Society-Law & Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Society-Law & Government - Essay Example The adult parole population grew 1.1%, rising to a total of 732,351 by December 31, 2001.† Glaze also added that since 1995, there had been a steady growth in correctional population. From 1.3 percent annual growth, it had increased to 3.7 percent per annum on jails, 3.6 percent per annum on prisons, and 3.4 percent per annum on probation (Glaze, 2001). With the continued financial difficulty brought about by the global economic crisis, it is no wonder that more and more people are committing felony. For some, drugs could have been a way of escape since 25 percent or a quarter of all probationers were convicted of a drug law violation. Others, alcohol had been a way of escape since 18 percent of all probationers were arrested for driving intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol (Glaze, 2001). I would definitely agree with the statistics given the fact that the general American public is very stressed out with ways of coping with financial difficulty that almost everyone is experiencing right now. Social stratification refers to the various strata of social groups that make up the community. Social groupings based on gender, ethnicity, power, economic affluence, are just a few means to which people are grouped together. For instance, in our current society, people are more often associated with upper, middle, or lower classes. By studying the concepts of social stratification, one would be able to identify how each social group relates to one another and how their presence affects the community as a whole. By doing so, it hopes to be able to find the root causes of inequality and its impact on the overall aspects of the social life (Saunders, 1990). In terms of the delivery and quality of legal services in the United States, I believe that economic inequality and ethnicity are two driving social forces that impact its efficacy.