Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Few current criminal justice scholars, practitioners, and politicians expected to witness the phenomenon of decreasing correctional populations. Yet, there is evidence at local, state, and regional levels of significant declines in the growth of incarceration and even decreases in the size of prisoner populations. In this article we delineate the extent of decarceration and examine the context in which it has occurred. We then explore possible positive and negative outcomes resulting from decarceration and conclude with an agenda for advancing a decarceration movement.

Keywords

decarceration prison policy prison reform

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler

Mueller

Laufer

(2007) Criminology, New York: McGraw Hill.

Andrews

Bonta

(2006) The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, New York: Anderson Publishing.

Andrews

Zinger

Hoge

Bonta

Gendreau

Cullen

(1990) Does correctional treatment work? A clinically relevant and psychologically informed meta-analysis. Criminology 28: 369–404.

Austin

Irwin

(2001) It's about Time: America's Imprisonment Binge, 3rd edn. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Austin

Irwin

(2012) It's about Time: America's Imprisonment Binge, 4th edn. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bazemore

Dicker

(1994) Explaining detention worker orientation: Individual characteristics, occupational conditions, and organizational environment. Journal of Criminal Justice 22: 297–312.

Beckett

(1997) Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics, New York: Oxford.

Beckett

Western

(2001) Governing social marginality: Welfare, incarceration, and the transformation of state policy. Punishment and Society 3(1): 43–59.

Blumstein

(2011) Bringing down the U.S. prison population. Prison Journal 91: 12S–26S.

10.

Blumstein

Beck

(1999) Population growth in U.S. prisons, 1980–1996. In: Tonry

Petersilia

(eds) Prisons, Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 26, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 17–61.

11.

Bottoms

(1999) Interpersonal violence and social order in prisons. In: Tonry

Petersilia

(eds) Crime and Justice, Vol. 26, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 205–281.

12.

Brown

(2013) Foreclosing on incarceration? State correctional policy enactments and the Great Recession. Criminal Justice Policy Review 24: 317–337.

13.

Burstein

(2003) The impact of public opinion on public policy: A review and agenda. Political Research Quarterly 56: 29–40.

14.

Carrasco B (2006) Assessing the CCPOA's political influence and its impact on efforts to reform the California corrections system. Available at: http://www.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/child-page/266901/doc/slspublic/BCarassco-wp4_06.pdf.

15.

Carroll J (2005) Crime in the United States. Gallup. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/15247/crime-united-states.aspx.

16.

Carson

Sabol

(2012) Prisoners in 2011, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

17.

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (2013) Political power of the CCPOA. Available at: http://198.170.117.218/cpp/political_power.php.

18.

Clear

Schrantz

(2011) Strategies for reducing prison populations. Prison Journal 91: 138S–159S.

19.

Clear

Cole

Reisig

(2011) American Corrections, Belmont, CA: Thomson and Wadsworth.

20.

Clear

Rose

Ryder

(2001) Incarceration and the community: The problem of removing and returning offenders. Crime and Delinquency 47: 335–351.

21.

Crouch

Marquart

(1990) Resolving the paradox of reform: Litigation, prisoner violence, and perceptions of risk. Justice Quarterly 7: 103–123.

22.

Cullen FT and Gendreau P (2000) Assessing correctional rehabilitation: Policy, practice, and prospects. Criminal Justice 2000, vol. 3. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

23.

Cullen

Gilbert

(1982) Reaffirming Rehabilitation, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

24.

Davey

(1998) The Politics of Prison Expansion: Winning Elections by Waging War on Crime, Westport, CT: Praeger.

25.

Donziger

(1996) The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission, New York: HarperCollins.

26.

Dowden

Tellier

(2004) Predicting work-related stress in correctional officers: A meta-analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice 32: 31–47.

27.

Farkas

(1999) Correctional officer attitudes toward inmates and working with inmates in a get tough era. Journal of Criminal Justice 27: 495–506.

28.

Farkas

(2001) Correctional officers: What factors influence correctional officer attitudes? Corrections Management Quarterly 5(2): 20–26.

29.

Fogel

Hudson

(1981) Justice as Fairness: Perspectives on the Justice Model, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

30.

Gallup (2013) Most important problem. Gallup. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx.

31.

