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Jasmine Milliman
24, March, 2016
ENG123 LE Professor Jessica
Week 3 Literature Review
As said in Imprisoning America, a book written in collaboration with authors who hold
titles such as professors, associate professors, and faculty at various Universities, including some
of them being chair of the Department of Justice, Law, and Society at the Institute for Policy
Research at Northwestern University, and even doctoral candidates in social work an
developmental psychology at the University of Michigan, the U.S. penal population has
increased over the last thirty years from around 300,000 to more than two million, with more
than half a million prisoners returning to their home communities each year. Mass incarceration
is a growing problem in the United States, and many sources can vouch for all of the negative
effects brought about by it. Researchers committed to studying the effects of mass incarceration
have revealed this evidence through their studies, statistics, interviews, and surveys. According
to multiple scholars and credible sources, it is obvious that there are many social effects brought
on by mass incarcerations. From paternal incarceration effects, leading to community effects, to
racial discrimination that is involved in mass incarceration, it is evident that everyone suffers
from the effects of incarceration, not just the families of those involved or who have a member
who was incarcerated.
Having done research, out of my ten sources, I have grouped them into categories, which
make it easier to understand not only the effects of mass incarceration, but also how important it
is to be informed, because although we may not realize it, mass incarceration effects the

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communities we live in. Source #1, #3, #6 and #10 can be grouped into the category of paternal
incarceration, and the family side of effects that happen because of mass incarceration. It also
shows how big of a deal the problems caused by mass incarceration really are. Mass
incarceration affects the whole family, however it hits the children pretty hard. These sources
show exactly how it affects the children of the incarcerated person. For my research question, I
believe these sources are extremely helpful, because it shows not only the effects of
incarceration, but also makes the readers sympathize and empathize with the fact that this deals
with real people. In general, when we see how something affects another person, we feel
affection which in return opens our eyes on how big of an affect something has and makes the
readers feel the need to do something about it. Furthermore, the articles give numerical evidence
of how many people are incarcerated, and by this, these numbers help readers to see that
Americas incarceration rate is greater than others, calling for an action, realizing that something
needs to be done.
The sources topic tends to be specific in focusing on the situation where a family has to
live without the father who is in jail. The National Research Council report noted that more than
half of fathers in state prison report being the primary breadwinner in their family. We see that
incarceration not only effects the father in prison, but the mother who takes on the role as the
new breadwinner, and then the child may also feel the need to step up and earn money.
Throughout these sources, it is evident that if the family stays together through incarceration, the
loss of income only increases, as the mother must pay for phone time, travel costs for visits, and
legal fees. This affects the child and causes problems for he/she growing up, and also affects the
mother in the way that she has a lot on her plate, while also trying to balance a child or more than
one, and trying to figure out where she stands with the imprisoned partner. The burden continues

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after the father returns home, because a criminal record tends to injure employment prospects,
the way the society views him and the family, and even the child and moms views of the once
incarcerated father. This causes an emotional stress as well as an economical and financial stress
or burden on the family. Source #3 derives the information from interviews that were taken in
poor neighborhoods in Tallahassee, where every family in the sample was touched by prison and
had all reported a family member in prison within the past 5 years, and whatever the effects of
incarceration are on those imprisoned, were also felt by everyone in the sample, not just the
families themselves. It all links back to my initial research question being what are the social
effects of mass incarceration? Source #6 shows important behavioral, developmental, and
attainment outcomes, including mental health and behavioral problems, substance use,
educational attainment, and social inequality for the incarcerated families. Source #3 and #6 and
even source #10 make it clear that overall the quality of the relationship(s) is damaged. This can
lead to divorce, which stated in source #10, Imprisoning America, it says that of the percentage
of prisoners, nearly 40 percent were divorced, which is obviously a negative effect. However, the
incarceration process can also strengthen a relationship as well, being an outcome from
struggling through the difficult time of incarceration. These real life examples of families show
that the people that make up a family, make up the communities, so in a way, the effects or mass
incarceration act like a process and trickle down and spread from the family into the community.
Following the family effects of mass incarceration, it has been evident that throughout
research, incarceration seems to be a trending activity happening in the lives of African
Americans, even more so than in the families of Asians, Caucasians, or any other nationality. So
in order to understand the extent of mass incarcerations effects, we can look at incarceration
discrimination based on race. Source #1, #4 and #10 can be grouped into the category of racial

