Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment

A troubling look at the wide-ranging consequences of mass incarceration.

Over a quarter of the adult population in America has criminal records on file with federal or state criminal justice agencies.

Invisible Punishment is the first comprehensive examination of the hidden ramifications of conviction for inmates, ex-felons, their families and the communities they come from. Here, leading scholars and advocates bring to light a host of little-known "invisible punishments," from disenfranchisement and ineligibility for welfare benefits, public housing and employment opportunities, to price gouging by phone companies with prison contracts, gender imbalance in the inner-city neighborhoods from which prisoners are disproportionately drawn, and a generation of children with incarcerated parents.

Contributors include Donald Braman, Meda Chesney-Lind, Todd R. Clear, Angela J. Davis, Paul Farmer, James Forman Jr., Judith A. Greene, Josh Guetzkow, Tracy Huling, Marc Mauer, Teresa Miller, Debbie Mukamal, Becky Pettit, Beth Richie, Gwen Rubinstein, Vivien Stern, Peter Y. Sussman, Jeremy Travis, and Bruce Western.