The Gender Gap in Incarceration: The Role of Demographics, Politics, and the Welfare System

• In Event: Gender, Family, and the Causes and Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration

Abstract

The gap between male and female imprisonment rates in the United States has been declining over recent decades. Between 1990 and 2000, for example, female incarceration rates increased by 108 percent whereas male incarceration rates increased by 77 percent. While the gap in women and men’s offending has also declined, changes in crime rates do not account fully for the greater increases in women’s than men’s imprisonment. The present study examines how shifts in demographics, partisan politics, and welfare systems have contributed to changes in the gender gap in incarceration. It also examines similarities and differences in the effects of these factors on women’s and men’s imprisonment rates. To assess these issues, we use data from the 50 states over the period 1978 to 2014. We discuss implications of our findings for public policy.

Authors

• JiHye Park, University of Iowa

• Karen Heimer, University of Iowa

• Kenneth Sanchagrin, Appalachian State University