Race, Poverty, and U.S. Children’s Exposure to Neighborhood Incarceration

Recent research has documented negative associations between children’s welfare and mobility and their exposure to neighborhood incarceration. But inequality in such exposure among children in the United States is poorly understood. This study links tract-level census data to administrative data on prison admissions to measure 37.8 million children’s exposure to neighborhood incarceration in 2008, by race/ethnicity and poverty status. The average poor Black or African American child lived in a neighborhood where 1 in 174 working-age adults was admitted to prison annually, more than twice the rate of neighborhood prison admission experienced by the average U.S. child. Residential segregation and the spatial concentration of incarceration combine to create significant ethnoracial and economic inequality in the neighborhood experiences of U.S. children.

The Place of Punishment in Twenty-First-Century America: Understanding the Persistence of Mass Incarceration

This study analyzes prison admission and crime data to assess whether the penal system’s response to crime has continued to intensify since mass incarceration’s peak and whether the increasing use of prison in nonurban areas helps explain this trend. The findings show that penal intensity has continued to escalate despite falling crime rates and widespread efforts to reduce prison populations. Further, the justice system’s response to crime is most vigorous in nonurban, and especially rural, counties, where more felony arrests for all types of offenses result in a prison sentence. Although not new, this geographic difference has grown in recent years. While penal intensity thus varies notably within states, case outcomes also vary markedly across states. Comparative case studies of dynamics in a highly punitive state (Kentucky) and a less punitive state (Washington) show how formal law interacts with local dynamics not only by creating “statutory hammers” that are utilized by zealous prosecutors and judges but also by limiting the impact of aggressive prosecutorial practices on prison sentences.

Changes in subjective wellbeing of prisoners on remand

Purpose Low levels of subjective wellbeing in prisoners may relate to mental health problems and difficulties in reintegration after imprisonment. The development of subjective wellbeing during imprisonment is mostly unclear. The purpose of this paper is to explore this development in a longitudinal study in association with mental disorders and socioeconomic factors. Design/methodology/approach Subjective wellbeing was assessed via a visual analogue scale and retrieved at admission to remand prison and then again after four and eight weeks. Changes in subjective wellbeing between time-points were analyzed taking into account mental disorders and socioeconomic factors, which were assessed by use of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview – Plus and the Camberwell Assessment of Need – Forensic Version, respectively. Findings On average, subjective wellbeing declined directly after remand prison admission, but differences between individuals were found. At remand prison admission, subjective wellbeing significantly improved rather than declined in prisoners with alcohol and substance use disorders, housing problems, unemployment prior to incarceration and in relatively older prisoners. Other related factors did not add significance to this model. In contrast, during remand imprisonment subjective wellbeing displayed an overall increase. For this increase, no predicting factors were found. However, prisoners with an antisocial personality disorder are more at risk of experiencing a decrease in wellbeing during remand imprisonment. Originality/value In general, the Dutch prison system appears not to result in a decrease in subjective wellbeing in prisoners suffering from a mental disorder during remand imprisonment.

Neighborhood Prison Admission Rates and the Sunbelt: Variation in Imprisonment, Concentrated Disadvantage, and Their Relationship Across the United States

Regional differences in the use of prison are, in part, due to cultures of punishment within Sunbelt states. To date, this has been largely studied at the state level, ignoring the smaller geographic areas in which the effects of imprisonment are deeply felt. We employ a novel data set to examine the relationship between prison and region and regional variation in the relationship between concentrated disadvantage and neighborhood imprisonment. We find that region affects neighborhood prison admission rates in unexpected ways, and that the relationship between concentrated disadvantage and prison admissions varies in magnitude by region. We discuss the implications of these findings for better understanding the impact of region and the processes that lead to imprisonment.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Prison Admissions Across Counties: An Evaluation of Racial/Ethnic Threat, Socioeconomic Inequality, and Political Climate Explanations

