Mass Incarceration Theory

Introduction
In recent years, the United States has seen a striking increase in incarceration rates. Our country currently holds almost a quarter of the world’s prison population while accounting for less than 5% of the total world population. Because most of the neighborhoods that are targeted are poverty stricken and populated mostly by minorities, hispanics and blacks make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population when compared to non-hispanic whites. Along with the increase in incarceration rates among minorities, there has also been a great decrease in the number of nuclear families. According to data taken from 2001-2007, the nuclear family was present in about 57% of white families while it was only present in 41% of hispanic
“A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Stigmatization of Children of Incarcerated Parents” by Susan Phillips and Trevor Gates, explains the how stigmatization affects the families of the incarcerated by instigating financial hardships and delinquent behavior. “Mass Incarceration, Family Complexity, and the Reproduction of Childhood Disadvantage” by B.L. Sykes and B. Pettit talks about the concept of multiple partner fertility as a form of family complexity, and how this outwardly affects the nuclear family decline. And “Young Adult Outcomes and the Life-Course Penalties of Parental Incarceration” by Daniel P. Mears and Sonja E. Siennick introduce the turning point theory and how it provides further explanation of the perpetuation of intergenerational incarceration. All of the articles address the subject of mass incarceration, and how it disproportionately affects families of color. These theories all support the idea that parental incarceration affects the decline of the nuclear family among minorities in the United States by creating current problems for the families involved with the system, and also perpetuating a cycle that is bound to affect future generations. The perpetuation of the cycle is what keeps the incarceration rates up and the nuclear family rates down over
This is done through the instigation of stressful conditions caused by the incarceration itself. One of the first aspects of the noxious environment is the rearrangement of the physical family structure. This can, in itself, can cause great amounts of distress and incarceration can affect the outward structure from multiple angles. For example, through stigmatization, a family’s financial standing may be shaken. This is because discrimination may make it harder for formerly incarcerated parents to find work. In “Mass Imprisonment and Inequality in Health and Family Life” by Christopher Wildman and Christopher Muller, the authors mention one study which “combines field experimental and interview evidence to show that the negative credential of a criminal record leads job applicants to receive fewer calls from potential employers in response to an application. The experimental design of these studies enables the author to isolate the stigmatizing effect of incarceration on the chance of getting called back either for an interview or with a job offer” (Muller/Wildman 14). A lack of substantial income can cause a shift in the family structure by forcing a family to relocate their children in order to find a better home for them. For families that have already had to relocate their children, more specifically in families whose children have been put into foster care, there are