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discrimination in incarceration, where African American families face these struggles more than
any other nationality. It is only reasonable to know that the judicial system has flaws in it just
like any other system does, however these resources point out the fact that there is evident racial
discrimination underlying the decisions made by the courts. In resource #4 "Incarceration
Matters, the author states that the mass incarceration affect re-cycles itself to the outer
community. The affect goes even deeper than we think. Because of the racial discrimination that
goes on the communities as a whole tend to be more racial, assume things that are not necessarily
true like assuming that every African American is bad news and has been in jail or will be in jail,
and people even profile other persons, specifically African Americans. There have been other
studies that show the cases in which a verdict was found based on color. When researching mass
incarceration, a lot of sources popped up showing this very thing. The author of Incarceration
Matters said that White Americans use drugs as much or more than black Americans, but go to
prison at a fraction of the rate. Why is this? Well the root of the problem goes back directly to the
imperfect court. However, this begs the question if discrimination is illegal, then why is it okay
for the court to discriminate? This answer calls for the readers to take a step into the political
world and understand politics, rules, regulations, and the corruption of the court system itself,
including leaders, judges, witnesses, the jury, and biased people. The effects of mass
incarceration are harsh and hit extremely hard on communities of color. Source #10 found that
nearly one in five black male high school graduates in their early thirties in 1999 were likely to
have a prison record, five times the figure for white men with the same schooling (page 7). Not
only do colored people have to fight against the many negative effects that were previously
mentioned, of mass incarcerations aftermath, but they also have to deal with and be aware of the
racial discrimination going on around them.

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From looking at the family effects brought on by mass incarceration, to looking deeper
into the apparent racial discrimination that happens in incarceration, how a trend and pattern was
obvious in African American families, we can now look at how mass incarceration impacts the
communities of the world as a whole. From the families of the incarcerated, to the communities
and neighborhoods we live in, mass incarceration has impacted many lives and continues to do
so in a negative way. Sources #2, #3, #5, #7, #8, #9, and #10 can be categorized into a group of
topics that discuss community effect of mass incarceration through different mediums. These
mediums used are the news, surverys, and articles, and these sources all give these facts about
what has happened through statistics, which puts emphasis and reveals how big the problem of
mass incarceration really is. Without these, there would be no tangible, hard evidence to rely on
that supports and gives us knowledge of how mass incarceration effects people. The statistics
puts it into perspective for all readers, and also helps to compare findings with the research. The
reasons for incarceration are talked about, and thankfully these authors also give us insight of
what to do about it. The community deals with incarceration differently than one single human
being does, but there is always something to be done.
The given surveys and interviews found throughout these sources show us that the risk
factors that affect the lives of families of the incarcerated impact the development of their lives,
and from there, it spreads into the community. When speaking of social community effects, we
notice that safety is a big issue, and everyone sees each other differently, which can affect the
lifestyle and definitely the mindset of everyone. A community can be weakened due to mass
incarceration effects, because the social cohesion, neighborhood solidarity and interaction are all
damaged. One thing that I need to talk about in my research project that is talked about in
Imprisoning America, source #10, is also those who were once incarcerated, come out of jail

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on a pathway from prison to the labor market. However, the effects of the criminal record are
substantial on the hopes of finding a good job. The other sources lack in this area, but I find this
a vital area of discussion.
I believe source #10, Imprisoning America is the most valuable source, and the most
important for my research. Not only does it confront the problem of mass incarceration head on,
emphasizing the reality of pain, stress, and negative effects brought about by it, but it gives great
examples, and statistics that support it. Through identifying that every prisoner is still a person,
whether they are a parent, worker, daughter, son, child, spouse or resident, these prisoners play
roles, and this book examines the incarceration experience and consequences. The book, being
divided into two parts: families and communities, clearly proves my point that social effects
brought on by mass incarceration comes through the families and into the communities because
as mentioned before, it is these very people, along with other citizens, that make up the
communities. Imprisoning America attacks another imperative topic, which is how to avoid the
costly and vicious cycle of incarceration and recidivism, and to enhance public safety. In order to
do these things, one of the authors proposes, on page 17, that there be greater collaboration
between prison officials and those in child and family welfare services, educational and jobtraining programs, and mental and public health agencies. The book is a perfect example of how
I would like to structure my own research proposal and separate the necessary topics that I will
be discussing throughout the entire paper.