Garland

(2002) Prison treatment staff burnout: Consequences, cause, and prevention. Corrections Today 64(7): 116–120.

32.

Garland

Wodahl

Schuhmann

(2011) Value conflict and public attitudes toward prisoner reentry initiatives. Criminal Justice Policy Review 24: 27–48.

33.

Garland

(2001) The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

34.

Glaze

Parks

(2012) Correctional Populations in the United States, 2011, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

35.

Government Accountability Office (2012) Bureau of Prisons: Growing Inmate Crowding Negatively Affects Inmates, Staff, and Infrastructure, Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office.

36.

Green

(2013) Penal optimism and second chances: The legacies of American Protestantism and the prospects for penal reform. Punishment and Society 15: 123–146.

37.

Greenberg

West

(2001) State prison populations and their growth, 1971–1991. Criminology 39: 615–653.

38.

Greene

Mauer

(2010) Downscaling Prisons: Lessons from Four States, New York: Sentencing Project.

39.

Guerino

Harrison

Sabol

(2011) Prisoners in 2010, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

40.

Haney

(2006) Reforming Punishment: Psychological Limits to the Pains of Imprisonment, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

41.

Harlow

(2003) Education and Correctional Populations, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

42.

Hart Research Associates, Inc. (2002) Changing public attitudes toward the criminal justice system: Summary of findings. Available at: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/CJI-Poll.pdf.

43.

Huey

McNulty

(2005) Institutional conditions and prison suicide: Conditional effects of deprivation and overcrowding. The Prison Journal 85: 490–514.

44.

Jalbert

Rhodes

Kane

Clawson

Bogue

Flygare

King

Guevara

(2011) A Multi-Site Evaluation of Reduced Probation Caseload Size in an Evidence-Based Practice Setting, Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates Inc.

45.

Jayadev

Bowles

(2006) Guard labor. Journal of Developmental Economics 79: 328–348.

46.

Justice Policy Institute (2011) Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies, Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute.

47.

Keinan

Malach-Pines

(2007) Stress and burnout among prison personnel: Sources, outcomes, and intervention strategies. Criminal Justice and Behavior 34: 380–398.

48.

Kifer

Hemmens

Stohr

(2003) The goal of corrections: Perspectives from the line. Criminal Justice Review 28: 47–69.

49.

King

Mauer

(2002) State Sentencing and Corrections Policy in an Era of Fiscal Restraint, Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.

50.

King

Mauer

Huling

(2003) Big Prisons, Small Towns: Prison Economics in Rural America, Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.

51.

King

Mauer

Young

(2005) Incarceration and Crime: A Complex Relationship, Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.

52.

Kotz

(2009) The financial and economic crisis of 2008: A systemic crises of neoliberal capitalism. Review of Radical Political Economics 41: 305–317.

53.

Krisberg

Marchionna

(2006) Attitudes of U.S. Voters toward Prisoner Rehabilitation and Reentry Policies, Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

54.

Kyckelhahn

(2012) State Corrections Expenditures, FY 1982–2010, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

55.

Lambert

Hogan

(2007) An exploratory study: Correlates of correctional staff absenteeism views and absenteeism. Corrections Compendium 32(4): 7–11.

56.

Lambert

Hogan

(2010) Wanting change: The relationship of perceptions of innovation with correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Criminal Justice Policy Review 21: 160–184.

57.

Lynch JP and Sabol WJ (2001) Prisoner reentry in perspective. Crime Policy Report, Vol. 3. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

58.

Mauer

(2001) The causes and consequences of prison growth in the United States. Punishment and Society 3: 9–20.

59.

Mears

(2008) Accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in corrections: Shining a light on the black box of prison systems. Criminology and Public Policy 7: 143–152.

60.

Minton

(2011) Jail Inmates at Midyear 2011 – Statistical Tables, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

61.

Minton

(2013) Jail Inmates at Midyear 2012 – Statistical Tables, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

62.

Mulick S (2010) Budget ax falls on McNeill. News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), 20 November, 1.

63.

Mumola

(1999) Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

64.

Nicholson-Crotty

Peterson

Ramirez

(2009) Dynamic representation(s): Federal criminal justice policy and an alternative dimension of public mood. Political Behavior 31: 629–655.

65.

Peck

(2002) Labor, zapped growth, restored? Three moments of neoliberal restructuring in the American labor market. Journal of Economic Geography 2: 179–220.

