Incarceration and Stratification
Abstract
In the past three decades, incarceration has become an increasingly powerful force for reproducing and reinforcing social inequalities. A new wave of sociological research details the contemporary experiment with mass incarceration in the United States and its attendant effects on social stratification. This review first describes the scope of imprisonment and the process of selection into prison. It then considers the implications of the prison boom for understanding inequalities in the labor market, educational attainment, health, families, and the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Social researchers have long understood selection into prison as a reflection of existing stratification processes. Today, research attention has shifted to the role of punishment in generating these inequalities.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Individuals who have lower levels of education, employment, and income are more likely to encounter the criminal justice system.
“due to discriminatory application of policies and laws, individuals who have lower levels of education, employment, and income are more likely to encounter the CJS (Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
From Adult Outcomes of Justice Involved Indigenous Youth (2023) · cites this paper as Wakefield & Uggen, 2010
There continues to be a cycle of inequality among Indigenous individuals that is perpetuated and effectively solidified through the criminal justice system.
“Therefore, there continues to be a cycle of inequality (Wakefield & Uggen, 2010) among Indigenous individuals that is perpetuated and effectively solidified through the CJS.”
From Adult Outcomes of Justice Involved Indigenous Youth (2023) · cites this paper as Wakefield & Uggen, 2010
Cites
Pager, D. (2003) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/374403 · Cited by 2,840 · see citing works
The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime
Blau, J. R., & Blau, P. M. (1982) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2095046 · Cited by 1,500 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The effects of poverty or inequality on crime are similarly complex (e.g., Blau & Blau 1982, Bushway & Reuter 2002, Cantor & Land 1985, Hagan & Peterson 1995), but prisons are most certainly filled with the poor (Wheelock & Uggen 2008).”
BackgroundMass imprisonment and the life course: Race and class inequality in U.S. incarceration
Pettit, B., & Western, B. (2004) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/000312240406900201 · Cited by 1,499 · see citing works
Secondary School Tracking and Educational Inequality: Compensation, Reinforcement, or Neutrality?
Gamoran, A., & Mare, R. D. (1989) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/229114 · Cited by 663 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Figure 5 Differences in male incarceration by race, ethnicity, and education (Source: Western 2006, p. 19). by these differences and placed onto differing tracks (see, e.g., Gamoran & Mare 1989).”
BackgroundCollateral Consequences of Imprisonment for Children, Communities, and Prisoners
Hagan, J., & Dinovitzer, R. (1999) · Crime and Justice · doi:10.1086/449296 · Cited by 621 · cited 2× · see citing works
“An emerging research literature is now examining these intergenerational costs, with many hypothesizing strong negative effects (e.g., Hagan & Dinovitzer 1999, Nurse 2004, Travis et al. www.annualreviews.org • Incarceration and Stratification 397 A nn u.”
BackgroundIncarceration length, employment, and earnings
Kling, J. R. (2006) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.96.3.863 · Cited by 563 · see citing works
Bachman, J. G., Wallace, J. M., O'Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., Kurth, C. L., & Neighbors, H. W. (1991) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.81.3.372 · Cited by 545 · see citing works
The Labor Market Consequences of Incarceration
Western, B., Kling, J. R., & Weiman, D. F. (2001) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/0011128701047003007 · Cited by 499 · see citing works
Punishment Beyond the Legal Offender
Comfort, M. (2007) · Annual Review of Law and Social Science · doi:10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.3.081806.112829 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Holzer, H. J., Offner, P., & Sorensen, E. (2005) · Journal of Policy Analysis and Management · doi:10.1002/pam.20092 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH INEQUITIES: Old Issues, New Directions
Gee, G. C., & Ford, C. L. (2011) · Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race · doi:10.1017/s1742058x11000130 · Cited by 1,388 · see citing works
“disfranchisement largely reflects high rates of Black felonization, which has implications for both voting power and disease distributions (Wakefield and Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundThe growth of incarceration in the United States: exploring causes and consequences
Travis, J., Western, B., & Redburn, F. (2014) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/18613 · Cited by 1,095 · see citing works
“(For other reviews of the incarceration literature, see Hagan and Dinovitzer, 1999; Murray et al., 2009; Schnittker et al., 2011; Wakefield and Uggen, 2010; Wildeman and Western, 2010; and Wildeman and Muller 2012).”
