Cities Behind Bars
by Jenny Fogarty on March 3, 2008 in All Politics is Local: An Urban Policy Blog
A recent study from the Pew Center on the States sheds light on a topic that is too often hidden from our usual policy-wonk conversations: the fact that more than one in 100 US adults is behind bars. Specifically, Thursday’s New York Times points out that one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, as well as one in 15 black adults and one in 36 Hispanic adults, based on Justice Department figures for 2006.
These statistics are staggering. The negative effects of incarceration on individuals and their families and friends are numerous. Much has been written about how stigmas and poorly-written policies can destroy families and individuals’ futures. In this post, however, I am going to attempt to apply a place-based perspective on a topic that is inherently people-based. By zooming out to this perspective, we can see how the harmful effects of incarceration on individuals have a wider-reaching effect on their communities, many of which are urban neighborhoods.
Here are some examples of the direct and indirect costs that this high incarceration rate may have on municipal governance, community resources, and urban economic growth.
- The challenges of obtaining a medium- or high-wage mainstream job for those with a criminal record and a period of non-employment are immense. This contributes to higher levels of unemployment for ex-offenders and often leaves families with one less possible source of income. Additionally, the lack of adequate rehabilitation, vocational, or skill-building programs in prisons heightens the challenges of re-entry. In the aggregate this – and similar obstacles to eligibility for higher education student loans – can contribute to fewer financial resources in highly distressed urban areas and potentially to recidivism.
Toward this end, Governor Deval Patrick is working to reform an existing Massachusetts state policy: Criminal Offender Record Information, CORI. The change would allow most ex-offenders to have their records sealed sooner and would delay criminal background checks by state agencies until later in the hiring process. As he stated in January, “CORI was never intended to turn every offense into a life sentence… If we want to reduce crime and help people re-integrate successfully, this is a smarter approach.”
- A recent estimate shows that 5.3 million people cannot vote because of their criminal record, altering the eligible voting population and potentially the outcome of elections. A study done by an undergrad professor of mine in 2004 estimates that over 8% of African Americans are disenfranchised. Some states are working to decrease these regulations for prisoners or ex-felons, while many maintain strict voting limitations.
- More than half of the adults in state and federal prisons have children who are minors, according to the Urban Institute. In addition to the detrimental social and developmental effects of this statistic, it is likely that this contributes additional costs for local government services such as schools, youth organizations, foster care, and adoption agencies.
- As municipalities apply for state and federal funds for social programs, one major component of grant eligibility is district population. Some scholars have hypothesized that since prisoners are considered residents of the area where their prison is located (which often have a majority white population) public funds are effectively shifted away from their home districts. Not to mention the fact that five US states spend at least as much on incarceration as on higher education, thereby further limiting the state funds available for social programs and education.
- City neighborhood composition is also affected, since having a criminal record can limit an individual’s access to certain types of affordable or public housing. Some public housing authorities have strict regulations barring ex-offenders – or their families – from obtaining units (“lease compliance”), while private landlords or banks often discriminate on leases or mortgages. This could result in families living in substandard housing or overcrowded homeless shelters.
For the city’s neighborhoods and communities, it is clear that this high incarceration rate has vast negative externalities. Most importantly, we must continue to question and reevaluate some of our current practices and policies, as much because of their effect on individuals as because of the deleterious effect they have on communities.
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So does this mean that most people in jail are white? It also seems that whites are now a minority based on these statistics. One in ten adults are in prison, on in 15 are black adults, one in 36 are hispanic. Based on simple math in order to make the overall number one in 10 of all adults 1 in 5 would have to be white.