Effects Of Incarceration

Upon release, previously incarceration individuals find themselves subject to what is known as collateral consequences. Societal and policy consequences that extend beyond the criminal justice system and long after incarceration. With consequences touching every aspect of their life from; housing, family composition, education and employment opportunities. As one becomes incarcerated they better understand racial, economic and behavioral-health barriers within yet at the time of parole many do not have an awareness of the negative and disproportionate treatments associated with life post-conviction and incarceration (Pettus-Davis, Epperson and Grier, 2017).
As efforts of decarceration commence, civil disabilities and rehabilitative practices

Individual states who have reduced both prison populations and crime rates are proving smart reforms can make communities safer and save the tax payers money. In 2007 the state of Texas, a traditionally red state, adopted legislation offering sentencing alternatives to low-level, nonviolent offenders which in turn decreased prison populations by fourteen percent and crime rates by twenty nine percent. Just a few years later Connecticut a progressively blue state legislated a second chances society, allowing nonviolent offenders a diversion program offering mandatory rehabilitation and treatment options. Crime in Connecticut now hits a fifty-year low and their prison population is the smallest it has been in two decades (Harris,

Who will need to work diligently to ensure that criminal justice reform remains a priority when fights over Affordable Care, immigration and Russian ties take center stage on Capitol Hill. top-tier issue during a time when fights over judicial nominations, the

References

American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. (2017). Grand Challenges for Social Work. Retrieved from Promote Smart Decarceration: http://aaswsw.org/grand-challenges-initiative/12-challenges/promote-smart-decarceration/
Easterling and Johnson. (2012). Understanding Unique Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children: Challenges, Progress, and Recommendations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 342-356.
Harris, H. (2017, March). The Prison Dilemma: Ending America's Incarceration Epidemic. Foreign Affairs, pp. 118-129.
Pettus-Davis, Epperson and Grier. (2017, March). Reverse Civic and Legal Exclusion for Persons with Criminal Charges and Convictions: A Policy Action to Promote Smart Decarceration. Retrieved from Grand Challenges for Social Work: