NCJ Number
171398
Journal
Corrections Management Quarterly Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1997) Pages: 25-31
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article explores the unintended fiscal and social consequences of growing incarceration rates for crime and quality of life.
Abstract
The article is based on existing theory and research studies. Its main thesis is that the negative consequences of prison growth can be used to explain how the extraordinary increase in imprisonment in the last 25 years has occurred without an equivalent decrease in the amount of crime. Unintended consequences result from the removal of large numbers of people differentially from their communities and the requirement for a large public investment. The first four unintended consequences of growing incarceration rates are social: (1) replacement of criminal offenders; (2) recruitment of younger offenders; (3) depreciation of the value of punishment; and (4) familial deficits. Fiscal consequences complete the list of unintended consequences: (5) movement of economic value from urban to nonurban areas; (6) creation of a corrections industrial complex; (7) reduction in funding of schools and other public services; (8) increased social inequality; (9) growth in "future generation" debt; and (10) cultural tolerance of official cruelty. The article discusses each consequence separately. References