Collateral Consequences of Imprisonment for Children, Communities, and Prisoners

Analyses of the effects of America's experiment with vastly increased use of imprisonment as a penal sanction typically focus on crime reduction and public spending. Little attention has been paid to collateral effects. Imprisonment significantly reduces later employment rates and incomes of exprisoners. In many urban communities, large fractions of young men attain prison records and are thus made less able to contribute to their communities and families. Less is known about the effects of a parent's imprisonment on children's development, though mainstream theories provide grounds for predicting those effects are substantial and deleterious. Until research begins to shed light on these questions, penal policy will continue to be set in ignorance of important ramifications of alternate policy options.