The chapters in this volume are part of a burgeoning research literature that studies the social and economic effects of imprisonment. Earlier work on the effects of incarceration focused on the recidivism of those coming out of prison and jail. Recent research, however, also examines how imprisonment affects the socioeconomic life of prisoners and the poor urban communities to which they return (for example, Braman 2003; Western 2006; Clear, forthcoming; Wacquant, forthcoming). New research on the social consequences of incarceration is motivated by the facts of mass imprisonment. The American incarceration rate-historically high by U.S. standards, surpassing that of some former Soviet republics, and an order of magnitude higher than in the affluent democracies of Western Europe-is a vivid symbol of social inequality. For young male high school dropouts, particularly African Americans, imprisonment has become a routine life event. A young black man born in the late 1960s is more likely to have a prison record than a bachelor's degree, and over half of young black male dropouts born in the late 1960s will go to prison at some point their lives (Pettit and Western 2004). Statistics like these have focused the attention of students of poverty, race, and urban problems on the penal system as a novel feature of a distinctively American pattern of social inequality. Research on the social impact of incarceration suggests that policy has a role, not just in reducing crime but in improving the economic and family life of those drawn into the penal system. Policies designed to repair the economic and family life of ex-prisoners serve several goals. First, steady work and a stable family are keys to desistance from crime (Sampson and Laub 1993; Uggen 2000; Warr 1998). A good job provides structure to daily life, draws a man out of his peer networks that form the context for criminal offending, and offers a wage, which weakens the temptations of an illegal income. Beyond the effects on crime, policies that smooth the reentry of ex-offenders into their homes and jobs may have large redistributive effects. Because incarceration rates are now so high among young men with little schooling, measures that improve employment and family life among ex-prisoners may also raise the economic standing of those at the bottom of American society. In the era of mass imprisonment, social supports for ex-prisoners provide new tools for reducing poverty. The papers in this volume study the links between the penal system and the American labor market. In this chapter I connect this research on prisons and the labor market to policies that can help ex-prisoners find work after coming out of prison. Copyright © 2007 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved.
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