Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment

252 Pages·2021·5.649 MB·English

by  Jessica T. Simes

Punishing Places
The Geography of
Mass Imprisonment
Jessica T. Simes
University of California Press
Punishing Places

Punishing Places
The Geography of
Mass Imprisonment
Jessica T. Simes
University of California Press
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2021 by Jessica T. Simes
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Simes, Jessica T, 1987- author.
Title: Punishing places : the geography of mass imprisonment /
Jessica T. Simes.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021014013 (print) | LCCN 2021014014 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780520380325 (cloth) | ISBN 9780520380332 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780520380349 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Imprisonment—Social aspects—United States. | Prisons—
Social aspects—United States. | Segregation—United States.
Classification: LCC HV9471 .S574 2021 (print) | LCC HV9471 (ebook) |
DDC 365/.973—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2021014013
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2021014014
Manufactured in the United States of America
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 • A Spatial View of Punishment 18
2 • The Urban Model 43
3 • Small Cities and Mass Incarceration 56
4 • Social Services Beyond the City:
Isolation and Regional Inequity 83
5 • Race and Communities of Pervasive Incarceration 97
6 • Punishing Places 128
7 • Beyond Punishing Places: A Research and Reform Agenda 159
Appendix: Data and Methodology 171
Notes 185
References 199
Index 221

Illustrations
Figures
I.1. From prison to community 8
I.2. Timeline of Massachusetts tough on crime and justice
reinvestment policies 11
I.3. Comparison of incarceration rates in Massachusetts, the United
States, and a selection of countries, 2018 14
2.1. Observed prison admission rates against fitted prison admission
rates from regression results of log prison admissions in
Massachusetts census tracts, 2009–2017 50
2.2. Estimated associations among prison admissions and urban
inequality, social control, and spatial context of mass incarceration
in Massachusetts census tracts, 2009–2017 52
3.1. Changes in demographics: White population 1970–2018 64
3.2. Changes in demographics: child poverty 1970–2018 65
3.3. Prison admission disproportionalities by cities and regions
in Massachusetts, 1973–2017 69
3.4. Prison admissions rates by cities and regions in Massachusetts,
1973–2017 71
vii
3.5. Estimated associations among prison admissions and urban
inequality, social control, and spatial context of mass incarceration
in 1997–2006 and 2008–2017 73
3.6. Jail population and prison admission rates by urbanicity in
US counties, 1983–2016 76
3.7. Jail population rate by urbanicity and region in US counties,
1983–2016 77
3.8. Prison admission rates by urbanicity and region in United States
counties, 1983–2016 78
5.1. Concentration of prison admissions in nonincarceration and
incarceration neighborhoods in Massachusetts, 2009–2017 107
5.2. Comparing the Black- White and Latino- White ratios in reported
violent crime, poverty, and prison admissions in Massachusetts
census tracts, 2009–2017 108
5.3. Black- White and Latino- White disproportionality in prison
admissions in Massachusetts census tracts, 2009–2017 113
5.4. White, Latino, and Black disproportionality in prison admissions
by region in US counties, 2008–2016 114
5.5. White, Latino, and Black disproportionality in prison admissions
by urbanicity in US counties, 2008–2016 115
5.6. Prison admissions in Black, Latino, and White neighborhoods
in Massachusetts, 2009–2017 117
5.7. Plotting log prison admission rate by race/ethnicity against
the average log admission rate of neighbors 120
6.1. Estimated associations of community loss and prison admission
rates with socioeconomic characteristics of Massachusetts cities
and towns, 1997–2009 148
6.2. Community loss in census tracts by the proportion of the tract
population that is Black (top) or Latino (bottom), Massachusetts,
2009–2017 149
6.3. Framework for punishment vulnerability 155
Maps
2.1. Prison admissions per 100,000 inhabitants in Massachusetts cities
and towns, 2009–2017 47
viii • Illustrations
5.1. Prison admissions by race and ethnicity in Greater Boston,
Massachusetts, 2009–2017 121
5.2. Prison admissions by race and ethnicity in Springfield,
Massachusetts, 2009–2017 122
5.3. Prison admissions by race and ethnicity in Brockton, Massachusetts,
2009–2017 122
5.4. Prison admissions by race and ethnicity in Lowell, Lawrence,
and Haverhill, Massachusetts, 2009–2017 123
5.5. Prison admissions by race and ethnicity in Fall River, Massachusetts,
2009–2017 124
6.1. Community loss (years) per 10,000 residents in Massachusetts cities
and towns, 1997–2009 147
Tables
2.1. Percentage Distribution of Prison Admission Rates for
Massachusetts Selected Cities and Towns, 2009–2017 49
3.1. Socioeconomic and Social Control Conditions of Selected Cities
in Massachusetts 62
5.1. Racial Disproportionality in Prison Admissions in Massachusetts
Cities, 2009–2017 112
5.2. Percentage Distribution of Spatial Associations in White, Black,
and Latino Neighborhoods in Massachusetts, 2009–2017 119
6.1. Excess Imprisonment among Adult Population by Race and Gender
in Massachusetts, 1997–2017 139
6.2. Prison Admissions and Community Loss in Selected Cities
in Massachusetts, 1997–2009 145
6.3. Punishment Vulnerability Concepts and Metrics 152
A.1. Massachusetts Department of Correction Prison Record Data
Descriptions by Time Period, 1973–2017 173
Illustrations • ix