MEDIA CONTACT: Pat Vaughan Tremmel at 847-491-4892 or p-tremmel@northwestern.edu

May 6, 2005

Policy Briefing on Consequences of Mass Incarceration

EVANSTON, Ill. --- America’s expanding prison population and related destabilizing effects on families, work and political participation will be addressed by leading researchers at a policy briefing hosted by the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at Northwestern University.

The policy briefing will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, in the First Amendment Lounge, on the 13th floor, of the National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Three experts will discuss their research, including new findings, on troubled transitions of children with fathers in prison, the disenfranchisement of voting rights for ex-felons and the stigma of a criminal record on employment, particularly for black men. 

The researchers and their topics are:

John Hagan, John D. MacArthur Professor of Sociology and Law and IPR faculty associate at Northwestern, “Children with Fathers in Prison and their Transition to Adulthood.” Among Hagan’s findings: teenage girls whose biological fathers are imprisoned are at greater risk for homelessness as well as abuse and neglect.

Jeff Manza, IPR acting director and faculty fellow and professor of sociology at Northwestern, “The Disenfranchisement and Civic Reintegration of Felons.” Manza’s research on the impact of state laws that bar felons and ex-felons from voting has been widely reported in the media and drawn upon by several states to challenge laws denying ex-felon rights.

Devah Pager, faculty associate, Office of Population Research, and assistant professor of sociology, Princeton University, “Prisoner Re-entry: The Problem of Employment.” Pager’s research on the consequences of incarceration highlights the futility of finding entry-level jobs when race enters the equation.