NCJ Number
184023
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2000 Pages: 345-374
Date Published
2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study used a mapping of the pre-incarceration residences of drug dealers incarcerated in State prison in Massachusetts to systematically explore neighborhood and certain other explanations for the disproportionate impact on young minority males of harsh sentencing policies for drug dealing.
Abstract
Many observers have recognized and decried the disproportionate impact on young minority males of harsh sentencing policies for drug dealing. Nationwide, African-Americans and Hispanics constituted 78.2 percent of incarcerated drug offenders in 1996. This study first tested neighborhood-level explanations for racial/ethnic disproportionality. To test this family of hypotheses, a sample of State prisoners in Massachusetts was selected, and their pre-incarceration addresses were geocoded, so as to assign them to neighborhoods. The study then computed race-specific incarceration risks within groups of neighborhoods. Researchers tested alternative groups of neighborhoods meeting alternative criteria to reflect the hypotheses discussed in the literature review. Researchers then tested individual-level explanations for disparities. Overall, the data indicate that the various factors involved in the war on drugs, as implemented through harsh sentencing laws, make the war on drugs a war on those racial/ethnic groups that are the most disadvantaged in our society. This reality must be taken into account by the makers of sentencing policy. 7 tables, 40 notes, and 55 references