Our Wyoming study offers direct implications for the U.S. prison system, which has reached a new frontier in terms of the sheer number of people incarcerated, on probation or parole, or experiencing the lifelong consequences of a felony conviction. Much like the frontier myth that continues to exercise influence in U.S. politics and dominant culture, mass incarceration is the result of popular acceptance of beliefs that ignore pervasive socioeconomic inequalities. These beliefs encourage the U.S. voting public to endorse addressing deeply rooted social problems, particularly addiction, through criminal justice solutions designed by the politicians they elect. Such is the nature of democracy in a society characterized by ever-widening inequalities between rich and poor, those with stable jobs and contingent workers, where the criminal justice system is fodder for countless films, series, and other entertainment, and where individuals rely far more on electronic communication than on meaningful social interaction. Social isolation and inequality breed fear, and three fear-based beliefs undergird the existence of the criminal justice system in its present form: drug-abusing women are a threat to public safety, law breaking is an individual choice rather than a community problem, and women released from prison pose a long-term risk to society.
Pedagogy of individual choice and female inmate reentry in the U.S. Southwest
