The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S.
Published:
| Author: Michael McLaughlin, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Derek Brown, Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn
This study estimates the annual economic burden of incarceration in the US. The $80 billion spent annually on corrections is frequently cited as the cost of incarceration, but this figure ignores important social costs including costs to incarcerated persons, families, children, and communities. This study draws on a burgeoning area of scholarship to assign monetary values to 23 different costs, which yield an aggregate burden of $1 Trillion.
Category: Cost of Incarceration
Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to Promote Smart Decarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Epperson
What lies before us is a historic opportunity to promote smart decarceration by building social capacity to reduce incarceration rates in ways that are effective, sustainable, and socially just. To succeed, smart decarceration requires policy innovations that substantially reduce the use of incarceration, redress existing disparities in the criminal justice system, and maximize public safety and well-being.
Category: Grand Challenges, Smart Decarceration
THE ECONOMIC BURDEN OF INCARCERATION IN THE U.S.
Published:
| Author: Michael McLaughlin, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Derek Brown, Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn
This study estimates the annual economic burden of incarceration in the US. The $80 billion spent annually on corrections is frequently cited as the cost of incarceration, but this figure ignores important social costs including costs to incarcerated persons, families, children, and communities. This study draws on a burgeoning area of scholarship to assign monetary values to 23 different costs, which yield an aggregate burden of $1 Trillion.
Category: Cost of Incarceration
Examining Dose–Response Relationships Between Childhood Victimization, Depression, Symptoms of Psychosis, and Substance Misuse for Incarcerated Women
Published:
| Author: Stephanie Kennedy, Stephen Tripodi, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Jaime Ayers
The current study uses the dose–response model to examine the relationships between childhood victimization events and subsequent depression, symptoms of psychosis, and substance misuse in a sample of 230 randomly selected incarcerated women in the United States. Results on the frequency of victimization were mixed. In this sample, both frequency of physical abuse and frequency of sexual abuse significantly predicted current symptoms of psychosis, but only frequency of physical abuse significantly predicted substance misuse.
Category: Trauma, Mental Health, Substance Use
From Mass Incarceration to Smart Decarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Epperson
The Grand Challenges for Social Work are designed to focus a world of thought and action on the most compelling and critical social issues of our day. Each grand challenge is a broad but discrete concept where social work expertise and leadership can be brought to bear on bold new ideas, scientific exploration and surprising innovations.
Category: Grand Challenges, Smart Decarceration
From Mass Incarceration to Smart Decarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Epperson
Through decarceration, the lives of millions of people can be vastly improved, and the nation as a whole can leave behind this short-sighted and shameful period of mass incarceration. But how will this be accomplished, and by whom? Seldom before in the nation’s history has the need for applied social innovation been more urgent.
Category: Smart Decarceration
Smart Decarceration: Guiding Concepts for an Era of Criminal Justice Transformation
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Epperson
The era of mass incarceration, which made the United States the world’s leading jailer, appears to be coming to an end. What is likely to follow is an era of decarceration, aimed at reducing the incarcerated population. In this working paper, we discuss the problems associated with mass incarceration and the current climate that is likely to make decarceration a reality. We discuss the importance of developing a “smart decarceration” approach—one that is effective, sustainable, and socially just.
Category: Smart Decarceration
The relationship between childhood abuse and psychosis for women prisoners: Assessing the importance of frequency and type of victimization.
Published:
| Author: Stephanie Kennedy, Stephen Tripodi, Carrie Pettus-Davis
This study examines the relationship between childhood victimization and self-reported current symptoms of psychosis in an incarcerated female population in the United States. Participants are 159 randomly selected women incarcerated in two North Carolina state prisons. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures to assess childhood victimization and current and lifetime experience of audio/visual hallucinations and delusions.
Category: Trauma, Mental Health, Incarcerated Women
Nonfatal Suicidal Behavior Among Women Prisoners: The Predictive Roles of Childhood Victimization, Childhood Neglect, and Childhood Positive Support
Published:
| Author: Stephen Tripodi, Eyitayo Onifade, Carrie Pettus-Davis
Women entering prison report high rates of childhood victimization. Women in prison also report higher rates of nonfatal suicidal behavior (self-reported suicide attempts) than women in the general population and similar rates to their male counterparts despite having significantly lower suicide rates than males in the general population. Yet, there is a dearth of research that addresses the relationship between childhood victimization and suicidality for women prisoners in the United States.
Category: Trauma, Social Support, Mental Health, Incarcerated Women
Histories of childhood victimization and subsequent mental health problems, substance use, and sexual victimization for a sample of incarcerated women in the US.
Published:
| Author: Stephen Tripodi, Carrie Pettus-Davis
Women are entering US prisons at nearly double the rate of men and are the fastest growing prison population. Current extant literature focuses on the prevalence of the incarceration of women, but few studies exist that emphasize the different trajectories to prison. For example, women prisoners have greater experiences of prior victimization, more reports of mental illness, and higher rates of illicit substance use.