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The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Since the mid-1970s the U.S. prison population has quadrupled, reflecting one of the largest policy experiments of the twentieth century. Researchers and policymakers are just beginning to understand the effect that this dramatic expansion has had on U.S. society. Because African Americans and Hispanics are incarcerated at a higher rate than whites, it is reasonable to assume that rising imprisonment has contributed to existing racial inequalities in U.S. society. Earlier work has generally corroborated this assumption,…
This fact sheet highlights the establishment of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), an evidence-based, cost effective approach to treating juvenile offenders. It begins by explaining the development of the juvenile justice system in the United States and then describes the JDAI and its key strategies. Data is shared that indicates when Minnehaha and Pennington counties implemented JDAI there was a decrease in juvenile detention numbers. The disproportionate number of incarcerated youth of color is noted and statistics are reported that indicate minority youths, primarily…
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In 2008, 1 out of every 100 adults in the United States was incarcerated (Pew Center, 2008). Rates of incarceration are historically higher among men and the most disadvantaged, and these groups have experienced a disproportionate increase in their rates of incarceration from 1980 to 2008(Western and Wildeman, 2009). Using the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this Profile provides an analysis of young men's contact with the criminal justice system (i.e., probation or incarceration) by the age of 25. It includes information on educational attainment, race/ethnicity,…
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The conference summary report synthesizes key aspects of the Prisons to Home project including the state symposium discussions, conference plenary and break-out sessions, and the research papers developed for the conference. The report is not a complete record of the conference presentations, rather, it captures the common themes and salient tensions that emerged and their implications for children, families, and communities. Presented research and the subsequent discussions identified children, families, and former prisoners who have experienced incarceration as a group at high risk for…
