Prison Proliferation

Lily Karl, Hannah Li, Kamilah Islam,

Kayley Seow, and Serrae Conerly

UW-Madison Justice Lab

Prison Proliferation Project

The effects of mass incarceration are often overlooked, specifically on rural communities where prison building directly impacts local populations through directed economic and political agendas. Proponents see prisons as sources of opportunity: jobs, economic stability, and long-term investment. However, this notion often ignores the increasing stigma, underdevelopment, and stigma against rural Black communities. The “prison boom” and the rise of mass incarceration saw many new prisons built, historic rates of incarceration, and misconceptions about the impact of prisons arise. PPP debunks myths surrounding the prison boom in factors such as geography, race and ethnicity, and privatization. This project uniquely considers the causes and economic and demographic consequences of prison proliferation.

Myth 1: The Prison Boom, Especially in Rural Communities, Has Been Driven by White Communities

• From the Prison Industrial Complex viewpoint, Black and brown prisoners are exploited for the benefit of poor, White prison towns with high unemployment.

​

• Black people make up 20 percent of southern prison towns, and Hispanic people represent 10 percent of southern prison towns.

​

• The southern prison town is the most dominant form, nearly 70 percent of prisons during the prison-building boom. The southern town receiving a prison typically has a higher than average percent Black, Hispanic, and poverty.

Myth 2: Prison Boom has Increased Poverty and Unemployment in Rural Communities

• During the first prison boom (1969-1978) towns who built prisons experienced a increase in median home value and a reduction in poverty, however after this period this benefits reversed.

​

• Median home values in towns without prisons increased by 38%, which towns with increased by 24% from the previous period, which was opposite compared to the last period.

​

• Overall prisons in rural areas provided a short-term economic boost in some periods (period equals 10 years), these effects are not lasting
• (Eason, 2015)

Myth 2: Prison Boom has Increased Poverty and Unemployment in Rural Communities

• Southern towns with prisons experienced a 8% increase in poverty while towns without only experienced a 2.5% increase.
• Unemployment did not have significant effects, however in 2000, African Americans and Latinos made up 22% and 7% of all correctional officers in the USA,
• From 1979 to 1988, 35.13% of the population in towns that constructed a prison was African American
• In 1980, African-American and Latino poverty decreased by an average of 2% because of prison-building

Myth 3: Private Prisons Have Driven the Prison Boom

​

• A common misconception is that private prisons are the majority of prisons created by the prison boom

​

• Due to the fact that majority of prisons are, state ran, state legislatures occupy a more substantial role in the prison boom than private prisons.

​

Eason, J. M. (2015). Prisons as panacea or pariah?: The

countervailing consequences of the prison boom on the political economy of rural towns. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2695125

Myth 4: Prisons are the strong economic influences whose construction and closure shapes rural economic life

• Educational service, health care, and social services is the largest industry
• Evenly distributed in rural areas bc independent of natural resources
• Increases in school employment, aging population → incr. demand for industry
• Evident in COVID Pandemic

Myth 4: Prisons are the strong economic influences whose construction and closure shapes rural economic life

• Rural economic life is typically shaped by resource-based activities
• Public sector “major source of earned income in rural areas”

Myth 5: The Prison Boom Has Been a Project of Republicans and Republican Voters

Myth 5, Demystified: Party Strength

• Democratic party strength positively associated with prisons built

​

• States with Democrat majority had increased chances of building a prison.

(Eason, Campbell et al. 2022)

​

(Sandoval 2022)

Myth 5, Nonmetro Southern Prison Building

(Eason, Campbell et al. 2022)

Myth 5, Demystified: County Politics

• Rural counties are increasingly Republican.

• Rural counties with prisons lean Democratic; 9 points more Democrat than average county in 2016.

​

(Anadon, Eason, Witkovsky)

(Anadon, Eason, Witkovsky)

Myth 5 Takeaways

• Punishment is Purple; both sides are needed to pass legislation.
• US Senate, 85-15 on prison reform.

​

• Criminal solutions is not the answer.

A Huge Thank You!

The entire UW Justice Lab, and a special thank you to Dr. Eason, Chloe, Benny, and Jienian!

Questions?

https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu/

@justice_uw