Far From Home: An Analysis of the Distance between Prisoners and their Prior Residence

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Over the past three decades, mass incarceration and the related problem of prison overcrowding have resulted in the construction of hundreds of new prisons across the country. The prison construction boom of the 1980s and 1990s took place largely in rural communities and away from major metropolitan cities, for a number of reasons. Metropolitan prisons were full or overcrowded, residents of metropolitan areas did not want new prisons in their backyards, and rural localities coveted prison construction for the economic and employment benefits prisons could provide for their communities. Thus it is likely that many inmates are residents from metropolitan areas who are housed in facilities in rural areas, potentially great distances from their homes. Little research has examined the distribution of prisoners based on their prior residence and the consequences of being housed far from home. To do so, we use a national data set of inmates (2004 Survey of State Correctional Facilities) and prison facilities to examine the distance between housing in prison and prior residence. In addition, we conduct analyses to understand some potential consequences for inmates of the distance between offenders’ housing assignment and their residence prior to prison.

Authors

• Benjamin Dane, James Madison University

• Margarita Poteyeva, James Madison University