidivism and re-incarceration rates are so high. Released prisoners are at a huge disadvantage and have limited opportunities to find jobs which leads them to participate in criminal activity. In order to break this vicious cycle, the policies in place in America need to be changed. These policies make it very
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