BackgroundRisk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex
Edwards, F., Lee, H., & Esposito, M. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1821204116 · Cited by 916 · see citing works
Mass incarceration, public health, and widening inequality in the USA
Wildeman, C., & Wang, E. A. (2017) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30259-3 · Cited by 885 · see citing works
Big Data Surveillance: The Case of Policing
Brayne, S. (2017) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122417725865 · Cited by 884 · see citing works
“Emblematic of the expansion of surveillance (Lyon 2003; Marx 2016; Rule 2007) is the rapid growth of the criminal justice system since 1972 (Carson 2015; Garland 2001; Wakefield and Uggen 2010; Western 2006).”
BackgroundThe Race Discrimination System
Reskin, B. (2012) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-071811-145508 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Surveillance and System Avoidance: Criminal Justice Contact and Institutional Attachment
Brayne, S. (2014) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122414530398 · Cited by 538 · see citing works
Massoglia, M., & Pridemore, W. A. (2015) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112326 · Cited by 479 · see citing works
Political Repression: Iron Fists, Velvet Gloves, and Diffuse Control
Earl, J. (2011) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102609 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
“Although connections between mass incarceration and institutionalized political engagement have been powerfully made (e.g., Manza & Uggen 2006, Wakefield & Uggen 2010), research on criminal justice has been slow to track connections between mass incarceration and noninstitutional political…”
BackgroundRacial Disparities in Child Adversity in the U.S
Slopen, N., Shonkoff, J. P., Albert, M. A., Yoshikawa, H., Jacobs, A., Stoltz, R., & Williams, D. R. (2016) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.06.013 · Cited by 382 · see citing works
Stress and Hardship after Prison
Western, B., Braga, A. A., Davis, J., & Sirois, C. (2015) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/681301 · Cited by 492 · see citing works
“Second, research on the social and economic life of people leaving prison is often motivated by an interest in incarceration effects ðWakefield and Uggen 2010; Wildeman and Western 2010; Wildeman and Muller 2012Þ.”
BackgroundShannon, S. K. S., Uggen, C., Schnittker, J., Thompson, M., Wakefield, S., & Massoglia, M. (2017) · Demography · doi:10.1007/s13524-017-0611-1 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
“This is an important consideration, given that much research addresses the likelihood of incarceration and its personal and collateral consequences (Wakefield and Uggen 2010).”
Self-citationCollateral Consequences of Punishment: A Critical Review and Path Forward
Kirk, D. S., & Wakefield, S. (2018) · Annual Review of Criminology · doi:10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092045 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
“…literature that examine the effects of contact with the criminal justice system on social life, health, families, communities, and inequality (Comfort 2007, Massoglia & Pridemore 2015, Morenoff & Harding 2014, Phelps 2016, Rios et al. 2017, Wakefield & Uggen 2010, Wildeman & Muller 2012).”
BackgroundSelf-citationTurney, K. (2014) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/0022146514544173 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
“E-mail: kristin.turney@uci.edu”
BackgroundMass imprisonment and racial disparities in childhood behavioral problems
Wakefield, S., & Wildeman, C. (2011) · Criminology & Public Policy · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2011.00740.x · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Self-citationPredict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing
Brayne, S. (2020) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190684099.001.0001 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
THE EDGE OF STIGMA: AN EXPERIMENTAL AUDIT OF THE EFFECTS OF LOW‐LEVEL CRIMINAL RECORDS ON EMPLOYMENT
UGGEN, C., VUOLO, M., LAGESON, S., RUHLAND, E., & K. WHITHAM, H. (2014) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12051 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Self-citationGARLAND, D. (2013) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12015 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States
Lukachko, A., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Keyes, K. M. (2014) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.021 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
“This pattern of disparity reflects, and in many instances was caused by, a legacy of slavery and racial oppression in this country that continues through institutional policies and practices to advantage Whites over Blacks (Feagin, 2006; Feagin & Bennefield, 2013; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundDespair by Association? The Mental Health of Mothers with Children by Recently Incarcerated Fathers
Wildeman, C., Schnittker, J., & Turney, K. (2012) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122411436234 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Incarceration, prisoner reentry, and communities
Morenoff, J. D., & Harding, D. J. (2014) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-071811-145511 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
“…those on parole and prisoner reentry (National Research Council 2008, Visher & Travis 2003), the social and economic consequences of incarceration (Wakefield & Uggen 2010), the health consequences of incarceration (Schnittker et al 2011), the behavioral and political determinants of the prison…”
Beyond Incarceration: Criminal Justice Contact and Mental Health
