NCJ Number
130056
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 69 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 373-393
Date Published
1990
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Data from late 19th century Georgia are examined regarding the multiple sources and targets of black threat, temporal changes in the relative size of the black population, and the rate at which black and white males are incarcerated.
Abstract
Information about convicted felons came from official reports issued by the Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary and the Prison Commission. These documents include the number of inmates, categorized by race and sex, on hand at the end of each reporting period. The analysis shows that declines in the relative size of the black male and urban black population significantly affected the rate at which black males were incarcerated, occurring particularly before disenfranchisement in 1909. Changes in the black population had no effect on the incarceration of whites, however. The implications of this study are that declines in the size of certain segments of the black population threatened the labor supply and intensified social control efforts. Declines in the black population may have had fewer implications for incarceration in Border States with more diversified economies and minimal reliance on slave labor. Changes in the relative size of the black population may also have been more loosely coupled with the use of incarceration in Deep South states whose reliance on tobacco and rice production generated different demands for labor. 6 tables, 1 figure, 16 notes, and 69 references (Author abstract modified)