Incarceration Rates - Blacker Than White

• NCJ Number: 86405
• Author(s): L A Swan
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 44 pages
• Grant Number(s): 81-CJ-AX-0004
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); National Assoc of Blacks in Criminal Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Incarceration rates for blacks are disproportionately high in all regions of the Nation, because the criminal justice system targets the deviant behavior of blacks and other minorities and then incarcerates them for use in low-paying prison industries of use to the State.

Abstract

The disparity between black and white incarceration rates is widening for at least 47 jurisdictions, and there is no doubt that blacks are overrepresented among the U.S. prison population. Moreover, blacks are experiencing a higher incarceration rate then whites not only in the South but also in regions where their numbers are fewer than whites in the general population. General population and incarceration statistics for black males are even more striking; black males compose 5.4 percent of the U.S. population but account for 45.7 percent of the prison population (1978 data). The disproportionate representation of blacks in prison cannot be explained by their disproportionate involvement in crime, if offense data are not limited to street crimes but include white-collar offenses, governmental and organized crime, and crimes resulting from racism, sexism, oppression, and exploitation. By focusing its resources and data collection on street crimes, which are typically committed by blacks, the criminal justice system has created the impression that the law is disproportionately violated by blacks and that blacks are a criminogenic class. This involves the police exercising their law enforcement discretion in targeting the deviant behavior of the poor and powerless, whose offenses are easier to detect, investigate, and prosecute, while their legal defenses are generally weak. Imprisonment is most often the sentence imposed on black offenders, because of the state's desire to control the underclass and use them in prison industries profitable to the state. Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system will only change when the dominant political and social institutions change their racist and oppressive policies relative to poor minorities. Fifty references are provided.