This paper examines the consequences of mass incarceration on various aspects of the lives of African-American women. In particular, it seeks to determine how the historically high growth rate in the prison population over the past 30 years has affected employment outcomes, family relationships, and the physical and mental health of Black women who have been incarcerated.
American Bar Association.Internal exile.Chicago; 2009.
2.
AvioK.The economics of prisons.European Journal of Law and Economics.1998; 6: 143–75.
3.
BaldwinK.M., JonesJ.Health issues specific to incarcerated women: information for state maternal and child health programs.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Policy Center Research in Brief; 2000. http://www.jhsph.edu/bin/o/e/prison.pdf.
4.
BayerP., HjalmarssonR., PozenD.Building criminal capital behind bars: peer effects in juvenile corrections.National Bureau of Economic Research. 2007.
5.
BraithwaiteR.L., TreadwellH.M., ArriolaK.R.J.Health disparities and incarcerated women: a population ignored.Am J Public Health.2005; 95: 1679–81.
6.
BuctherK.F., LalondeR.J.Female offenders use of social welfare programs before and after jail and prison: does prison cause welfare dependency? Harris School Working Paper Series 07.18. Chicago; 2006.
CoxR.Crime, incarceration, and employment in light of the great recession.Rev Black Polit Econ.2010; 37(3): 283–94.
9.
DonohueJ.J., SiegelmanP.Allocating resources among prisons and social programs in the battle against crime.J Legal Stud.1998; 27(1): 1–43.
10.
FreudenbergN.Adverse effects of us jails and prison policies on the health and well-being of women of color.Am J Public Health.2002; 92(12): 1895–9.
11.
GilfusM.E.From victims to survivors to offenders: women's routes of entry and immersion into street crime.Women Crim Justice.1992; 4(1): 63–89.
12.
GouldE.D., WeinbergB.A., MustardD.B.Crime rates and local labor market opportunities in the united states: 1979–1997.Review of Economics and Statistics.2002; 84(1): 45–61.
13.
GreenfeldL.A., SnellT.L.Women offenders.Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2000.
14.
GrinsteadO., FaigelesB., BancroftC., ZackB.The financial cost of maintaining relationships with incarcerated African-American men: a survey of women prison visitors.J Afr Am Stud.2001; 6(1): 59–69.
15.
GrubbF.The market evaluation of criminality: evidence from the auction of British convict labor in America, 1767–1775.Am Econ Rev.2001; 91(1): 295–304.
16.
HardyB.Black female earnings and income volatility.2011. Forthcoming: Review of Black Political Economy.
17.
HenriquesZ.W., Manatu-RupertN.Living on the outside: African American women before, during, and after imprisonment.Prison J.2001; 81(1): 6–19.
18.
HolzerH.J.Collateral costs: the effects of incarceration on the employment and earnings of young workers.2007. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Discussion Paper 3318. Bonn, Germany.
19.
HolzerH., RaphaelS., StollM.Perceived criminality, criminal background checks, and the racial hiring practices of employers.J Law Econ.2006; XLIX: 451–80.
20.
LahmK.F.Equal or equitable: an exploration of educational and vocational program availability for male and female offenders.Fed Probat.2000; 64(2): 39–46.
21.
LalondeR.J., ChoR.M.The impact of incarceration in state prison on the employment prospects of women.J Quant Criminol.2008; 24: 243–65.
22.
LeeH., WildemanC.Things fall apart: health consequences of mass imprisonment for African American women.2011. Forthcoming: Review of Black Political Economy.
23.
LochnerL., MorettiE.The effect of education on crime: evidence from prison inmates, arrests, and self-reports.Am Econ Rev.2004; 94(1): 155–89.
24.
MaruschakL.M.Medical problems of prisoners.Washington: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2008.
25.
MorashM., BynumT.S., KoonsB.A.Women offenders: programming needs and promising approaches.Washington: National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief; 1998.
26.
MumolaC.J.Incarcerated parents and their children.Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2000.
27.
MyersS.L.JrEstimating the economic model of crime: employment versus punishment effects.Q J Econ.1983; 98(1): 157–66.
28.
PagerD.The mark of a criminal record.American Journal of Sociology.2003; 108(5): 937–975.
29.
PagerD., WesternB., SuggieN.Sequencing disadvantage: barriers to employment facing young black and white men with criminal records.ANNALS, AAPSS.2009a; 623: 195–213.
30.
PagerD., WesternB., Suggie, BonikowskiB.Discrimination in a low wage labor market: a field experiment.Am Soc Rev.2009b; 74: 777–99.
31.
RaphaelS.The employment prospects of ex-offenders.Focus.2007; 25(2): 21–26.
32.
RichieB.E.Challenges incarcerated women face as they return to their communities: findings from life history interviews.Crime Delinquen.2001; 47(3): 368–89.
33.
RobertsD.E.The social and moral costs of mass incarceration in African American communities.Stanford Law Rev.2004; 56: 1271–305.
34.
SampsonR.J., LaubJ.H.Crime and deviance in the life course.Annual Review of Sociology.1992; 18: 63–84.
35.
SnellT.L.Women in prison.Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 1994.
36.
SobelS.B.Difficulties experienced by women in prison.Psychol Women Q.1982; 7(2): 107–18.
37.
SteffensmeierD., AllenE.Gender and crime: toward a gendered theory of female offending.Annu Rev Sociol.1996; 22: 459–87.
38.
SteffensmeierD., SchwartzJ.Trends in female criminality: is crime still a man's world? In: PriceB.R., SokoloffN.J., editors. The criminal justice system and women: Offenders, Prisoners, Victims, and Workers.New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education;2004. p. 95–111.
39.
TonryM.Malign neglect: race, crime, and punishment in America.New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.;1995.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.Screening and eviction for drug abuse and other criminal activity.Federal Register.2001; 66(101): 28776–28806.
42.
WaldfogelJ.The effect of criminal conviction on income and the trust “reposed in the workmen”.J Hum Resour.1994; 29(1): 62–81.
43.
WesternB., WildemanC.Punishment, inequality, and the future of mass incarceration.Kansas Law Rev.2009; 57: 851–77.
WillmottD., van OlphenJ.Challenging the health impacts of incarceration: the role for community health workers.Calif J Health Promot.2005; 3(2): 38–48.