Corrections: A Picture in Black and White (From Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America, P 203-227, 1996, Sabra Horne, ed. - See NCJ-163438)

• NCJ Number: 163446
• Author(s): S Walker; C Spohn; M DeLone
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: Wadsworth Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter describes various disparities in the ethnic and racial makeup of the correctional system.

Abstract

The chapter examines which minority groups are overrepresented in prison, in jail, and on parole and probation, and explores the extent of minority overrepresentation in relation to federal versus state populations, regional differences, historic fluctuations, gender distinctions, and juvenile populations. This descriptive information is supplemented by a discussion of current research on discrimination in the correctional setting. The inmate social system of prisons is also discussed, in a section focusing on the influence of minority group status on prison subcultures and religion. The most salient observation about minorities and corrections is the striking overrepresentation of African Americans in prison populations. This overrepresentation is gradually increasing in new court commitments and population figures. Explanations of this rise are complex, but it may be connected with the war on drugs. Figures, tables, notes