Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T16:49:18.801Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Testing the Impact of Racial Attitudes and Racial Diversity on Prisoner Reentry Policies in the U.S. States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Garrick L. Percival
Garrick L. Percival*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Duluth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scholars have done an admirable job explaining the political forces behind the build up in punitive crime policies over the past three decades. This research investigates whether one of these factors—the politics of race—structures the extent to which crime prevention-centered policies are incorporated into states' correctional systems. Using the General Social Survey to create reliable aggregate measures of racial attitudes across the states, I question the extent to which racial attitudes and racial context impact states' propensity to incorporate “softer” prisoner rehabilitation services into their correctional systems. Results show that whites' attitudes toward African Americans and the size of a state's minority population influenced the percentage of prisoners in each state that receive access to education and mental health services in 1995 and 2000. In states with greater racial diversity and states in which whites are less tolerant toward African Americans, state prisoners are less likely to receive rehabilitation services.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Summer 2009 , pp. 176 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asher, Herbert B. 1976. Causal Modeling: Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Arceneaux, Kevin, and Huber, Gregory A.. 2007. “What to Do (and Not Do) with Multicollinearity in State Politics Research.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7:81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckett, Katherine. 1997. Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beckett, Katherine, and Western, Bruce. 2001. “Governing Social Marginality: Welfare, Incarceration, and the Transformation of State Policy.” Punishment and Society 3:43–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russell L.. 2006. “Revised Citizen 1960–2006 Citizen Ideology Series.” www.uky.edu/~rford/Home_files/page0005.htm (July 21, 2008).Google Scholar
Blalock, Hubert M. 1967. Toward a Theory of Minority Group Relations. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bonczar, Thomas P., and Beck, Allen J.. 2003. “Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State and Federal Prison.” NCJ 160092. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Bowers, David, and Waltman, Jerald L.. 1993. “Do More Conservative States Impose Harsher Felony Sentences? An Exploratory Analysis of 32 States.” Criminal Justice Review 18:67–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, Butler, Kellie N., Arceneaux, Kevin, and Johnson, Martin. 2002. “Measuring Public Opinion in the American States: An Expanded Range of Aggregated Measures, 1974–1998.” American Journal of Political Science 46:173–89.Google Scholar
Branton, Regina P., and Jones, Bradford S.. 2005. “Reexamining Racial Attitudes: The Conditional Relationship Between Diversity and Socioeconomic Environment.” American Journal of Political Science 49:359–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bridges, George S., and Crutchfield, Robert D.. 1988. “Law, Social Standing, and Racial Disparities in Imprisonment.” Social Forces 66:699–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, Cathryn A. 2004. “Post Secondary Correctional Education and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis of Research Conducted 1990–1999.” Journal of Correctional Education 55:148–170.Google Scholar
Davis, James A., and Smith, Tom W.. 2005. “General Social Surveys, 1974–2004.” National Opinion Research Center. Storrs, CT: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.Google Scholar
Devine, Patricia G., and Baker, Sara. 1991. “Measurement of Racial Stereotype Subtyping.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 17:44–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisinger, Peter K. 1982. “Black Employment in Municipal Jobs: The Impact of Black Political Power.” American Political Science Review 76:380–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fording, Richard C. 2003. “Racial Attitudes, Racial Politics, and Welfare Reform.” In Race, Welfare and the Politics of Reform, eds., Schram, S.F., Soss, J. and Fording, R.C.. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 1999. Why Americans Hate Welfare. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, Michael W., and Buckner, Melanie. 1993. “David Duke and Black Threat: An Old Hypothesis Revisited.” The Journal of Politics 57:702–13.Google Scholar
Gilliam, Franklin D. Jr., and Iyengar, Shanto. 2000. “Prime Suspects: The Impact of Local Television News on Attitudes about Crime and Race.” American Journal of Political Science 44:560–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, Eva G.T., Staerkle, Christian, and Sears, David O.. 2006. “Symbolic Racism and Whites' Attitudes towards Punitive and Preventive Crime Policies.” Law and Human Behavior 30:435–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenberg, David F., and West, Valerie. 2001. “State Prison Populations and their Growth, 1971–1991.” Criminology 39:615–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gujarati, Damodar. 1999. Essentials of Econometrics, 2nd ed. Boston, MA: The McGraw-Hill Companies.Google Scholar
Hacker, Andrew. 1995. Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile and Unequal, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Hero, Rodney E. 1998. Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hero, Rodney E., and Tolbert, Caroline J.. 1996. “A Racial/Ethnic Diversity Interpretation of Politics and Policy in the States of the U.S.” American Journal of Political Science 40:581–871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huckfeldt, Robert, and Kohfeld, Carol Weitzel. 1989. Race and the Decline of Class in American Politics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Hurwitz, Jon, and Peffley, Mark. 1997. “Public Perceptions of Race and Crime: The Role of Racial Stereotypes.” American Journal of Political Science 41:375–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, David, and Helms, Ronald E.. 1996. “Toward a Political Model of Incarceration: A Time Series Examination of Multiple Explanations for Prison Admission Rates.” American Journal of Sociology 102:323–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Martin. 2001. “Testing the Impact of Social Diversity and Racial Attitudes on Social Welfare Policy. State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:27–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Bradford S., and Norrander, Barbara. 1996. “The Reliability of Aggregated Public Opinion Measures.” American Journal of Political Science 40:295–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellar, Mark. 2005. “The Rehabilitation Dilemma in Texas County Jails.” The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice 2:153–67.Google Scholar
