DR. HEATHER ANN THOMPSON

DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

Why Mass Incarceration Matters to Social Workers

or…The Importance of Reckoning with the History of, and Wrestling

with the Present-Day Impact of, the Carceral State on the Ground and in the Trenches

Mass Incarceration

By 2008

Number of Americans in prison: 2,424,279Number of Americans under some form of

correctional supervision: 7.3 millionNumber of Americans with a criminal record:

47 million…

By 2011…roughly 65 million Americans have a record

Race Matters, 2004

Race Matters, 2008

Race and Gender Matter

Incarceration Rate/100,000

Today’s Criminal Justice System

Does Mass Incarceration Matter?

Today’s Criminal Justice System

Does Mass Incarceration Matter?YES

The Role of the Social Worker: Possibilities and Responsibilities

Criminal justice social workers serve as frontline staff and administrators in criminal justice settings. The criminal justice system encompasses a broad spectrum of public and private agencies, and settings including (but not limited to):

State and federal correctional facilities City and county jails Federal, state, and city parole and probation agencies Federal, state, and local court systems (including drug courts and mental

health courts) Community-based nonprofit agencies serving ex-offenders or reentrants Faith-based agencies Primary health and behavioral health care providers serving low-income

people, including ex-offendersRoberts & Springer, 2007

Recommendations of the National Association of Social Workers:

Address issues surrounding and leading to disproportionate rates of incarceration for individuals of racial or ethnic minorities, juveniles, women and undocumented individuals.

Increased participation of professional forensic social workers and other mental health providers to assure culturally competent treatment and intervention for the growing population of incarcerated individuals, including mental health and substance abuse services.

Assure safe, humane and equitable treatment for all incarcerated individuals.

Increase access to health care, educational and vocational opportunities to assist incarcerated individuals with transitioning back to their communities

The Role of the Social Worker?

The ethical challenge to social workers is to weigh the needs of the justice system against those of the offender. The social worker should take on the challenge by participating in legislative action to mold social policy to create a balance between the justice system and the offender. Thus, the social worker can help the justice system provide more effective services to the offender, their families, and their communities as professionals by participating in the process of public policy development

Roberts & Springer, 2007

While offenders are under the supervision of the criminal justice system, a unique opportunity exists to intervene in the offender’s lifestyle to reduce future criminal behavior

Case management for criminal justice populations connects offenders with the

specific services and counseling they need to resist substance abuse relapse and to break the cycle of criminal behavior

Kerry Murphy Heale, 1999

Understanding and Undoing the Carceral Crisis

Mass Incarceration…the Big Picture

Understanding and Undoing the Carceral Crisis

Why Carceral Crisis?

Origins

The “Criminalization of Urban Space”

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Issue of Crime

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Issue of Crime

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Issue of Crime

LBJ and the Origins of the War on Crime

Law Enforcement Assistance Act, 1965 President's Commission on Law Enforcement and

Administration of Justice, 1965 District of Columbia Crime Bill, 1967

Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, 1968

Mass Incarceration Matters: America’ Cities

Mass Incarceration Matters: America’s Schools

Mass Incarceration Matters: America’s Youth

2007:

6,568 arrests per 100,000 youths aged 10-

17 in United States

Mass Incarceration Matters: America’s Youth

Understanding and Undoing the Carceral Crisis

The Impact of Carceral Crisis

Mass Incarceration Matters: America’s Communities of Color

“Million Dollar Blocks”

Mass Incarceration Matters: the Orphaning of a Generation(s)

2000:1,498,800 children with at least

one parent in state or federal prison

2002:1 in every 45 minor children with

at least one parent in state or federal prison

2008:1,706,600 children with at least

one parent in state or federal prison (majority under age 10)

Mass Incarceration Matters

Jobs and Welfare…

Mass Incarceration Matters

The Hidden Costs of Mass Incarceration

Mass Incarceration Matters

The Undermining of the American Economy (for those who work for a living…)

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

Federal Prisons minor to major players in productive labor and consumer labor market

Example: recycling computers for various companies

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

Increase in work done on site in state prisons by existing state prison industries

Example: making lockers, cleaning chemicals, office furniture, etc.

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

Explosion of brand new contracts between prisons and private companies

Example: Dell, Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks, McDonalds, Eddie Bauer, etc.

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

Brand new age of prison privatization for profit

Example: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Wackenhut, etc.

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

By the close of the 20th century….

80,000 inmates holding “traditional jobs working for government of private

companies…”

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

“Our core business touches so many things—security, medicine, education, food service, maintenance, technology—that it presents a unique opportunity for any number of vendors to do business with us”

--Irving Lingo, CFO, Corrections Corporation of America

Mass Incarceration Matters: The American Economy

The Bigger Economic Picture

Mass Incarceration Matters

Mass Incarceration and the Distortion of American Democracy

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Distortion of American Democracy

1974:Richardson v. Ramirez

2006:48 out of 50 states have a disfranchisement law on

the books

Rethinking Region

Highest Iowa 13.6

Vermont 12.5 New Jersey 12.4 Connecticut 12.0 Wisconsin 10.6

Lowest Hawaii 1.9 Georgia 3.3

Mississippi 3.5 Alabama 3.5 Arkansas 3.9

States With Highest and Lowest Black-to-White Ratio Incarceration

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Distortion of American Democracy

Democracy?

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Rise of the Right in Postwar America

The U.S. Census….

25.49% census population is from non-voting prison population

Real population: 25,204/21,939 white

Considered a “red” (primarily conservative republican) county.

Supported Reagan 1980 supported George W. Bush in

the previous two presidential elections

Los Angeles County

Lassen County, California

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Rise of the Right in Postwar America

Mass Incarceration Matters: The Rise of the Right in Postwar America

Distorting Democracy and Silencing Communities of Color

So, Mass Incarceration matters….

Ending the Carceral Crisis

Lessons from the Past, Possibilities for the Future

EducationAdvocacy and Agitation

Resistance