Beyond the Big City: The Spatial Inequality of Mass Imprisonment

• In Event: Incarceration and Reentry in Context: The Removal, Return, and Supervision of Offenders in Rural and Urban Areas

Abstract

Few scholars have considered the historical patterns of incarceration across space. This paper offers an analysis of prison admissions and commitments in Massachusetts and New York (1972--2014). In 1994, New York City accounted for 70 percent of the state prisoners, but about 40 percent of the state's overall population. By 2014, the city accounted for 45 percent of the prison population and 43 percent of the state population. Similarly in Massachusetts, in 1972, Boston accounted for over 40 percent of all prison admissions but roughly 17 percent of the state's population. By 2014, prison admissions had fallen to 20 percent from Boston, going as low as 18 percent in the mid-2000s, though maintaining the same portion of the state's overall population. Findings show that decarceration is concentrated in large urban city centers, while in smaller urban cities and some rural areas, incarceration has steadily increased. Several potential explanations for the changing spatial demography of prison populations are explored, including the crime drop and reductions in felony and misdemeanor arrests in large cities, and the preponderance of arrests sweeps, drug enforcement and community supervision revocations in smaller urban areas.

Author

• Jessica Simes, Harvard University