Assessing the causes and consequences of inequality among incarcerated people

• In Event: Issues in Prison Culture and Policy: Research from the Prison Research & Innovation Initiative

Abstract

Inequality in prisons has been an understudied aspect of American correctional ecology. While imprisonment has been empirically linked to forms of social and economic deprivation prior to incarceration and after release, and ethnographic studies of prisons have demonstrated inequalities in employment and other programmatic opportunities, systematic evidence about economic and social stratification inside prisons is lacking. We use survey and interview findings from Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado to systematically map the critical aspects of inequality in the facility, including identifying the characteristics of incarcerated people that are associated with higher and lower statuses. We then present survey analyses that depict the effects of status on stress, trauma, mental and physical health, institutional involvement, relationships, hope, and sense of purpose. Results suggest that inequality is a key organizing principle of the carceral landscape that shapes quality of life and has significant implications for changes to correctional policies and practices. These implications will be explored in the context of modern correctional institutional structures and cultures.

Authors

• Jeffrey Lin, Crossover Research

• Shannon Sliva, University of Denver