Doctoral Dissertation Research: Local Labor Markets, Politics and Imprisonment: The Effects of Labor Market Opportunities, Minority Presence, & Political Ideology on Imprisonme

有理由相信，近几十年来当地劳动力市场状况的变化与美国的监禁率有关。技术进步和城市地区制造业生产的下降消除了许多以前没有受过大学教育的工人可以获得的高薪工作机会，使许多人的经济状况比以前更糟。在同一时期，社会政策发生了根本性的变化，反映了对贫困人口的新的取向，福利补贴的重大变化就是证明。与此同时，影响穷人的另一种体制做法-监禁在监狱中的情况有所增加。更大的经济，劳动力市场和政治背景与监禁率之间的关系尚未完全理解。研究还没有考虑具体的劳动力市场如何变化（例如，非工业化）影响了低技能工人的经济状况，以及同样的转变如何也会影响监禁率。同样，没有研究调查经济和劳动力市场变化的影响，因为它们与重新定义和塑造针对最有可能面临经济困难的人群的政策的政治运动相吻合。这项研究将使用各种数据源来调查上述问题，研究这些关系随着时间的推移（1980 - 2000年）和500多个地方。这项研究是了解当地劳动力市场条件和经济不平等如何塑造监禁模式的必要步骤。监禁是一种重大的国家干预，其后果超出了监狱围墙。例如，学者们指出，监禁率的上升产生了深远的负面影响，包括不平等的增加和负面的健康结果。因此，这项研究可以为刑事司法和经济政策提供信息。如果研究结果表明，贫困和少数民族人口所经历的劳动力市场不平等与监禁率的增加呈正相关，则这些信息可用于告知公共政策，以更好地针对这些群体所面临的问题。

There are reasons to believe that changes in local labor market conditions in recent decades are associated with rates of imprisonment in the U.S. Technological advancements and declining manufacturing production in urban areas eliminated many high-paying job opportunities previously available to workers without college educations, leaving many financially worse-off than before. During the same time-period, social policies shifted fundamentally, reflecting a new orientation toward poor populations, as evidenced by major changes to welfare subsidies. At the same time, incarceration in prisons, another institutional practice affecting the poor, increased. The relationships between larger economic, labor market and political contexts and imprisonment rates are not yet understood fully. Research has yet to consider how specific labor market shifts (e.g., deindustrialization) affected the economic situations of less-skilled workers and how the same shifts may also influence imprisonment rates. Similarly, no research has investigated the effects of economic and labor market shifts as they coincided with political movements that redefined and shaped policies targeting populations most likely to face economic hardships. This research will investigate said issues using a combination of data sources, examining these relationships over time (1980 - 2000) and across more than 500 local areas. This research is a necessary step in understanding how imprisonment patterns are shaped by local labor market conditions and economic inequality. Incarceration is a major state intervention that has consequences that extend beyond prison walls. For example, scholars note that rising imprisonment rates have had profound negative effects, including increases in inequality, and negative health outcomes. Thus, this research may inform criminal justice and economic policies. If the findings suggest that labor market inequalities experienced by poor and minority populations are positively associated with increases in imprisonment rates, this information may be used to inform public policy that better targets the issues faced by these groups.