Sugie, N. F., & Turney, K. (2017) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122417713188 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
Turanovic, J., Rodriguez, N., & Pratt, T. C. (2012) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00283.x · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Misdemeanor Justice: Control without Conviction
Kohler-Hausmann, I. (2013) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/674743 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Stigma or Separation? Understanding the Incarceration-Divorce Relationship
Massoglia, M., Remster, B., & King, R. D. (2011) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/90.1.133 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
The Dose–Response of Time Served in Prison on Mortality: New York State, 1989–2003
Patterson, E. J. (2013) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2012.301148 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Turney, K., & Wildeman, C. (2013) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122413505589 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Massoglia, M., & Uggen, C. (2010) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/653835 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
“0002-9602/2010/11602-0005$10.00”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationAggressive policing and the educational performance of minority youth
Legewie, J., & Fagan, J. (2019) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122419826020 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Mass Imprisonment and Inequality in Health and Family Life
Wildeman, C., & Muller, C. D. (2011) · Annual Review of Law and Social Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105459 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Family Matters: Research on Family Ties and Health, 2010 to 2020
Umberson, D., & Thomeer, M. B. (2020) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12640 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
“Children of incarcerated parents are embedded in a dense constellation of risk associated with disadvantage before the parent’s incarceration, disadvantage associated with losing access to a parent, and stress proliferation that results from having an incarcerated parent (Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundHarding, D. J., Wyse, J. J. B., Dobson, C. C., & Morenoff, J. D. (2014) · Journal of policy analysis and management · doi:10.1002/pam.21741 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
“…offenders are disproportionately impacted by these restrictions (Brown, 2000).3 Returning prisoners also face mounting financial pressure from an accumulation of debts and fees (Harris, Evans, & Beckett, 2010; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010), particularly for child support (Cancian, Meyer, & Han, 2011).”
Linkages Between Incarceration and Health
Massoglia, M., & Remster, B. (2019) · Public Health Reports® · doi:10.1177/0033354919826563 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
“This literature shows the varied and detrimental sequelae of incarceration, which extend beyond incarcerated individuals to their families and to the communities where they live and work upon release from prison.(6) This body of research links incarceration to a multifaceted set of conditions, such as family functioni…”
Schnittker, J., Massoglia, M., & Uggen, C. (2012) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/0022146512453928 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
“On the other hand, the relationship between incarceration and psychiatric disorders presents a complicated set of empirical concerns.”
BackgroundSelf-citationMisdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing
Kohler-Hausmann, I. (2018) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.23943/9781400890354 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Haskins, A. R. (2014) · Sociological Science · doi:10.15195/v1.a11 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
“Incarceration has strong, negative, and lasting effects on myriad aspects of imprisoned and formerly imprisoned individuals’ lives (Wakefield and Uggen 2010; Wildeman and Muller 2012), as well as on the wellbeing of families and communities (Clear 2007; Comfort 2008).”
BackgroundParental Incarceration, Child Homelessness, and the Invisible Consequences of Mass Imprisonment
Wildeman, C. (2013) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716213502921 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Turney, K., Wildeman, C., & Schnittker, J. (2012) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/0022146512462400 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Foster, H., & Hagan, J. L. (2015) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112437 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Roettger, M. E., & Swisher, R. R. (2011) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00253.x · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Intergenerational Educational Effects of Mass Imprisonment in America
Hagan, J. L., & Foster, H. (2012) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.1177/0038040711431587 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
“More than 2 million children, constituting about 3 percent of the U.S. population under 18, have a parent incarcerated (Hagan and Dinovitzer 1999; Wakefield and Uggen 2010; see also Lynch and Sabol 2004; Murray and Farrington 2008; Rose and Clear 1998).”
BackgroundMental and physical health morbidity among people in prisons: an umbrella review
Favril, L., Rich, J. D., Hard, J., & Fazel, S. (2024) · The Lancet Public Health · doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(24)00023-9 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
“63 Other research highlights selection processes that disproportionately funnel people from disadvantaged backgrounds into prisons, 64 which contributes to health inequalities.”
Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Among Former Prisoners
Herbert, C. W., Morenoff, J. D., & Harding, D. J. (2015) · RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences · doi:10.7758/rsf.2015.1.2.04 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Link, N. W., Ward, J. T., & Stansfield, R. (2019) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12213 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
A Punishing Look: Skin Tone and Afrocentric Features in the Halls of Justice
King, R. D., & Johnson, B. D. (2016) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/686941 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Stop, frisk, and assault? Racial disparities in police use of force during investigatory stops
Kramer, R., & Remster, B. (2018) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/lasr.12366 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Wallace, D., Fahmy, C., Cotton, L., Jimmons, C., McKay, R., Stoffer, S., & Syed, S. (2016) · International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology · doi:10.1177/0306624x14548023 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
“Collectively, these familial issues make social support during and after prison strained (Comfort, 2009; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialPervasive Penality: How the Criminalization of Poverty Perpetuates Homelessness
Herring, C., Yarbrough, D., & Alatorre, L. M. (2019) · Social problems · doi:10.1093/socpro/spz004 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Imprisonment and Infant Mortality
Wildeman, C. (2012) · Social Problems · doi:10.1525/sp.2012.59.2.228 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
The Unequal Consequences of Mass Incarceration for Children
Turney, K. (2017) · Demography · doi:10.1007/s13524-016-0543-1 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
“The rapid growth of mass incarceration in the United States means that a historically unprecedented number of children experience parental incarceration, especially paternal incarceration (Pettit 2012; Wakefield and Uggen 2010; Wildeman 2009).”
BackgroundDesmond, M., & Valdez, N. (2013) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122412470829 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Racial Variation in the Effect of Incarceration on Neighborhood Attainment
Massoglia, M., Firebaugh, G., & Warner, C. (2012) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122412471669 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Beyond the dichotomy: incarceration dosage and mental health
Porter, L. C., & DeMarco, L. M. (2019) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12199 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Mental health of adolescents with currently and formerly incarcerated parents
Davis, L., & Shlafer, R. J. (2016) · Journal des adolescens · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.10.006 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
A Meta-Analysis of Public Attitudes Toward Ex-Offenders
Rade, C. B., Desmarais, S. L., & Mitchell, R. E. (2016) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0093854816655837 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“During and after 2009, the association is negligible ( r wc = .03, 95% CI = [0.00, 0.06]). discussiOn Negative public attitudes toward ex-offenders are a known barrier to reentry and successful community reintegration (e.g., Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialHopelessly Devoted? Relationship Quality During and After Incarceration
Turney, K. (2015) · Journal of Marriage and Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12174 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
“…included race, immigrant status, age, and childhood family structure, given that previous research shows all were associated with incarceration and relationship quality (Bradbury, Fincham, & Beach, 2000; Brown & Booth, 1996; Glenn, 1990; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010; Webster, Orbuch, & House, 1995).”
BackgroundMaternal and paternal imprisonment in the stress process.
Foster, H., & Hagan, J. (2013) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.01.008 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Hagan, J. L., & Foster, H. (2012) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/j.1540-5893.2012.00472.x · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Where “Old Heads” Prevail: Inmate Hierarchy in a Men’s Prison Unit
Kreager, D., Young, J. T. N., Haynie, D., Bouchard, M., Schaefer, D. R., & Zajac, G. (2017) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122417710462 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
INCARCERATION AND THE HEALTH OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY1
Schnittker, J., Massoglia, M., & Uggen, C. (2011) · Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race · doi:10.1017/s1742058x11000026 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
“Although they are often treated as social isolates, incarcerated persons are in fact embedded in every facet of social life—as neighbors, partners, and parents—which introduces the possibility of spillovers, particularly in communities of color ~Comfort 2008; Wakefield and Uggen, 2010!.”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe Consequences of Paternal Incarceration for Maternal Neglect and Harsh Parenting
Turney, K. (2014) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/sot160 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
RACIAL INEQUALITIES IN CONNECTEDNESS TO IMPRISONED INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED STATES
Lee, H. E., McCormick, T. H., Hicken, M. T., & Wildeman, C. (2015) · Du Bois Review Social Science Research on Race · doi:10.1017/s1742058x15000065 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
“…racial, class, and sex disparities in the American imprisonment rate (e.g., Bobo and Thompson, 2010 ; Clear 2007 ; Garland 2001 ; Glaze and Herberman, 2013; Gottschalk 2006 ; Pew Center on the States 2008 ; Wacquant 2001 ; Wakefield and Uggen, 2010 ; Western 2006 ; Wildeman and Muller, 2012 ).”
