Economic Issues: Impact of Poverty on Incarceration/Crimes of Poverty

Written by Adele Fratesi-Convent & Stuart Hall, Leah Allen-Sacred Heart Greenwich, and Cali Jane Luetkemeier-Academy of the Sacred Heart the Rosary

Poverty and Mass Incarceration

I. Poverty is a key reason for mass incarceration in the USA. The USA currently has 2.2 million people incarcerated, half of which are imprisoned due to minor drug offenses, their inability to pay bail, and crimes related to an incapability to pay debt and fines (Pew Research Center). The incarceration rate has increased by 4.3% in the last fifty years, but not because crime has increased. Since the 1990s, crime has decreased, but the arrest rate significantly increased, especially for people involved in crimes of poverty. These arrest rates have disproportionately affected low-income and minority populations that form about ⅔ of the prison population as of 2020. A crime of poverty is a crime related to deprivation, whether that deprivation is of food, money, housing, goods, or another human need.

II. Poverty Leads to Increased Crime People living in poverty are more likely to commit crimes of poverty which can affect the rest of their lives. Additionally, mental illness, which impacts poorer communities disproportionately, can go untreated because individuals do not have access to providers, insurance, or the ability to pay for the medication or treatments they need. Without this access, individuals with undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses are more likely to commit crimes, including those of a violent nature, according to vittana.org. Crimes of poverty include drug offenses, inability to pay fines, house notes, bail, and sometimes include burglary. When people, especially children, live in poverty without food, transportation, and sometimes even a place to live, they often get involved in crimes of poverty to attain the necessary resources to live. Instead of rehabilitating imprisoned youths effectively and helping them be able to receive the resources they need in a legitimate and honest way, the justice system puts them in “crowded, unsanitary, unsafe, and unstimulating” environments. Impoverished youths charged with even small crimes are not able to pay bail and are stuck in detention centers for extended periods. The justice system criminalizes people in poverty and does not provide them with help or guidance. This cycle of poverty, criminalization, and incarceration creates an unjust system and targets impoverished communities to be more likely to end up in prison.

III. Poverty Impacts Incarceration and Reincarceration The main causes of incarceration are poverty and over-criminalization. A person living in poverty is more susceptible to being arrested and charged with harsh crimes with longer sentences. Data from the U.S Sentencing Commission shows that between 1999 and 2016, people with a college education were given 4.6 to 7.8 percent shorter sentences than individuals without one. The individuals without college educations were from lower-income families, which illustrates how individuals with low incomes are more likely to be arrested. Similarly, according to the Brookings Institution, 49% of incarcerated men were employed in the three years before prison. Of that 49%, only 13% had annual earnings over $15,000, while the average annual earnings were about $6,250. These individuals are more likely to grow up in areas of high unemployment and poverty. Further studies show that “children who grow up in poverty are more likely to have developmental issues, which inhibit impulse control, cause low self-esteem, and reduce educational achievements, each of which may contribute to the likelihood of committing a crime. ”

Poverty also deeply affects reincarceration. When prisoners are released, it is hard to get a job with a criminal record. Without a job, released prisoners are stuck in the same situation as they were before and left in poverty. These youths and adults often fall into the same cycle and get involved in crimes of poverty. Even if a person is not involved in criminal activity after serving time, they are often still criminalized by the police force and justice system. They are much more likely to be arrested again than someone without a criminal record, even for a minor offense or no real offense at all.

How Poverty Influences Crime:

I. Lack of Opportunities and Resources Individuals and communities that lack access to general resources and positive opportunities are often linked to higher rates of violent and petty crime. In addition, the lack of access to appropriate mental or physical health resources in low-income communities contributes to a cycle of poverty in which individuals struggling with mental or

physical illnesses are more likely to lose job opportunities or miss school. This increases their chances of committing crime to meet a basic need. According to prisonpolicy.org, an overwhelming amount of incarcerated youth in the USA are locked up for non-violent offenses, according to prisonpolicy.org. Often, individuals who commit petty crimes like theft, burglary, or drug trafficking, commit these crimes to meet their basic needs.

II. Location: High Rates of Crime in Low-Income Communities

Inside and outside of school, there is a large opportunity gap in low-income neighborhoods in comparison to more affluent communities. Students in inner-city neighborhoods lack the programming, extra-curricular or afterschool opportunities, and support they need to empower them and provide safe creative outlets. This contributes to a mindset among youth that worthwhile opportunities do not exist for them. Furthermore, lack of educational and youth resources and opportunities results in young people feeling the need to “fight for themselves ” because they feel the system is not fighting for them. This can lead to an increase in gang involvement which is sometimes linked to higher crime rates in inner cities and more juvenile arrests.

