The Fate and Impact of Distressed Neighborhoods Research suggests that high rates of incarceration in a neighborhood may exacerbate already distressed conditions.91 Studies also indicate that people on probation and parole supervision are more likely to recidivate when they live in distressed neighborhoods. • Neighborhoods become less capable of suppressing crime when there are high levels of social disorganization—the absence or breakdown of communal institutions (e.g., family, school, church, and local government) and communal relationships that traditionally foster cooperative efforts among people. Communal relationships occur less frequently where large numbers of people have been incarcerated. Research by Todd Clear, Dina Rose, and others suggests that high rates of incarceration in distressed areas will lead to more crime because of the disruption of families and social networks that help “If you just think about reinvesting organize a community.92 • A study of people on supervision in Multnomah County, Oregon, found that those who return to distressed neighborhoods are re-arrested at a greater rate than those who return to stronger communities, even when the study controlled for differences among the individual offenders that would make them more or less likely to reoffend.93
“
savings in more probation and parole services… and don’t think about reinvesting those savings in a bigger context—if you don’t think about a housing strategy as part of it in these very tough places—then you are really not leveraging your savings to the broadest extent.” — Sandra Moore, President, Urban Strategies, Inc.
”
When people have relinquished control over and care for their neighborhood, instability that is conducive to crime can take hold. People show a commitment to where they live when housing is in good condition, public areas are clean, streets are safe, and jobs and amenities are present. Officials increasingly need to think about how criminal justice resources already being spent on these high-stakes areas can be reinvested in strategies that will not only reduce recidivism more effectively but also lay the foundation for residents to stabilize their own community.
91. “Distressed neighborhoods” are those that suffer high rates of crime, high poverty, and poor access to social services. They are sometimes referred to as “disadvantaged” or “high-stakes” neighborhoods. 92. See, for example, Dina Rose and Todd Clear, “Incarceration, Social Capital, and Crime: Implications for Social Disorganization Theory,” Criminology 36, no. 3 (1998): 441–80. Also see Todd R. Clear, Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Worse (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). 93. Charis K. Kubrin and Eric A Stewart, “Predicting Who Reoffends: The Neglected Role of Neighborhood Context in Recidivism Studies,” Criminology 44, no. 1 (2006): 165.
Chapter 2. Principles for Cost-Effective Corrections Policies and Programs
49