Report Details How Mass Incarceration Is Devastating Families, Society

The social harms of mass incarceration spread far beyond prison walls, with families enduring direct human rights abuses and women—who are disproportionately black—bearing the brunt of the poverty and trauma associated with having a loved one locked up.

These are the devastating findings of a year-long collaborative research project led by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together, and Research Action Design in partnership with 20 community organizations across the United States.

Entitled Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families, the study is based on in-depth interviews with nearly 1,500 formerly incarcerated people, their family members, and employers.

“What we found is something we already knew, that individuals with convictions are saddled with an insane amount of fees, and it is largely family members who are responsible for these costs, attorney fees, bail, fines from court, putting money on their commissary, paying healthcare co-pays, and everything associated with release,” Alicia Walters of Forward Together told Common Dreams.

“When the picture gets painted of who’s at the center, families are not just collateral damage. There is a direct impact, disproportionately on black women and families.”
—Alicia Walters, Forward Together

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“When the picture gets painted of who’s at the center, families are not just collateral damage,” continued Walters, who was a key researcher for the report. “There is a direct impact, disproportionately on black women and families.”

In a country where 2.4 million people are currently in prison or jail, the average family accumulates $13,607 in debt due to court-related costs, the study determined. Over a third of families are forced into debt to pay for costs including phone calls and visits to see their incarcerated loved ones.

The research found that 83 percent of the family members responsible for these costs were women.

Given broad trends in incarceration, these women are disproportionately people of color. A study released earlier this year by University of Washington researchers found that black women are far more likely than their white counterparts to have a family member who is incarcerated.