Kellar, Mark, Jaris, Merissa, and Manboah-Roxin, Joseph. 2001. “Texas Jails Survey 2001: A Status Report.” Austin, TX: Texas Commission on Jail Standards.Google Scholar
Key, V.O. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Mendelberg, Tali. 1995. “Cracks in American Apartheid: The Political Impact of Prejudice among Desegregated Whites.” The Journal of Politics 57:402–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Sanders, Lynn M.. 1996. Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
King, Ryan S., and Mauer, Mark. 2002. “Distorted Priorities: Drug Offenders in State Prisons.” Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.Google Scholar
Klarner, Carl. 2003. “The Measurement of the Partisan Balance of State Government.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 3:309–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, Ann Chih. 2000. Reform in the Making: The Implementation of Social Policy in Prison. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marmor, Theodore R., and Gill, Karyn C.. 1989. “The Political and Economic Context of Mental Health Care in the United State.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law 14:459–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, Sheila R. 1999. “Conservative Sanctioning and Correctional Innovations in the United States: An Examination of Recent Trends.” International Journal of the Sociology of Law 27:401–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1963. “Constituency Influence in Congress.” American Political Science Review 57:45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norrander, Barbara. 2001. “Measuring State Public Opinion with the Senate National Election Study.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:111–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, Robert M. 1990. “Estimating the Reliability of Aggregate-Level Variables Based on Individual-Level Characteristics.” Sociological Methods and Research 18:473–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, Eric J., and Mendelberg, Tali. 2000. “Reconsidering the Environmental Determinants of Racial Attitudes.” American Journal of Political Science 44:574–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peffley, Mark, and Hurwitz, Jon. 2002. “The Racial Components of ‘Race-Neutral’ Crime Policy Attitudes.” Political Psychology 23:59–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peffley, Mark, Hurwitz, Jon, and Sniderman, Paul. 1997. “Racial Stereotypes and Whites' Political Views of Blacks in the Context of Welfare and Crime.” American Journal of Political Science 41:30–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preuhs, Robert R. 2006. “The Conditional Effects of Minority Descriptive Representation: Black Legislators and Policy Influence in the American States.” The Journal of Politics 68:585–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quillian, Lincoln. 1995. “Prejudice as a Response to Perceived Group Threat: Population Composition and Anti-Immigrant and Racial Prejudice in Europe.” American Sociological Review 60:586–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Kevin B. 2004. “The Politics of Punishment: Evaluating Political Explanations of Incarceration Rates.” The Journal of Politics 66:925–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snell, Tracy. 1996. “Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Capital Punishment 1995.” Bureau of Justice Statistics No. NCJ 162043Google Scholar
Snell, Tracy. 2001. “Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Capital Punishment 2000.” Bureau of Justice Statistics No. NCJ 190598.Google Scholar
Steinhauer, Jennifer. 2006. “Bulging, Troubled Prisons Push California Officials to Seek a New Approach,” The New York Times, December 11, A18.Google Scholar
Suellentrop, Chris. 2006. “The Right has a Jailhouse Conversion: How Conservatives Came to Embrace Prison Reform,” The New York Times Magazine, December 24, 46.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., and Grummel, John A.. 2003. “Revisiting the Racial Threat Hypothesis: White Voter Support for California's Proposition 209.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 3:183–202.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., and Hero, Rodney. 1996. “Race/Ethnicity and Direct Democracy: An Analysis of California's Illegal Immigration Initiative.” The Journal of Politics 58:806–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tonry, Michael. 1995. Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tonry, Michael. 1999. “Why Are U.S. Incarceration Rates So High?” Crime and Delinquency 45:419–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Travis, Jeremy. 2005. But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 2000. Current Population Survey. Washington, DC: Department of Commerce.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. CENSUS OF STATE AND FEDERAL ADULT CORRECTION FACILITIES, 2000, 1995 [computer file]. Conducted by U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice, FBI Uniform Crime Reports. www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm (August 4, 2008).Google Scholar
Visher, Christy. 2006. “Effective Reentry Programs.” Criminology and Public Policy 5:299–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, Susan, Combs, Michael, and Gruhl, John. 1988. “Do Black Judges Make a Difference?” American Journal of Political Science 32:126–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yates, Jeff. 1997. “Racial Incarceration Disparity among the States.” Social Science Quarterly 78:1001–11.Google Scholar
Yates, Jeff, and Fording, Richard. 2005. “Politics and State Punitiveness in Black and White” The Journal of Politics 67:1099–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar