Incarceration Length, Employment, and Earnings

摘要

The fraction of the American population that has served time in state and federal prisons is large, and has been growing over time. In 2001, 17 percent of African-American males had ever been incarcerated, up from 9 percent in 1974. If current incarceration rates remain unchanged, 32 percent of African-American males born in 2001 will go to prison at some point during their lifetimes (Thomas P. Bonczar, 2003). Concurrent with the increased fraction of individuals ever imprisoned has been the increased duration of incarceration. For example, the federal Sentencing Reform Act, which was implemented in 1987, increased the lengths of the maximum sentences that individuals can expect to serve for various offenses, eliminated probation, and decreased the potential for good behavior to reduce the amount of time served— effectively doubling average time served in prison (William J. Sabol and John McGready, 1999). Although states vary widely in their incarceration policies, many have adopted truth- in-sentencing laws that involve requirements similar to federal guidelines that prisoners serve at least 85 percent of the sentence (Paula M. Ditton and Doris J. Wilson, 1999). From 1987 to 1996, time served in state prisons increased by 40 percent or more, depending upon the offense (Alfred Blumstein and Allen J. Beck, 1999).