BackgroundThose They Leave Behind: Paternal Incarceration and Maternal Instrumental Support
Turney, K., Schnittker, J., & Wildeman, C. (2012) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00998.x · Cited by 114 · see citing works
“Some groups of children are especially affected, in that men who are young, poorly educated, and members of racial/ethnic minority groups, residing in neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage, are at especially high risk of incarceration (Sampson & Loeffler, 2010; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialRace Making in a Penal Institution1
Walker, M. (2016) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/684033 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Poverty in America: New Directions and Debates
Desmond, M., & Western, B. (2018) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053411 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Liminal Men: Incarceration and Relationship Dissolution
Turney, K. (2015) · Social Problems · doi:10.1093/socpro/spv015 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“These include demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity, nativity, childhood family structure, and religiosity (e.g., Amato 2000; Wakefield and Uggen 2010); relationship characteristics such as duration, quality, and co-parenting (e.g., Brown and Booth 1996; Tach and Edin 2013);…”
BackgroundInfluentialPaternal Incarceration and Father–Child Contact in Fragile Families
Geller, A. (2013) · Journal of Marriage and Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12056 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
EXPLAINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCARCERATION AND DIVORCE
Siennick, S. E., Stewart, E. A., & Staff, J. (2014) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12040 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Racialized re-entry: Labor market inequality after incarceration
Western, B., & Sirois, C. (2019) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/soy096 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
The Effects of Jail and Prison Confinement on Cohabitation and Marriage
Apel, R. (2016) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716216629360 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Mass Incarceration and Racial Inequality
Pettit, B., & Gutiérrez, C. (2018) · American Journal of Economics and Sociology · doi:10.1111/ajes.12241 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Inmate Society in the Era of Mass Incarceration
Kreager, D. A., & Kruttschnitt, C. (2017) · Annual Review of Criminology · doi:10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092513 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Toward a Criminology of Inmate Networks
Kreager, D. A., Schaefer, D. R., Bouchard, M., Haynie, D. L., Wakefield, S., Young, J. T. N., & Zajac, G. (2015) · Justice Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07418825.2015.1016090 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
“…times what it was in the 1970s, research of inmate society has only just begun to reemerge (Skarbek, 2014; Trammell, 2012) and remains dwarfed by sociological studies of the collateral consequences of incarceration (Clear, 2007; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010; Wakefield & Wildeman, 2013; Western, 2006).”
BackgroundSelf-citationCan At-Risk Youth Be Diverted From Crime?
Wong, J. S., Bouchard, J., Gravel, J., Bouchard, M., & Morselli, C. (2016) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0093854816640835 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Cochran, J. C., Mears, D. P., Bales, W. D., & Stewart, E. A. (2015) · Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency · doi:10.1177/0022427815592675 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Born Out of Place: Migrant Mothers and the Politics of International Labor
Cheng, C. (2016) · doi:10.1177/0094306115621526k · Cited by 86
Misidentifying the Effects of Parental Incarceration? A Comment on Johnson and Easterling (2012).
Wildeman, C., Wakefield, S., & Turney, K. (2013) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01018.x · Cited by 86 · see citing works
“…detail, that these conclusions differ from those of other reviews (Murray, Farrington, & Sekol, 2012; Murray, Farrington, Sekol, & Olsen, 2009; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010, pp. 397 – 398; Wildeman & Western, 2010, pp. 167 – 169), many of which, we would argue, were quite sensitive to concerns…”
Self-citationIncarceration and Post-release Health Behavior
Porter, L. C. (2014) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/0022146514531438 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Paternal Incarceration and Children’s Food Insecurity: A Consideration of Variation and Mechanisms
Turney, K. (2015) · Social Service Review · doi:10.1086/681704 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
“…in incarceration rates since the mid-1970s, especially among poorly educatedminoritymen living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, means that a historically unprecedented number of children experience paternal incarceration ðPatillo, Weiman, and Western 2004; Wakefield and Uggen 2010; Carson 2014Þ.”
BackgroundHave Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing Declined?
King, R. D., & Light, M. T. (2019) · Crime and justice · doi:10.1086/701505 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Cochran, J. C., Mears, D. P., & Bales, W. D. (2014) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/0011128714542503 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“Minority inmates typically have fewer years of formal education, experience greater socioeconomic disadvantage, and have had more frequent contact with the criminal justice system (Pettit, 2012; Wacquant, 2001; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010; Western, 2006).”
