The Impact of Mass Incarceration on People of Color, Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, and Insights from MSW Criminal Justice Students
Recently, in the MSW-level criminal justice course I’m teaching this term, we read the first chapter to Michelle Alexander’s phenomenal book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. When I share my syllabus with others, especially professionals in the field who I ask to come and speak to the class, this is always the reading they pick out and comment on, usually applauding my choice of a relevant, modern text followed by an expression of, “I wish I had read this while I was in school!”
If you’re not yet familiar with the crux of Alexander’s book, she argues that racial discrimination has persisted in America, and taken on different forms. Originally, this was in the form of slavery, and when that was abolished, included subtler, but still harmful manifestations such as the Jim Crow laws. In its present form, this is mass incarceration of minorities. She specifically focuses on African American people in her book, and mostly on the male population. For example, despite drug use at similar rates across races, Black people are sentenced to jail ten times more than their white counterparts.
For my class, we had a discussion (including criticisms of her work), and students had a reaction paper assignment. This is one of my favorite assignments of theirs to read, as I purposefully leave the assignment general for them to provide a range of reactions. As I graded, I appreciated each student’s insights and contributions and wanted to build off what they mentioned in their papers to write this blog post.
Although all social work students, they took on different ways in examining how mass incarceration has affected — and is currently affecting — communities of color. Some of the more macro-oriented students framed the issue from a public health/epidemiology perspective to focus on thinking comprehensively about the years of life lost (YLL) due to being incarcerated. In studying the impact of drug laws for nonviolent offenders, for example, YLL measures indicate the devastating impact on communities. Regarding the “War on Drugs,” the number of incarcerations is equal to over 200,000 deaths, which is twice those killed in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Examining the impact of mass incarceration on a more micro level, another student took note of the impact on an individual being caught up in the criminal justice system. The “side effects” of being involved in the criminal justice system include the immediate impact of loss of control (e.g., being locked up, on a set schedule of when to eat and sleep), but then linger after one is released from prison. These include complying with parole or probation requirements, but might also include not being allowed to vote. According to The Sentencing Project, 6.1 million Americans are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction, and 1 out of every 13 African American people do not have the right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement.
Many of my students mentioned how incarceration also affects surrounding families. This comes at a psychological cost, as well as have an impact financially, such as when a two-parent household becomes a single-parent household. Once released, incarceration continues to have economic effects. When a formerly incarcerated individual turns 48 years old, the average person will have made $179,000 less than if he or she had never been locked up.
Part of smarter justice solutions involves being educated about issues such as mass incarceration and its effects on our society and specifically communities of color. And there are hopeful programs, policy solutions, and promising practices that are trying to get us where we need to go on mass incarceration. Last year, the governor of Virginia began to restore voting rights to 13,000 felons. Even the beloved PBS children’s program Sesame Street now has a special program for young children who are experiencing the incarceration of a loved one. Promising practices are emerging regarding disproportionate minority confinement (DMC), especially in the juvenile justice system, to help prevent the impacts of system contact as young people turn into adults.
Lastly, knowledge is power, and completing the background reading on issues is always important. If you’ve not yet picked up Alexander’s book, it is a thought-provoking piece on modern day issues in the criminal justice system as well in America today.
