Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Worse (Studies in Crime and Public Policy) 1st edition by Clear, Todd R (2009) Paperback

by Todd R. Clear

At no time in history, and certainly in no other democratic society, have prisons been filled so quickly and to such capacity than in the United States. And nowhere has this growth been more concentrated than in the disadvantaged--and primarily minority--neighborhoods of America's largest urban cities. In the most impoverished places, as much as 20% of the adult men are locked up on any given day, and there is hardly a family without a father, son, brother, or uncle who has not been behind bars.While the effects of going to and returning home from prison are well-documented, little attention has been paid to the impact of removal on neighborhoods where large numbers of individuals have been imprisoned. In the first detailed, empirical exploration of the effects of mass incarceration on poor places, Imprisoning Communities demonstrates that in high doses, incarceration contributes to the very social problems it is intended to it breaks up family and social networks; deprives siblings, spouses, and parents of emotional and financial support; and threatens the economic and political infrastructure of already struggling neighborhoods. Especially at risk are children who, research shows, are more likely to commit a crime if a father or brother has been to prison.Clear makes the counterintuitive point that when incarceration concentrates at high levels, crime rates will go up. Removal, in other words, has exactly the opposite of its intended it destabilizes the community, thus further reducing public safety. Demonstrating that the current incarceration policy in urban America does more harm than good, from increasing crime to widening racial disparities and diminished life chances for youths, Todd Clear argues that we cannot overcome the problem of mass incarceration concentrated in poor places without incorporating an idea of community justice into our failing correctional and criminal justice systems.

Genres: Social Justice, Race, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, School, Anti Racist

Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Shawn Mcdowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is but yet another siren being sounded to warn the American public to awaken from their delusional slumber. Having written a book detailing my own experiences growing up in impoverished, socially dysfunctional communities, I find the research of Professor Clear not only compelling, but reaffirming the realities tens of millions of individuals in this country face each and every day.

In fiscal 2005 Federal, State, and local governments spent an estimated $204 billion for police protection, corrections and judicial and legal activities, a 5.5% increase over the previous year. There is a vested financial interest by those who profit from maintaining the current status quo as it pertains to so called criminal justice and incarceration.

A holistic and radically different approach to dealing proactively with the conditions and elements which breed crime must be enacted. Or We the People can look forward to the Orwellian world of 1984 becoming our reality in lieu of fiction.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Deficits in informal social controls that result from high levels of incarceration are, in fact, criminogenic.”

Still an interesting perspective considering the this is over a decade old now, and not much has changed. The question remains the same: what place is there for community justice in the U.S.? ...particularly now in the burgeoning era of “smart on crime” rhetoric, sustained decreases in crime, and treatment-based focuses to drug offenses. As justifications for mass incarceration are proven untenable, using the system as a way to uphold community priorities beyond simply safety, like health, employment, housing, etc. should already be a popular idea, but there isn’t really traction— definitely something I’d like to see changed. It’s a better investment of money, time, and energy. Our neighborhoods are ground zero for all social problems, including crime, and all residents must be actively included and invested in solving them in order to build collective efficacy.

[Kony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, compelling, and readable. Saves you the trouble of reading a bunch of sociology/criminology studies by summarizing their key implications: Crime and criminal justice are hurting our most needy communities; we need to change our approach to public safety.

Early chapters spell out theories describing the vicious-cycle dynamic, and set forth all kinds of evidence. One chapter presents interview material, allowing people who live in these communities to humanize the statistics in concrete terms. Final chapters propose policy remedies.

Even if you're not a policy wonk or social scientist, and even if you're not a sympathetic lefty, you'll enjoy this if you care about social justice and are curious about how well criminal punishment works. Author has a clear stance on the issue, but he presents evidence fairly.

[Nae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was getting really angry about this book. Not because I did not like it but because of the subject matter. It makes a good argument about incarceration being a huge influence in inequality in the country. If you would like to be informed about that subject matter, read this book.

[kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for class: I completely agree with everything Clear proposes in terms of how we got into this age of mass incarceration and how to get out of it. Unfortunately, I don't see America making the changes needed to drastically decrease our prison population in my lifetime.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent look into some of the issues of incarceration and communities

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear offers a clear and specific exposition of mass incarceration and its impacts on communities. His coercive mobility hypothesis basically argues that in communities where concentrated incarceration is focused, social networks are destabilized “undermining informal social control and leading to more crime” (Clear, 2007, p. 149). In other words, mass incarceration of whole swaths of a community leads to massive holes in the social network. Crime may go down momentarily but as more and more adults are placed in prison from the same place, crime goes up. The social networks that are impacted include child rearing, residency, education, transportation, and employment. Families, what’s left of them, may need to move to seek more affordable housing; youth who have one parent to watch them may not be supervised at all as the adult family member needs to work to maintain the needs of the family; unsupervised youth are more likely to engage in delinquent activities that can lead to criminality. Adults who were caught up in juvenile processes are more likely to engage in criminal activity as adults, and go to prison when caught. On reentry, families may not have the resources to reintegrate the returning member to the family. The reintegrating family member may be under so much strain and stigma that they devolve back to the lifestyle that got them in trouble in the first place raising the chances of parole violations or being caught for new offenses and returned to prison.

Clear offers some community justice alternatives and directions to take that move us away from the current track we are on. For instance, stop using prison to punish people. Cut admissions, sentence length, and technical violations to see reductions in incarceration. Communities not emptied of people is less criminogenic than the current model. Employ community justice courts that attempt to solve the problems of individuals rather than sentencing them to prison for transgressions. Clear is clear: the criminal justice system and the prison are criminogenic—get people out of these systems as soon as possible and completely redesign both. This would aid in reducing anomie and thus crime.

I read Clear for a criminal justice Master's class. Academic but interesting. If you've read Michelle Alexander, not much new re: the system. It is what it is. His solutions stop short of abolition. Instead of jettisoning the prison system, he wants to significantly reform it. Meh. All in all, worth the read. It's good to have varying perspectives on how these systems work and ways in which we can mitigate/stop their impacts.

[CTEP]

In Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Worse, Todd Clear argues that our justice system is currently flawed and condemns low-income communities to poor behavioral patterns. Mass incarceration disrupts how communities function. The daily life of neighborhoods are completely dislocated by the everchanging presence/disappearance of influential community members. Despite the effects of their behavior, whether criminal or positive contributions, mass incarceration throws off the equilibrium of these groups. Clear argues that incarceration policies widens racial disparities, reduces positive opportunities for youth, and increases crime.

I have read a lot of literature that documents the effects of imprisonment on the individuals that have experienced incarceration, but this is the first book that I have read that evaluates the effects of their removal on their communities. It was really interesting to consider the families behind the criminal acts. A lot of families receive services at Emerge that compensate for these problems. Single mothers seek public assistance like food, housing, and childcare assistance through METP and MFIP programs. I hope that powerful people in management and policy-making positions at nonprofit organizations take the time to read books like Imprisoning Communities, because it brings people to the same level. When we work with ex-offenders, we are not just dealing with an individual that made a mistake in the past, we are helping their families adapt to new and challenging sitations.

I really enjoy reading about crime policy and analysis that is written by scholars with a background in sociology or psychology. Instead of a book composed of in-human statistics and condemnation, they tend to emphasize justice. It’s refreshing to focus on the degree of just treatment of individuals that are gazed down upon in modern society. I think that educated groups lack empathy when evaluating groups with criminal histories. It is difficult to understand the situations behind their behavior. We compensate by categorizing them into disadvantaged groups. Clear’s well-rounded investigation of minority communities and their reaction to mass incarcerations was really refreshing.