From Homelessness To Incarceration and Back Again: The Loop of Incarceration and Homelessness

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Homelessness has been a prevalent issue in cities throughout the United States for years now, and the number of people forced to live in the streets is becoming higher than ever in this post-pandemic world. This is likely due to an uptick in rent prices as well as the continually diminishing job market in addition to the increase of inflation. Having a stable income that can cover basic necessities is becoming harder and harder to achieve, but for people who have had a history of incarceration there is even more trouble finding good jobs.

According to a study done in 2015 by the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project (HRAP) at Seattle University School of Law about the relationship between homelessness and other marginalized groups. According to the study, the odds that an average person would experience homelessness in a year are 1 in 200. For individuals being released from prison, however, the odds increase drastically to 1 in 11. That is a jump from ~0.5% to ~9%. Furthermore, a cited study stated that 54% of surveyed homeless individuals had experienced a type of incarceration. In another study done by HOPE HOME, 84% of the 433 participants “reported prior incarceration in jail and 37% in prison. At baseline, 14% were on probation and 3% were on parole”.





Why are incarceration and homelessness so linked? The study done by HOPE HOME cited increased visibility to the law, criminalized survival behaviors such as sleeping in public as well as possible increase in unlawful economic activity such as shoplifting and substance abuse. Many people get arrested and punished for these survival behaviors, but once released they are forced to repeat said behaviors in order to survive, and in doing so a cycle is created. During the study, 23% (98) of the survey individuals spent time in jail or prison, 57% of those reported only had one incarceration event. Homelessness is not only linked to an increased chance of incarceration but also an increase in repeated incarceration, and vice versa.

As noted previously, people released from prison are a lot more likely to become homeless as many of those prisoners do not have a job to return to. Finding a job after being imprisoned is also very difficult as background checks prevent those with a criminal record from getting not only well-paying jobs but usually any job at all. With no jobs, people are forced to be on the streets, which will cause them to be involved in criminalized survival behaviors which will in turn lead to more arrests. This loop will persist unless something disrupts it. There is no straightforward solution, but for those experiencing homelessness understanding one's rights and the nature of legal proceedings can help.


References:

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002 context=hrap

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015 context=hrap 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9762769/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8189551/ 

Resources: What to Expect When You Are Arrested: A Guide to Navigating for Unhoused Defendants

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