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Unemployment and Punishment: An Empirical Assessment

NCJ Number
133308
Journal
Criminology Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1991) Pages: 701-724
Author(s)
T G Chiricos; W D Bales
Date Published
1991
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Evidence for a relationship between unemployment and imprisonment, based largely on aggregate-level data, have been termed "elusive" and "conflicting." Individual-level data have proven this relationship only indirectly.
Abstract
Data on the prosecution, incarceration, and length of sentence were considered for 1,970 defendants arrested in Florida in 1982 with regard to the impact of employment status on the entire criminal justice process. Multivariate logit and ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates show a significant and independent impact of unemployment on pretrial and postsentencing incarceration. When controlling for race and unemployment, the results indicate that unemployed black defendants are most likely to be imprisoned, especially those who are young males or charged with violent and public order offenses. The authors maintain that prisons, in addition to punishing criminals, serve as warehouses for surplus labor and control "social dynamite." Punishments and social structures are partially materialized in the relationship between judges and unemployed defendants. 8 tables and 47 references (Author abstract modified)