Research exploring the racial disparities and dynamics of incarceration.
Risë Haneberg and Kate Reed, 2023
Individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) have long advocated for addressing disparities in the behavioral health and criminal justice systems. Such pervasive inequities can be complex to understand and overwhelming to counties that are just starting to confront them. The Stepping Up framework offers a solid foundation to effect more racially equitable outcomes, specifically among individuals with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system.
The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2023
Despite narrowed gap in incarceration rates, Black people remain overrepresented in jail populations, admissions—and stay longer on average.
Yi, Youngmin, 2023
Using data from the Family History of Incarceration Study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, this study introduces novel descriptive measures that provide a more comprehensive picture of the demography and racially unequal distribution of family incarceration: degree, generational extension, and permeation. This analysis shows that Black adults in the United States are not only more likely to have experienced family incarceration but are also more likely to have had more family members incarcerated and to have had family members from more generations ever incarcerated.
Hutchinson-Colas Juana, Mary Cathryn Earnhardt, Afsara Mannan, James McGreevy & Gloria A Bachmann, 2022
Women are the fastest growing prison population and most incarcerated women are from Black and Latinx groups.
Close, Melanie, Olive Lu, Shannon Tomascak, Preeti Chauhan, Erica Bond, Data Collaborative for Justice, 2021
This report documents the rates of incarceration for white, Black and Latinx Americans in each state, identifies three contributors to racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment, and provides recommendations for reform.
The Sentencing Project, 2021
This report documents the rates of incarceration for white, Black and Latinx Americans in each state, identifies three contributors to racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment, and provides recommendations for reform.
SAMHSA, 2021
To build a supportive system that respects the dignity and humanity of all individuals served, criminal justice system stakeholders should enhance their understanding of criminogenic needs and criminal thinking. Use this checklist to explore how your agency can become more equitable.
SAMHSA, 2021
This report provides findings from a qualitative analysis of evidence-based and culturally relevant behavioral health practices offered at NNEDLearn, a SAMHSA training, offered from 2011 to 2020. It includes an overview of NNEDLearn, case studies, strategies and lessons learned, and conclusion.
Freeman, Kelly R., Cathy Hu, Jesse Jannetta, 2021
Racial and ethnic disparity is a pervasive characteristic of the American criminal justice system.
Horowitz, Jake, Connie Utada, 2018
African-Americans and men are overrepresented in probation and parole population.
Caccavale, Alexander, Thaddeus L. Johnson, William J.Sabol, Council on Criminal Justice, 2019
American prison populations have long been characterized by racial and ethnic disparities.
Mayson, Sandra, 2019
Police, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice actors increasingly use algorithmic risk assessment to estimate the likelihood that a person will commit future crime. As many scholars have noted, these algorithms tend to have disparate racial impacts.
Dulaney, Ruth, Ram Subramanian, Alison Shames, Nicholas Turner, The Vera Institute of Justice, 2018
In this report, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) reimagines the how, what, and why of incarceration and asserts a new governing principle on which to ground prison policy and practice: human dignity.
Tasca, Melinda, Jillian Turanovic, 2018
Overall, this study found significant racial and ethnic disparities in restrictive housing placements for men and women, compared to legally relevant and administratively relevant factors and other inmate characteristics.
Agan, Amanda, Sonja Starr, The Quarterly Journal of Aconomics, 2018
“Ban the Box” (BTB) policies restrict employers from asking about applicants’ criminal histories on job applications and are often presented as a means of reducing unemployment among black men, who disproportionately have criminal records.
Hinton, Elizabeth Kai, LeShae Henderson, Cindy Reed, The Vera Institute of Justice, 2018
This brief presents an overview of the ways in which America’s history of racism and oppression continues to manifest in the criminal justice system, and a summary of research demonstrating how the system perpetuates the disparate treatment of black people.
Subramanian, Ram, Kristi Riley, Chris Mai, The Vera Institute of Justice, 2018
This report dives into the data on black and white incarceration trends from 1990 to 2013, and poses several questions for further exploration that might explain why these rates are shifting.
Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), 2017
Validated risk assessment tools are fairer and safer than money bail and can protect against racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system.
Owens, Emily, Eric M. Kerrison, and Bernardo Santos DaSilveira, 2017
In this report, we document that Black, White and Latinx indigent defendants in San Francisco have substantially different experiences during the criminal adjudication process. Specifically, defendants of color are more likely to be held in custody during their cases, which tend to take longer than the cases of White defendants.
Bennett,Mark W., The Yale Law Journal, 2017
Cutting edge empirical studies of inmate populations in several states strongly suggest implicit racial bias contributes to increases in the length of sentences based on offenders’ darker skin tone and more pronounced Afrocentric features.
Skeem, Jennifer, Christopher T. Lowenkamp, 2016
Based on a sample of 34,794 federal offenders, we empirically examine the relationships among race (Black vs. White), actuarial risk assessment (the Post Conviction Risk Assessment [PCRA]), and re-arrest (for any/violent crime).
Subramanian, Ram, Christian Henrichson, Jacob Kang-Brown, The Vera Institute of Justice, 2015
Vera researchers developed a data tool that includes current and historical jail incarceration rates for every U.S. county.
Ghandnoosh, Nazgol, The Sentencing Project, 2015
This briefing paper identifies four key features of the justice system that contribute to its disparate racial impact, and presents recent best practices for targeting these inequities drawn from adult and juvenile justice systems around the country.
Janetta, Jesse, Justin Breaux, Helen Ho, and Jeremy Porter, Urban Institute, 2014
This brief discusses Urban’s study examining the degree of disparity in probation revocation outcomes and the drivers of that disparity.
Mauer, Marc Mauer, The Sentencing Project , 2013
This study examined the changing racial dynamics of incarcerated persons, especially as they pertain to women.
