The Psychological Dimensions and the Social Consequences of Incarceration. Issue 1 (January 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schnittker, Jason
• Editors: Wildeman, Christopher; Hacker, Jacob S.; Weaver, Vesla M.
• Is Part Of: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Volume 651:Issue 1(2014:Jan.)
• Page Start: 122
• Page End: 138
• Publication Date: 2014-01
• Subjects: incarceration -- prisonization -- psychiatric disorders -- subjective status -- stigma; Social sciences -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- United States -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 300
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716213502922
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7162

Abstract

This article explores the psychological costs of incarceration, with a particular focus on how psychological factors are related to the social and economic difficulties of reentry. Using descriptive information from a nationally representative survey, this study reveals considerable anxiety, fear, and uncertainty among former inmates. The evidence also reveals that psychiatric disorders are, in some cases, even more disabling among former inmates than among others. The article situates this evidence within the larger debate on the social consequences of incarceration and discusses its implications. Psychological factors are certainly not the only barriers former inmates will face, but they are neglected in the literature and play an important role in how former inmates respond to other difficulties. They are also at the center of a persistent dilemma: former inmates must establish social connections upon release, but they must do so while harboring the stigma of a criminal record. Furthermore, former inmates who have a psychiatric disorder may be particularly disadvantaged because they experience two stigmas simultaneously.