Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course
SOC 331
Population and Society
08.12.09
Mass Imprisonment
Imprisonment as Life Course Event Trends in US incarceration rates
Levels Crimes
Impacts on Demographic Outcomes Marriage and Family (Sykes) Labor Market (Mark of a Criminal Record) Health Spatial Inequality and Selective enforcement
The Study of the Life Course
Life Course Event Important seminal events often experience by a
large proportion of the population The ordering of major life events Example: Marriage, Labor Market Entry/Exit, First
birth These events carry with them large
consequences for both those who engage in them and avoid them
Contact with the Criminal Justice System
Prison is fast becoming an event experienced by an unprecedented number of individuals Especially pronounced in the U.S.
Some groups disproportionately effected If a certain segment of the population is
experiencing some event beyond what they represent in the general population, they are said to be disproportionately effected
Contact with the CJS has long lasting impacts for these groups
Trends
The penal population has grown every year for the last 36 years (AAAS) and the U.S. imprisons more people than any other country in the world (China is second)
Incarceration rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the World Canada and England/Wales - 1/5 of the U.S. rate
700/100,000 prisoners Canada 101/100,000 England/Wales 126/100,000
Change in incarceration ratesIncarceration Rates 1981-2001
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Year
Rate
per
100,0
00
United States
Canada
England
Source: Boe 2004, Correctional Services of Canada
Recent Updates on the Number incarcerated
According to the Department of Corrections which uses the total population in the denominator there are about 1 in 130 people in prison
The Pew Center for State Studies which uses only the adult population finds 1 in 100 are in prison (2008)
Demography of U.S. prisons
Has impacted African American Men most dramatically Highly stratified by education
Incarceration rates are roughly 8 times higher for black men than for whites According to the Pew estimates:
1 in 36 Hispanic adult men is in prison 1 in 15 black men is in prison (for those aged 20-34 it
is 1 in 9)
Washington StatePrison Population: Washington State
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
WA State Prison Pop. National Average WA State Pop.
PopulationsSource: Washington State Department of Corrections, Census 2000
Perc
en
tag
e
WhiteBlackHispanicNA IndianAsianUnknown/other
Effect of Crime and Sentencing
Most prisoners are there for non-violent drug crime which explains a large amount of the growth in the prison population 60% of Federal prisoners are drug offenders (Pettit and
Western 2004) 40% of state prisoners are drug/property offenders
Until recently drug penalties were harsher for crack than for powder cocaine Any racial disparity here may explain some of the
disproportional make-up of prison populations
Explaining the Boom
1. Criminal offending at the lower end of the class hierarchy resulted from depletion of economic opportunities (Freeman)
2. Alternatively some argue that punitive drug policies are responsible by effected low-skilled men (Blumestein and Beck)
Demographic Outcomes
Marriage Market (Sykes) Lack of eligible men
Labor Market (Ridgeway) “Mark of a Criminal Record” Those with criminal records are less likely to get a job
interview and this effect is worse for Black men. White men with a criminal record were more likely to get a
job interview than black men without “Secondary Labor Market” – precarious and with few
benefits
Demographic Outcomes (Cont)
Health Prisoners have worse health on average than the
non-incarcerated population Effects last after prison as well?
A criminal drug offense often bars one from benefits like TANF
Spatial Inequality “Selective Enforcement” (Cause and
Consequence?) - Link to punitive explanation Integration more difficult
Demographic Outcomes (cont)
Family A quarter of black children born in 1990 had a father in
prison before they were 14 (up from 13% in 1978) Increases the likelihood of contact with the CJS for the
child
Political Participation Felon disenfranchisement – 48 of 50 states ban felons from
voting 4 million people without the right to vote and roughly 14%
of black men unable to vote
Invisible Inequality/Punishment
Our understanding of various statistical measures to track economic wellbeing is clouded by not counting prison populations Employment rates among those most likely to go
to prison are artificially inflated Appears that economic expansion over the 1990s
helped to reduce economic wellbeing gaps but after factoring in prison populations, there seems to be little effect
Cost
National Association of State Budget Offices: 44 billion dollars on state corrections (2007) Up from 10.6 billion in 1987 A 127% increase when adjusted for inflation
Cost per prisoner vary by state but on average it is about $24,000 annually (2005)
“Mass imprisonment among recent birth cohorts of non-college black men challenges us to include the criminal justice system among the key institutional influences on American social inequality.” (Pettit and Western 2004) What are some policies to address this issue? What might be some barriers to instituting policies
to reduce contact with the criminal justice system?