The 'Million Dollar Inmate' by Ahn-Redding Heather;

Author:Ahn-Redding, Heather;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 634261
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic

Unsurprisingly, ex-drug offenders fall into the category of individuals who could benefit the most from public housing and TANF, yet the government continues to marginalize offenders who have served their sentences and are trying to establish healthy lifestyles. By incarcerating low-level nonviolent offenders and then barring them from access to social services, we are making it increasingly difficult for ex-inmates to stay clear of the criminal justice system. If, instead, we were to keep these individuals in the community where they could work while serving community-based services, we could help them avoid the financial hurdles that their counterparts in prison will inevitably face upon release.

THE LABOR FORCE

Another latent cost of incarceration is the removal of capable and able-bodied individuals—especially those already with lawful employment—from the workforce. While this inevitably occurs during the period of the individual’s incarceration, many offenders are unable to find legitimate employment upon their release from prison. Bushway found that 66 percent of employers in five large cities would not hire an individual knowing that he or she had spent time in prison.76 In addition, many ex-inmates cannot legally obtain employment in certain professions, such as nursing and healthcare.77 This is understandable given the nature of some professions, but from a labeling theory perspective, ex-inmates have difficulty obtaining legitimate work due to community fear or distrust.78 A prison term can be a large detriment to an individual’s financial future,79 especially due to the “stigma attached to a criminal history record in the legal labor market”80 that undoubtedly extends to other areas of society, such as marriage, educational opportunities, professional organizations, and trust in interpersonal relationships. In addition, many ex-inmates are faced with a lack of skills when seeking employment.81 There is also a widespread perception of prisons as jungle environments that harden those whom its confines.82 Thus, when individuals are released from prison, they are largely regarded as “tainted.”83 While this may be true of some ex-inmates, the large majority of prisoners exit their incarceration with hopes of finding legitimate employment.

Offenders who have spent time in prison and are bound for release may not develop appropriate social skills necessary for interviewing with potential employers. The longer they remain in prison, the more they are susceptible to psychological deterioration or physical harm, which may subsequently affect their ability to interact with others or perform certain work-related functions after their release. Over time, future prospects of legitimate employment erode as nonviolent offenders, who may have great amounts of determination to readjust their lifestyles, confront the aforementioned barriers. By placing them in prisons, we are subjecting them to additional unnecessary hardships that are not easily overcome.

Because our incarceration practices disproportionately affect African Americans, there is a large gap in employment rates of white and African American young males.84 With racial disparities among nonoffenders already noticeably high in certain regions, this additional discrepancy may continue to promulgate racial inequalities. This only serves to feed lingering sentiments of fear and distrust.

By reducing the number of nonviolent prisoners who are incarcerated, and thereby

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