Previous macro-level studies of racial and ethnic disparities in prison admissions have focused narrowly on differences in offending and have limited their analyses to national- and state-level data. This study explores three alternative explanations for inequality in prison admissions for Blacks and Latinos compared to Whites: racial/ethnic threat, socioeconomic inequality, and the political and legal climate. I analyze data from multiple county- and state-level sources and employ hierarchical linear modeling techniques to examine the role of both county- and state-level factors in producing inequality in county-level prison admission rates. Findings indicate that Black–White disparities are lower in jurisdictions with greater shares of Black citizens; however, the reverse is true for Latino–White inequality. For both comparisons, political conservatism is associated with less inequality. Results also indicate that counties with greater parity in income and employment across race/ethnicity and that are located in the South have reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prison admissions. I argue that the presence of large shares of African Americans and of Republican voters, in addition to southern location, are likely better indicators of total prison admission rates than of racial/ethnic disparities in prison admissions.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Tuberculosis in Prisons Settings of East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Background. Tuberculosis, mainly in prisoners, is a major public health problem in Ethiopia where there is no medical screening during prison admission. This creates scarcity of TB data in such settings. Objective. To determine prevalence and associated factors of TB in prisons in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2016 among 265 prisoners in three prison sites. Sputum was processed using GeneXpert MTB/RIF. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Multivariable logistic regression was used; p values = 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results. Of 265 prisoners, 9 (3.4%) were TB positive (males); 77.8%, 55.6%, and 55.6% of cases were rural dwellers, married, and farmers, respectively. Seven (2.6%) prisoners were HIV positive, and 3 (1.13%) had TB/HIV coinfection. One (0.4%) TB case was rifampicin resistant. Marriage (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.7, 13.03), HIV (AOR = 0.14; 95% CI: 0.001, 0.17), and sharing of rooms (AOR = 1.62; 95% CI: 2.6, 10.20) were predictors for TB. Conclusion. Nine prisoners were TB positive. One case showed rifampicin resistance and three had TB/HIV coinfection. Marriage, HIV, and sharing of rooms were predictors for TB. Prevention/control and monitoring are mandatory in such settings.

Percent Black: Regionalism, Urbanism and Group Threat as Explanations for Racial Disparities in Imprisonment 1985-2001

Black prison admission rates & Black/White disparities in prison admissions 1985-2001 were lower in the Old South than in the North. Detailed examination shows a threshold effect: the minimum Black imprisonment rate was uncorrelated with percent Black, but very high Black imprisonment rates occurred only where the percent Black was relatively low. This is not explained by the statistical instability of small populations: although there is more instability where the percent Black is low, the pattern holds up for places with large Black populations. It is also not explained by urbanity as the pattern replicates for metropolitan areas. In addition, the assumption that imprisonment is basically an urban phenomenon is wrong: Whites have higher imprisonment rates in rural areas, and the urban-rural difference for Blacks declined to a low level by the end of the study period. Other minorities are briefly discussed, showing that each has a distinctive pattern. Overall the data refute simplistic theories of group threat and support social control theories that consider both the capacity and desire for social control.

Prison Sentence Trends By Area Type 1985-2001

National-level trends in racial patterns of incarceration hide the fact that different trends were happening in different kinds of places. Overall, the national Black prison admission rate leveled off after 1995 while the White rate continued to rise. Detailed investigation of types of places reveals that the national trend for Blacks hides a steep decline in Black prison admissions in a few large metropolitan areas coupled with a continued rise in other places, especially those where Blacks were a smaller percentage of the population. White prison admission rates were consistently low and relatively stable in the large metropolitan areas. The growth in White prison admission was concentrated in rural areas and smaller cities that were overwhelmingly White. These trends have not been noticed in the prior literature and require further research.

Reshaping the Study of Recidivism: Exploring Variations in the Timing of Recidivism Following Release From Prison

While hazard analyses allow researchers to identify distributional changes over time, this powerful benefit is often underutilized. This article incorporates the shape parameter—in addition to level—into lognormal hazard models to examine recidivism patterns for individuals returning home from prison. Using a sample of adults released in 1994 from 15 state prison facilities, the results indicate that factors influencing the shape are both individual-level (race, age, prior arrest history) and jurisdiction-driven (prison admission type and state). While targeting the highest “risk” individuals is a well-established best practice, the present study suggests that reentry planners may benefit from focusing on groups undergoing change in the postrelease period in addition to those experiencing the highest hazard levels on average. Future research would benefit from incorporating the shape parameter into recidivism studies and including additional factors in shape analyses, such as social indicators, to further contextualize the reentry–recidivism relationship.