66.

Petersilia

(1999) Parole and prisoner reentry in the United States. In: Tonry

Petersilia

(eds) Prisons, Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 26, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 479–529.

67.

Petersilia

(2003) When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry, New York: Oxford University Press.

68.

Pew Center on the States (2012) Time Served: The High Cost, Low Return of Longer Prison Terms, Washington, DC: The Pew Center Charitable Trusts.

69.

PolicyNook (2012) California prison guard union: The toughest beast in the state. Available at: http://www.policynook.com/index/2012/9/25/california-prison-guard-union-the-toughest-beast-in-the-stat.html.

70.

Pollock

Hogan

Lambert

Ross

Sundt

(2011) A utopian prison: Contradiction in terms? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 28: 60–76.

71.

Public Opinion Strategies and Mellman Group (2012) Public opinion on sentencing and corrections policy in America. Public Opinion Strategies and Mellman Group. Available at: http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2012/PEW_NationalSurveyResearchPaper_FINAL.pdf.

72.

Rothman

(1971) The Discovery of the Asylum: Social Order and Disorder in the Republic, Boston, MA: Little, Brown.

73.

Rothman

(2002 [1980]) Conscience and Convenience: The Asylum and Its Alternatives in Progressive America, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

74.

Ruddell

(2004) America Behind Bars: Trends in Imprisonment, 1950 to 2000, New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing.

75.

Saavedra

Kwun

(2000) Affective states in job characteristics theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior 21: 131–146.

76.

Saylor

Iwaszko

(2009) One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections. The PEW Center on the States, Washington, DC: The PEW Charitable Trusts.

77.

Scott-Hayward

(2009) The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices, New York: Vera Institute of Justice.

78.

Scull

(1977) Decarceration: Community Treatment and the Deviant: A Radical View, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

79.

Seiter

(2010) Corrections: An Introduction, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

80.

Stucky

Heimer

Lang

(2005) Partisan politics, electoral competition and imprisonment: An analysis over time. Criminology 43: 211–247.

81.

Sullivan J (2011) Doors closing at McNeil Island prison after 135 years. Seattle Times, 28 February, http://seattletimes.com.

82.

Sullivan

(1990) The Prison Reform Movement: Forlorn Hope, Boston, MA: Twayne.

83.

Teague

(2012) Neoliberalism, prisons and probation in the United Stated, England and Wales. In: Whitehead

Crawshaw

(eds) Organising Neoliberalism: Markets, Privatisation, and Justice, London: Anthem Press, pp. 45–80.

84.

Triplett

Mullings

Scarborough

(1996) Work-related stress and coping among correctional officers: Implications from organizational literature. Journal of Criminal Justice 24: 291–308.

85.

Truman

Planty

(2012) Criminal Victimization, 2011, Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

86.

Urban Institute (2006) Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry: Research Findings from the Urban Institute's Prisoner Reentry Portfolio, Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

87.

Useem

Piehl

(2006) Prison buildup and disorder. Punishment and Society 8: 87–115.

88.

Von Hirsch

(1976) Doing Justice: The Choice of Punishments, New York: Hill and Wang.

89.

Wacquant

(2001) The advent of the penal state is not a destiny. Social Justice 28: 81–87.

90.

Walker

(2006) Sense and Nonsense about Crime and Drugs: A Policy Guide, Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.

91.

West

Sabol

Greenman

(2010) Prisoners in 2009, Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

92.

Western

Beckett

(1999) How unregulated is the U.S. labor market? The penal institution as a labor market institution. American Journal of Sociology 104: 1030–1060.

93.

Wlezian

(2004) Patterns of representation: Dynamics of public preferences and policy. Journal of Politics 66: 1–24.

94.

Wodahl

Garland

(2009) The evolution of community corrections: The enduring influence of the prison. Prison Journal 89: 81S–104S.

95.

Zaitz L (2010) Budget crunch reaches prison. The Oregonian, 30 October, 1.

96.

Zimring

Hawkins

(1995) Incapacitation: Penal Confinement and the Restraint of Crime, New York: Oxford University Press.

97.

Brown v. Plata, 131 S.Ct 1910 (2011).

98.

Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1295 (1980).

Decarceration and its possible effects on inmates,staff,and communities

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References