Governing Social Marginality

TLDR

Rapid growth of the US penal population over the last two decades has coincided with a decline in welfare recipients, and the authors argue that this rise in incarceration should be understood within the context of welfare state retrenchment rather than solely crime, economic, or political factors. The study aims to examine the rise in incarceration levels within the institutional context of welfare state retrenchment. Analysis of state‑level incarceration rates between 1975 and 1995 shows that large penal systems are found in states with weak welfare systems, that the negative relationship between welfare and incarceration grows over time, and that declining welfare support is part of a punitive policy development in which the state plays a substantial active role.

Abstract

Rapid growth of the US penal population over the last two decades has coincided with a decline in the number of welfare recipients. While shifts in crime rates, economic and political considerations most commonly account for variations in incarceration, we place the rise in incarceration levels in the institutional context of welfare state retrenchment. An analysis of state-level incarceration rates between 1975 and 1995 indicates that large penal systems are found in states with weak welfare systems. The negative relationship between welfare and incarceration grows over time, suggesting the emergence of a novel kind of penal-welfare regime in the late 1980s and 1990s. Although welfare state retrenchment is often interpreted as a kind of market deregulation, our analysis suggests that declining support for social welfare is part of a punitive policy development in which the state has a substantial and active role.