III. The Prison Industrial Complex The Critical Resistance Project defines the Prison Industrial Complex as a term used to describe the “overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems, ” according to criticalresistance.org. The Prison Industrial Complex helps to maintain the authority of people who derive power from privileges related to their racial and economic status. The power is maintained, in part, by garnering large profits for private corporations that deal with prisons and police forces, funding the political campaigns of politicians who advocate for mass incarceration, and eliminating dissent from oppressed communities advocating for criminal justice reform. In a lot of ways, especially those indicated above, the USA’ s justice system criminalizes poverty. Because of the Prison Industrial Complex, those in power are encouraging citizens not to invest in community-based anti-poverty efforts and instead continue the trend of over-criminalization and mass incarceration, although mass incarceration has not been shown to prevent crime. To break the cycle of incarceration and poverty,

the USA must start investing in alternatives.

“Stopping the Cycle ” : Preventative Measures

To prevent the continuation of the poverty to prison pipeline, the root causes of incarceration related to poverty must be examined to limit occurrences that lead to mass incarceration. Implementing preventative measures such as the ones listed below will ideally aid in limiting the injustices faced by those facing poverty that lead to increased crime, incarceration, and reincarceration.

I. Increase employment An initial step in preventing poverty requires an increase in employment rates. According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “for the poor, labor is often the only asset they can use to improve their well-being. ” The creation of job opportunities and public benefits can be achieved by governmental investments into infrastructure, such as the building of bridges and mass transit.

II. Raising America ’ s pay An additional preventive measure to combating poverty surrounds the federal minimum wage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour, which results in an annual wage of $15,080 for a full-time job, 52 weeks a year. This annual wage is below the federal poverty threshold for a family of two which is $17,240 a year. A solution to preventing continued poverty in communities relies upon government willingness to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Some states have begun to make efforts to address this, with the minimum wage in California being $14/hour, $13.69/hour in Washington, and $13.50/hour in Massachusetts.

III. Ending cash bail A cash bail system requires those convicted to pay a sum of money designated by the court to release themselves from detention. The motivation for this practice is to ensure that the defendant will show for their trial, but in reality, it further exacerbates inequities in the justice system and criminalizes the poor as they are not able to pay the bail. Three out of five individuals in U.S jails have not been convicted of a crime, amounting to half a million people who must stay in jail each day, although they have not been legally pronounced guilty. These individuals are unable to pay their cash bail and thus are detained for weeks, months, or even years as they await trial. This prolonged detention causes already vulnerable populations to lose jobs, housing, or custody of their children. Apart from the effect, this has on their personal life, those detained in jail may experience lasting trauma from sexual assault or a decline in mental and physical health. To ensure that those experiencing poverty don't have to spend unjust periods in pretrial detention, jurisdictions can work to end cash bail. In doing so, all defendants would be treated equally upon waiting for trial, regardless of income.

IV. Community centers and resources Another measure proven to prevent crime is free access to community resources in low-income populations. In a study conducted by researchers at NYU, crime rates and the addition of nonprofits focused on crime prevention, neighborhood development, and youth programming were compared across 264 cities in the U.S. between 1990 and 2013. They found that each additional nonprofit organization led to a 1.2 percent drop in the homicide rate, a one percent drop in violent crime rate, and a 0.7 percent drop in property crime rate. With the presence of safe community centers where teens can engage in productive activities, the temptation for crime decreases.

V. Public housing/public safety Inadequate housing can result in an increased risk of arrest and incarceration for vulnerable populations. Those living in high poverty areas are prone to be more affiliated with crime, whether as a witness, victim, or person convicted. One in 10 young adults ages 18 to 24 experience homelessness, and nearly half have also been incarcerated, according to the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. A lack of stable housing may lead young adults to be unable to pay fines, sleep outdoors, or juvenile curfews, all of which can result in incarceration. Public housing as a preventative strategy requires the implementation of decent quality housing that poses no negative health effects or safety hazards for occupants. Decent quality housing lessens the risk of children missing school or developing mental or physical illnesses, all of which could lead to an absence of community involvement, thus encouraging the pipeline to incarceration for underprivileged youth lacking necessary resources.

Takeaway

Currently, poverty and incarceration rates are increasing at a rapid rate. The USA is imprisoning over 1 million people for low-level offenses that are indirectly related to their poverty and over half a million people because of their inability to pay bail. The use of cash bail is punishing people for their poverty and unemployment while specifically attacking racial and ethnic minorities. The American Action Forum states that “ without reducing poverty and income inequality, racial bias, and the overcriminalization of activities related to poverty, the USA will not meaningfully reduce its prison population. ” Poverty directly affects incarceration rates and by reducing poverty, we can have a safe and just nation.