We've added 33 new reports related to COVID-19, recidivism, and more.

Criminal Justice Research Library for September 21, 2021 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 33 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: COVID-19 [[link removed]] States of emergency: The failure of prison system responses to COVID-19 [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, September, 2021

"It's telling that not one prison system in the U.S. scored higher than a C; as a whole, the nation's response to the pandemic behind bars has been a shameful failure." Association of Jail Decarceration and Anticontagion Policies With COVID-19 Case Growth Rates in US Counties [[link removed]] by Eric Reinhart and Daniel L. Chen, September, 2021

"When controlling for anticontagion policies, mass release events were associated with a 3.1% decrease in COVID-19 growth rates 2 weeks later and a 5.3% decrease in daily jail population." Is There a Temporal Relationship between COVID-19 Infections among Prison Staff, Incarcerated Persons and the Larger Community in the United States? [[link removed]] by Danielle Wallace et al., June, 2021

"Even with strong infection control policies in place, correctional staff are associated with infection spread within prisons." Keeping COVID Out of Prisons: Approaches in Ten Countries [[link removed]] by Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, May, 2021

"The South African prison population declined after a period of relative stability prepandemic. Total prisoner numbers were in the region of 162-164,000 in the four years prior to the pandemic, but had fallen to 147,922 in June 2020." Locked in and Locked Down - Prison Life in a Pandemic: Evidence from Ten Countries [[link removed]] by Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, May, 2021

"We present evidence of how life in custody changed as a result of the global health emergency, drawn from over 80 interviews with prisoners, ex-prisoners and their loved ones, which we and our research partners conducted before and during the pandemic." Community Impact [[link removed]] Understanding the place of punishment: Disadvantage, politics, and the geography of imprisonment in 21st century America [[link removed]] by Katharine Beckett and Lindsey Beach, February, 2021

"Geographic variation in the use of prisons in 21st century America affords an opportunity toassess--and advance--alternative theoretical perspectives on punishment." Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] Nutrition in Midwestern State Department of Corrections Prisons: A Comparison of Nutritional Offerings [[link removed]] by Mitchel K. Holliday and Kelli M. Richardson, September, 2021

"Sodium was offered in excess across 14 of the 15 menus reviewed. The average daily offering was 3,625 mg or 158% of the recommended level for males and 3,059 mg or 133% of recommended levels for females." "Every Thought and Dream a Nightmare": Violence and Trauma Among Formerly Imprisoned Gang Members [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Shytierra Gaston, Faraneh Shamserad, and Beth M. Huebner, August, 2021

"Although direct involvement in violence dissipated after prison, exposure to vicarious victimization was substantial and ongoing." Violence, Hunger, and Premature Death: How Prison Food in Maryland Became Even Worse During Covid-19 [[link removed]] by The Maryland Food & Prison Abolition Project, August, 2021

"As atrocious as the correctional food systems were prior to 2020, however, the Covid-19 pandemic drastically exacerbated the crisis of prison food prison." Reducing Restrictive Housing Use in Washington State [[link removed]] by Keramet Reiter, JD, PhD, August, 2021

"A greater proportion of people in DOC experienced Intensive Management Unit confinement over time. In 2002, 24% of the prison population had spent at least one day in an IMU. By 2017, over one-third (34%) of the prison population had spent time in an IMU." Reforming solitary confinement: the development, implementation, and processes of a restrictive housing step down reentry program in Oregon [[link removed]] by Ryan M. Labrecque, Jennifer J. Tostlebe, Bert Useem and David C. Pyrooz, August, 2021

"We focus on the task set forth by the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) to create a new unit that is committed to rehabilitative programming, increased socialization opportunities, and blunting some of the harsher conditions of restrictive housing." Supporting Success: The Higher Education in Prison Key Performance Indicator Framework [[link removed]] by Institute for Higher Education Policy, September, 2020

"Better understanding of student outcomes, academic quality, civic engagement, and soft skill development associated with higher education in prison will help both practitioners and policymakers." Crime and Crime Rates [[link removed]] Hate Crime Victimization, 2005-2019 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2021

"On average, U.S. residents experienced approximately 246,900 hate crime victimizations each year between 2005 and 2019." Hate Crime Recorded by Law Enforcement, 2010-2019 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2021

"The number of [hate] incidents decreased 17% from 2010 to 2014, before increasing 25% from 2015 to 2019. By comparison, the total volume of reported crime-- both hate and nonhate incidents--decreased 22% during the 10-year period." Education [[link removed]] Back-to-School Action Guide: Re-Engaging Students and Closing the School-to-Prison Pipeline [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, August, 2021

"Unless schools tap the resources of community partners and aggressively embrace promising new approaches, many young people will likely be criminalized or excluded from school due to predictable behavior problems." Families [[link removed]] Family member incarceration and mental health: Results from a nationally representative survey [[link removed]] by Kristin Turney, June, 2021

"The stressor of incarceration proliferates to have reverberating mental health consequences for those connected to the incarcerated, via pathways such as destabilized family economic wellbeing or impaired relationships between family members." Health impact [[link removed]] Access in Brief: Health Care Needs of Adults Involved with the Criminal Justice System [[link removed]] by Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, August, 2021

"When compared to their peers with other forms of coverage, Medicaid beneficiaries under community supervision were more likely to have Hepatitis B or C, chronic bronchitis, or asthma." Improving the Food Environment in Washington State-Run Correctional Facilities: The Healthy Commissary Project [[link removed]] by Alyssa Auvinen et al., August, 2015

"The Healthy Commissary Project demonstrates the feasibility of partnerships between health departments, corrections, and advocacy organizations to implement effective nutrition interventions in correctional facility commissaries." International Incarceration Comparisons [[link removed]] States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2021 [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, September, 2021

"Every U.S. state, and the United States as a nation, is an outlier in the global context. No other country incarcerates as many people, including countries with similar rates of" Mental Health [[link removed]] Prisons and Mental Health: Violence, Organizational Support, and the Effects of Correctional Work [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Amy E. Lerman, Jessie Harney, Meredith Sadin, September, 2021

"Correctional workers have a high likelihood of exposure to violence in the workplace. However, empirical literature has largely neglected the mental health consequences of prison work." Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Racial and Ethnic Disparities throughout the Criminal Legal System: A Result of Racist Policies and Discretionary Practices [[link removed]] by Urban Institute, August, 2021

"Racial biases are so deeply embedded in the criminal legal system that disparities based on race exist at each decision point, impacting subsequent decision points and resulting in negative outcomes for Black people and other people of color." Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, July, 2021

"Black youth are more than four times as likely to be detained or committed in juvenile facilities as their white peers. In 2015, Black youth's incarceration rate was 5.0 times as high as their white peers, an all-time peak." Better for Everyone: Black Descriptive Representation and Police Traffic Stops [[link removed]] by Leah Christiani et al., March, 2021

"Even though increased black representation would not eliminate racial disparities, it may be an important part of reducing the amount of negative police contact that individuals experience." Racial Equity and Criminal Justice Risk Assessment [[link removed]] by Urban Institute, March, 2021

"Practitioners and policymakers must determine how (or whether) to balance the use of risk assessment as a component of evidence-based practice with pursuing goals of reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system." Rethinking Approaches to Over Incarceration of Black Young Adults in Maryland [[link removed]] by Justice Policy Institute, November, 2019

"Nearly eight in 10 people who were sentenced as emerging adults and have served 10 or more years in a Maryland prison are black. This is the highest rate of any state in the country." Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 24 States in 2008: A 10-Year Follow-Up Period (2008-2018) [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2021

"Almost half (49%) of released prisoners had a probation or parole violation or an arrest for a new offense within 3 years that led to imprisonment." Voices for Reform in DC: Recommendations for improving reentry following long prison terms [[link removed]] by Justice Policy Institute, July, 2021

"This report's observations and recommendations reflect the realities faced by individuals three years after the passage of Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA) legislation." Improving Long-Term Employment Outcomes: Promising Findings from New York State [[link removed]] by Center for Employment Opportunities, February, 2019

"12 months post-enrollment [Center for Employment Opportunities] participants were 52% more likely to be employed than their counterparts in the comparison group." Women [[link removed]] Women, Incarceration, and Violent Crime: A Briefing in Response to Plans for Building a New Women's Prison in Massachusetts [[link removed]] by Women and Incarceration Project, September, 2021

"The population of women convicted of crimes classified as violent by the Massachusetts DOC should not be used as justification for spending millions of taxpayer dollars on constructing a new women's prison." The Relevance of Women's Economic Marginalization to Recidivism [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Merry Morash and Deborah A. Kashy, August, 2021

"This study examines whether changes over time in women's criminogenic needs, particularly their financial needs, predict recidivism...Women whose financial needs decreased were less likely to be rearrested and convicted relative to other women." Breastfeeding in Incarcerated Settings in the United States: A National Survey of Frequency and Policies [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Ifeyinwa V. Asiodu, Lauren Beal, and Carolyn Sufrin, April, 2021

"Our data show inconsistent implementation of policies and practices supportive of breastfeeding in prisons and jails." Youth [[link removed]] Replacing School Police with Services that Work: Better Ways to Improve School Safety and Reduce Discipline Disparities [[link removed]] by Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, August, 2021

"The ongoing presence of police in schools increases school arrests, instances of physical restraint, and suspensions and expulsions, all of which are disproportionately experienced by students with disabilities, especially students of color." The Presence of School Resource Officers (SROs) in America's Schools [[link removed]] by Justice Policy Institute, July, 2020

"Allowing police officers to needlessly handle minor infractions in schools often marks a student's first contact with the criminal justice system, potentially setting them up for a lifetime of collateral consequences." Please support our work [[link removed]]

Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!

Other news: States of emergency: The failure of prison system responses to COVID-19 [[link removed]]

Nearly 18 months into the pandemic, COVID-19 is still claiming lives behind bars. But a lack of transparency and consistency from state governments makes it hard to track — and compare — how states are addressing this crisis.

This new report [[link removed]] fills this gap, aiming to bring attention back to the dangers incarcerated people face during the pandemic.

States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2021 [[link removed]]

It's no secret that the United States is the global leader in mass incarceration, but how does your state stack up? (Spoiler: Badly.)

We recently updated our Global Context report for 2021 [[link removed]], in which we compare the incarceration rates of all 50 states with 169 countries around the globe.

Please support our work [[link removed]]

Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!

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