
Children of the Prison Boom
Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 9. January 2014
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-19-998922-5 (ISBN)
Description
An unrelenting prison boom, marked by racial disparities, characterized the latter third of the twentieth century. Drawing upon broadly representative survey data and qualitative interviews, Children of the Prison Boom describes the devastating effects of America's experiment in mass incarceration for a generation of vulnerable children.
Parental imprisonment has transformed from an event affecting only the unluckiest of children-children of parents whose involvement in crime would have been quite serious-to one that is remarkably common, especially for black children. Even for high-risk youth, Children of the Prison Boom shows that paternal incarceration makes a bad situation worse, increasing mental health and behavioral problems, infant mortality, and child homelessness. These findings have broad implications for social inequality. Contrary to a great deal of research on the consequences of mass incarceration for inequality among adult men, these harms to children translate into large-scale increases in racial inequalities at the aggregate level. Parental imprisonment has become a distinctively American force for promoting intergenerational social inequality that should be placed alongside a decaying urban public school system and highly concentrated disadvantaged populations in urban centers as factors that distinctively touch-and disadvantage-poor black children.
More troubling, even if incarceration rates were reduced dramatically in the near future, the long-term harms of incarcerating marginalized men have yet to be fully revealed. Optimism about current reductions in the imprisonment rate and the resilience of children must therefore be set against the backdrop of the children of the prison boom-a lost generation now coming of age.
Parental imprisonment has transformed from an event affecting only the unluckiest of children-children of parents whose involvement in crime would have been quite serious-to one that is remarkably common, especially for black children. Even for high-risk youth, Children of the Prison Boom shows that paternal incarceration makes a bad situation worse, increasing mental health and behavioral problems, infant mortality, and child homelessness. These findings have broad implications for social inequality. Contrary to a great deal of research on the consequences of mass incarceration for inequality among adult men, these harms to children translate into large-scale increases in racial inequalities at the aggregate level. Parental imprisonment has become a distinctively American force for promoting intergenerational social inequality that should be placed alongside a decaying urban public school system and highly concentrated disadvantaged populations in urban centers as factors that distinctively touch-and disadvantage-poor black children.
More troubling, even if incarceration rates were reduced dramatically in the near future, the long-term harms of incarcerating marginalized men have yet to be fully revealed. Optimism about current reductions in the imprisonment rate and the resilience of children must therefore be set against the backdrop of the children of the prison boom-a lost generation now coming of age.
Reviews / Votes
This excellent book should be compulsory reading for those making decisions about criminal justice policy, and for anyone seeking a better understanding of inequality in contemporary society. * Rachel Condry. Times HIgher Education * Recommended. * CHOICE *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
37 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-998922-5 (9780199989225)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Sara Wakefield | Christopher Wildeman
Children of the Prison Boom
Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality
E-Book
11/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€23.99
Available for download

Sara Wakefield | Christopher Wildeman
Children of the Prison Boom
Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality
E-Book
11/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€23.99
Available for download
Persons
Sara Wakefield is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University.
Christopher Wildeman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University.
Christopher Wildeman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University.
Author
Assistant ProfessorAssistant Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University
Associate ProfessorAssociate Professor, Department of Sociology, Yale University
Content
Acknowledgements ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The Social Patterning of Parental Imprisonment ; 3. Before and After Imprisonment ; 4. Paternal Incarceration and Mental Health and Behavioral Problems ; 5. Paternal Incarceration and Infant Mortality ; 6. Parental Incarceration and Child Homelessness ; 7. Mass Imprisonment and Childhood Inequality ; 8. Conclusion ; Methodological Appendix ; Notes ; References ; Index