NCJ Number
130289
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1989) Pages: 75-94
Date Published
1989
Length
20 pages
Annotation
State-level arrest and imprisonment data for 1979 and 1980 for each of the 39 states in the continental United States with a one percent or greater black population were examined in an effort to explain varying levels of black-white imprisonment.
Abstract
The analytic model was based on the work of Blumstein (1982) who conducted an aggregate-level analysis of the determinants of the racial disproportionality of the American prison population. A wide variation exists across states in the extent to which disproportionate black incarceration rates can be explained by disproportionate arrest rates for serious crimes. The level of arrest explains only 40 percent or less of black-white imprisonment rate differences in nine states. For six other states, the level of arrest explains more than 80 percent. Allowing for some discrepancy due to differences in data sources, Blumstein's figure of 80 percent fails as a good approximation for all states. No clearcut regional pattern emerges, but there is some clustering of states. Three plausible explanations for State differences are proposed: the wide variation observed may result from substantial differences across states between blacks and whites along legally relevant dimensions other than the mere number and type of crimes committed; State differences may be partly or mostly artifactual; and the findings may reflect differences in the level of racial bias across states. 4 tables, 11 notes, and 33 references