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?