The Impact of Adult Incarceration on Child Poverty: A County-Level Analysis, 1995-2007

Traditionally, research on the tremendous variation in the use of incarceration across time and space has focused on the issue of whether imprisoning more offenders reduces crime. More recently, research has begun to explore the collateral consequences of mass incarceration for the families and comm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Prison journal (Philadelphia, Pa.) Pa.), 2010-12, Vol.90 (4), p.377-396
Main Authors: DeFina, Robert H., Hannon, Lance
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child Poverty
Children & youth
Counties
Crime
Crime Rates
Criminals
Family
Imprisonment
Poverty
Space and Time
Studies
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Summary:Traditionally, research on the tremendous variation in the use of incarceration across time and space has focused on the issue of whether imprisoning more offenders reduces crime. More recently, research has begun to explore the collateral consequences of mass incarceration for the families and communities of those imprisoned. The current study adds to this burgeoning literature by examining the impact of incarceration rates on child poverty rates. Employing a panel design for North Carolina county data, 1995-2007, we use instrumental variable techniques to disentangle the effect of incarceration on poverty from the effect of poverty on incarceration. The results indicate that mass incarceration has significantly increased child poverty rates. The impact of adult incarceration on child poverty appears especially pronounced in counties with a high proportion of non-White residents.
ISSN:0032-8855
1552-7522
DOI:10.1177/0032885510382085