BackgroundResultTheoretical advances and problems in the sociology of punishment
Garland, D. (2018) · Punishment & Society · doi:10.1177/1462474517737274 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
The strains of maternal imprisonment: Importation and deprivation stressors for women and children
Foster, H. (2012) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.01.005 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Soyer, M. (2013) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/bjc/azt059 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Rodriguez, J. M., Geronimus, A., Bound, J., & Dorling, D. (2015) · Social Science & Medicine (1967) · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.014 · Cited by 75
Imprisonment Length and Post-Prison Employment Prospects
Ramakers, A., Apel, R., Nieuwbeerta, P., Dirkzwager, A., & van Wilsem, J. (2014) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12042 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
The Psychological Dimensions and the Social Consequences of Incarceration
Schnittker, J. (2014) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716213502922 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Employer aversion to criminal records: An experimental study of mechanisms
Sugie, N. F., Zatz, N. D., & Augustine, D. (2019) · Criminology (Beverly Hills) · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12228 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
“…unfettered access to criminal records—among employers as well as other decision 45 makers, such as landlords and colleges—may exacerbate long-term joblessness, low earnings, housing instability, and other inequalities (Desmond, 2016; Lageson, 2016; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010; Western, 2002).”
BackgroundFamilies Across the Income Spectrum: A Decade in Review
Cooper, M., & Pugh, A. J. (2020) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.1111/jomf.12623 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Imprisonment and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Harding, D. J., Morenoff, J. D., Nguyen, A. P., & Bushway, S. D. (2018) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/697507 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Incarceration, Maternal Hardship, and Perinatal Health Behaviors
Dumont, D. M., Wildeman, C., Lee, H., Gjelsvik, A., Valera, P., & Clarke, J. (2014) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-014-1466-3 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“These findings indicate that incarceration operates as a stratifying institution not only generally [54, 55] but at the perinatal stage more specifically.”
BackgroundINCARCERATION AND POPULATION HEALTH IN WEALTHY DEMOCRACIES*
Wildeman, C. (2016) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12107 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
If You Build It, They Will Fill It: The Consequences of Prison Overcrowding Litigation
Guetzkow, J., & Schoon, E. W. (2015) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/lasr.12140 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Tough on Crime, Tough on Families? Criminal Justice and Family Life in America
Wakefield, S., Lee, H. E., & Wildeman, C. (2016) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716216637048 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Self-citationThings Fall Apart: Health Consequences of Mass Imprisonment for African American Women
Lee, H. E., & Wildeman, C. (2011) · The Review of Black Political Economy · doi:10.1007/s12114-011-9112-4 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
“Despite such negative images of the men who enter prisons and jails, research nonetheless suggests that the imprisonment of men has negative consequences both for them and for those connected to them (Wakefield and Uggen 2010; Wildeman and Western 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialRacial disparities in health conditions among prisoners compared with the general population
Nowotny, K. M., Rogers, R. G., & Boardman, J. D. (2017) · SSM: Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.05.011 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Due to the social processes associated with incarceration (Beckett, Nyrop, & Pfingst, 2006; Bridges & Steen, 1998; Steffensmeier, Ulmer, & Kramer, 1998; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010; Wildeman &Muller, 2012), younger adults, males, and racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented within prisons.”
BackgroundExplaining the Gaps in White, Black, and Hispanic Violence since 1990
Light, M. T., & Ulmer, J. T. (2016) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122416635667 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Grieb, S. M. D., Crawford, A., Fields, J. C., Smith, H., Harris, R., & Matson, P. (2014) · Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved · doi:10.1353/hpu.2014.0118 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Decarceration and community re-entry in the COVID-19 era
Franco-Paredes, C., Ghandnoosh, N., Latif, H., Kršák, M., Henao-Martínez, A., Robins, M., Barahona, L. V., & Poeschla, E. (2020) · Lancet. Infectious Diseases (Print) · doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30730-1 · Cited by 62
The Consequences of Adolescent Delinquent Behavior for Adult Employment Outcomes
Carter, A. (2018) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0934-2 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wakefield, S., & Uggen, C.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Sociology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2010-06-01
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 387-406
- ISSN
- 0360-0572 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2115
- OpenAlex
- W2124160730
- Cited by
- 747
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 86 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 85 · 2016: 55 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 13.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Keywords
- mass incarceration, social stratification, social inequality, prison population, labor market inequality, educational attainment, health disparities, family breakdown, intergenerational transmission of inequality, punishment, United States
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
