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Collateral Consequences Of Mass Incarceration

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Abstract: This paper provides an introduction to the social impact of the collateral consequences (the families left behind) of mass incarceration. The reading will include thoughts from sociological perspectives and empirical studies that focus on the consequences incarceration and re-entry have on the striving family left behind. Partners and families of felons suffer from the system in place that punishes, rather than “corrects,” criminal behavior. Collateral Consequences Patience Kabwasa Prof. Laura Howe Soc 231-C21 May 1, 2014 Collateral Consequences The effects of incarceration are many. In fact as defined by Badger Lawyer a website dedicated to answer legal questions for the general public, “Collateral consequences are the effects of …show more content…

Simply put parenting is a conscious or unconscious systematic routine way of teaching values to growing children, which in turn gives the child a model of how to operate as an adult. Because parenting is cultural the various methods used in teaching values can vary from person to person. Michelle Alexander the author of the New Jim Crow Mass incarceration in the age of Colorblindness, states that “70 percent of African-American women are unmarried. More African-American adults are under correctional control today-in prison or jail, on probation or parole---than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. The mass incarceration of people of color is a big part of the reason that a black child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents than a black child born during slavery” (Alexander, 180). Children of any culture require nurturing in order to grow to become a productive member of society. However, In African American communities often children are left to fend for themselves. In a one-parent home all responsibilities fall on the shoulders of one person, by default creating a …show more content…

To ignore mass incarceration as a form of racism because of the strives made in civil rights of American History over the last 60 years, is to assume ignorance that will eventually topple America. This caste system opens the door and justifies other forms of civil abuses. One cannot help the color of skin that they are born with, either should his or her life trajectory be set or punished for it. Bibliography Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York:New Press; [Jackson, Tenn.]:Distrubuted by Perseus Distribution, 2010. Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Study Guide and call to Action. New York:New Press; [Jackson, Tenn.]: Distributed by Perseus Distribution, 2010. Travis, Jeremy. McBride, Elizabeth Cincotta, Solomon, Amy L. Familites Left Behind, The Hidden Cost of Incarceration and Reentry. http://www.urban.org/publications/310882.html . Accessed May 1, 2014 American Psychological Association. Webpage. Washington, DC 04 01 2014 http://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/ Alex D Thio, Jim D Taylor, Martin D Schwartz. Deviant Behavior (11th Edition). Pearson,

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You brought up a subject that does not get enough attention as it deserves- the affect of incarceration on families. There is always lots of discussion and debate in the media about crime, victims of crime, police, and prisons. I do not think we hear nearly enough about the detrimental affect that incarceration has on families and communities. These effects can be great and long-lasting. Like you mentioned, one negative result is the loss of income from a missing, incarcerated parent.

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