The Growth, Scope, and Spatial Distribution of People With Felony Records in the United States, 1948–2010

Abstract

The steep rise in U.S. criminal punishment in recent decades has spurred scholarship on the collateral consequences of imprisonment for individuals, families, and communities. Several excellent studies have estimated the number of people who have been incarcerated and the collateral consequences they face, but far less is known about the size and scope of the total U.S. population with felony convictions beyond prison walls, including those who serve their sentences on probation or in jail. This article develops state-level estimates based on demographic life tables and extends previous national estimates of the number of people with felony convictions to 2010. We estimate that 3 % of the total U.S. adult population and 15 % of the African American adult male population has ever been to prison; people with felony convictions account for 8 % of all adults and 33 % of the African American adult male population. We discuss the far-reaching consequences of the spatial concentration and immense growth of these groups since 1980.

Breaking Down Barriers: Experiments into Policies That Might Incentivize Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders

“…Regarding more severe offenses, 19.8 million people have at least one felony criminal conviction (Shannon et al, 2011). By the end of 2015, the total adult correctional supervision population-including those incarcerated in local jails, state prisons, or federal prisons and those on community supervision (probation or parole)-was nearly 6.8 million (Kaeble and Glaze, 2016).…”

Unequal Family Lives

“…Another, and scarcely less important, variable would be criminal justice system history -in particular, previous criminal conviction record or comparable serious criminal history. Between the early 1960s and 2010, the number of adults in the United States with a criminal record is estimated to have more than quadrupled (Shannon et al 2017). Rough calculations suggest that something like one in eight adult men not behind bars in the United States may have a criminal conviction in his past -the figure for prime-age men today may be even higher (Eberstadt 2016).…”

Criminal Records and College Admissions: A Modified Experimental Audit

“…With the expansion of punishment in the mass incarceration era, the prevalence of criminal records has increased dramatically in the past four decades (Shannon et al, 2017).…”

“…According to estimates by Shannon et al (2017), about 23 percent of Black adults overall and 33 percent of Black adult males have felony records, compared to 8 percent of adults and 13 percent of adult males in the overall population, respectively. Thus, Black adults are more acutely affected by criminal record questions and removing these questions could reduce the effect of this disadvantage.…”

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ABSTRACT

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Criminal Records and College Admissions: A Modified Experimental AuditWith the expansion of punishment in the mass incarceration era, the prevalence of criminal records has increased dramatically in the past four decades (Shannon et al, 2017).Criminal records can be acutely restrictive (Travis, Western, and National research Council [U.S.], 2014), limiting access to employment (Pager, 2003;Pager, Bonikowski, and Western, 2009;, public assistance (Gustafson 2009), housing (Thacher, 2008, family planning options (Children's Bureau, 2015), and civic participation (Manza and Uggen, 2006).These restrictions can perpetuate cycles of crime and inequality, especially for low-income people and people of color.Higher education has long been considered an instrument of social mobility and social cohesion in American society, and a potentially potent mechanism for facilitating desistance (Blomberg and Pesta, 2017;Ford and Schroeder, 2010;Runell, 2017). In particular, college attendance and completion are associated with lower rates of unemployment and higher relative earnings (Arum and Hout, 1998;Mayhew et al, 2016; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017).

Higher education can also unlock access to valued opportunities, develop human capital, and foster civic membership (Becker, 1994;Boli, Ramirez, and Meyer, 1985;Brown, 2001).

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