UNIT 14 (11/27 to 12/03): The Geography of Mass Incarceration

Overview

This week we will focus on spatial analysis of mass incarceration in the United States. On the one hand, we will learn that the highest imprisonment rates are in small cities, suburbs, and rural areas. For example, we will examine how the Midwest is building jails on contaminated lands. On the other hand, we will explore how incarceration is disproportionately concentrated in disadvantaged, segregated minority neighborhoods. We will look into public housing developments as primary sites of spatially clustered incarceration.

To Read:

Introduction from Jessica T. Simes (2021): Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment: https://content.ucpress.edu/title/9780520380325/9780520380325_intro.pdf

Across the Midwest, Counties Are Building New Jails on Toxic Land: https://capitalbnews.org/toxic-midwest-jail-boom/

In Our Backyards Initiative: Vera Institute of Justice: https://www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/reducing-incarceration/reducing-jail-and-prison-population/in-our-backyards-initiative

Where people in prison come from: The geography of mass incarceration in New York.Emily Widra and Nick Encalada-Malinowski. Prison Policy Institute, July 2022: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/origin/ny/2020/report.html

To Watch:

To Study

Power Point

Perkins, T. (Director). (2017). Life After Life [Video file]. Bayview Entertainment. Retrieved November 30, 2023, from Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/bmcccuny/video/13350343