College Honors Program

You Have the Right to Not Remain Silent: The Intersection Between Prisons, Civic Engagement, and Social Justice

Date of Creation

4-23-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Sydney Carr-Glenn

Abstract

Throughout this thesis, I answer the research question: “To what extent do the harsh prison conditions created through state incarceration policies civically alienate prisoners? Specifically, how does incarceration influence the extent that former prisoners vote in presidential elections, participate in social movements, and run for office?” Based on prior research, I first predict that (H1) interactions with the prison system causes inmates and formerly incarcerated individuals to be less civically engaged than their peers. Under these circumstances, I expect (H2) this lack of civic engagement in prisons to lead felons to be less informed about and less motivated to participate in voting, social movements, and races for office once they are no longer incarcerated. (H3) Relative to White felons, Black and Latinx felons will experience a majority of this impact and will be less likely to be involved in elections, participate in social movements, and run for office. To test these hypotheses, I conducted interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals. In the end, I find that incarcerated people experience heightened levels of social exclusion and exhibit a unique kind of civic engagement. Those that are incarcerated often pursue informal and localized/personal forms of politics, rather than focusing on the predefined forms of civic engagement.

Comments

Reader: Professor Jorge Santos

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