Policy Article Summaries Flashcards
Parental Incarceration: Tasca et al., 2011
Research suggests that children of prisoners are at an increased risk to become involved with the criminal justice system throughout their life course compared to children whose parents have not been incarcerated. The majority of studies show that when there is at least one parent incarcerated the likelihood of incarceration for the child(ren) increases. The idea of the “unstable family” suggests that as guardianship changes, residential changes and the breakdown in family bond often follow parental imprisonment. This creates a lack of consistent supervision, rule enforcement and often becomes difficult for the child to create emotional bonds with multiple caregivers. Children are more likely to live with their mother’s prior to incarceration than with their fathers. 64% of mothers lived with their children before their incarceration – because mothers are likely the primary caregivers, maternal incarceration may pose an increased risk of delinquency and adult crime. Tasca et al. (2011) compiled data from the Maricopa County Juvenile Court to compare rearrest of juvenile delinquents with paternal, maternal or no parental incarceration. They found that there are collateral consequences for children as they are more likely to engage in crime and delinquency when one parent, especially the mother, is incarcerated.
What is the breakdown of frequency of detention by race?
RACE |POPULA|PLCMNT
White | 53% | 33%
Black | 14% | 40%
Hispan | 24% | 23%
Racial Disparity in Juvenile Justice: Royner, 2014
The OJJDP reports that there is a disproportionate juvenile minority representation at every stage of the contact points in the juvenile justice system. Among juveniles who are arrested black juveniles are more likely to be referred to juvenile court, more likely to be processed (than diverted), more likely to be sent to secure confinement and more likely to be transferred to adult court. Despite the overall drop in juvenile delinquency and juvenile arrests, blacks are still twice as likely to be arrested as white youth. In 2011, blacks were 269% more likely to be arrested for violating curfew laws than white youth. Additionally, some youth are detained for status offenses even when they pose no risk to the community. A one day count of detained youth found more than 2,000 youth whose most serious crime what a status offense. It is likely that some disparity can be explained because of the policies and not the actual behaviors. For example, it is more likely there are curfew laws in the city opposed to the suburbs. So, minorities are more likely to live where there are curfews – youth who behave the same way are treated different because of where they live. Adolescents who spend time in secure detention are less likely to attain a high school diploma or consistently participate in the labor force.
The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Poverty: (Defina, & Hannon, 2013)
A pesky social issue that has spanned 3 decades is the increased rate of poverty despite the economic growth the US has made. Current literature employs two theories that surround the effect mass incarceration has on poverty. One being, mass incarcerate decreased the poverty level. This is because poor people are more likely to be incarcerated. Poverty measurements do not include those individuals who are incarcerated - thus, we do not need to include all the poor people that could increase the rate of poverty. The second theory is that mass incarceration plays a larger role in increasing poverty. Because of mass incarceration we are removing people who may be contributing money to the family - keeping them above the poverty level. Additionally, males are more likely to be incarcerated and may be the breadwinners of the household. By removing these breadwinners we are dropping more families below the poverty line. Defina and Hannon’s study (2013) found empirical evidence that supports the claim: “mass incarceration has played a major role in increasing poverty levels.” Their analysis found that had mass incarceration not occurred poverty would have likely decreased by more than 20% - however, they believe this number could be much higher.
