Episode 40: Generational Harm, A Hidden Cost of Mass Incarceration

The Appeal

On this podcast––and in other coverage of the criminal legal system––we tend to focus, understandably, on the people behind bars and on parole. But in reality, this only shows part of the damage inflicted by mass incarceration. Generational harm refers to the second- and third-order negative effects of incarceration and the corresponding emotional and financial toll on prisoners' families, and disproportionately on women of color. This social trauma is just now being seriously studied and reckoned with. Today we are joined by Chicago activist Celia Colon to discuss the true human cost of a system that nearly always leaves a trail of destruction.