Incarceration and women’s and men’s forms of capital and social control: a gendered test of coercive mobility

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous work has theorized that women’s forms of capital (i.e. physical, human, and social) may serve as a mechanism to more fully explain the process by which concentrated incarceration contributes to reductions in neighborhood social control. Coercive mobility theory posits that the removal of residents due to mass incarceration creates disruptions in neighboring relationships and therefore, reduces a community’s informal social control mechanisms or its ability to prevent crime. Scholars have also asserted that this process is gendered, since mostly women remain in the community and experience disruptions to their forms of capital and social control, while mostly men cycle in and out of incarceration. Using data on Baltimore residents, the present study examines the association between incarceration and women’s and men’s forms of capital and social control with the use of ordinary least squares regression models. An equality of coefficients test is used to determine whether effects to women’s and men’s capital and social control are statistically distinct, indicating a gendered experience. Findings support the adoption of a gendered perspective on coercive mobility, advancing our understanding of the community consequences of incarceration to women residents, and offer suggestions for future research and policy implications.