Racial Disparities in Incarceration Increase Acceptance of Punitive Policies

During the past few decades, punitive crime policies have led to explosive growth in the United States prison population. Such policies have contributed to unprecedented incarceration rates for Blacks in particular. In this article, we consider an unexamined relationship between racial disparities a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2014-10, Vol.25 (10), p.1949-1954
Main Authors: Hetey, Rebecca C., Eberhardt, Jennifer L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceptance
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
African Americans
Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Black people
Crime
Criminal justice
Criminal Law
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Fear of crime
Female
Humans
Imprisonment
Incarceration
Inequality
Institutions
Law Enforcement
Male
Medical sciences
Population policy
Prison conditions
Prisoners
Prisoners - statistics & numerical data
Prisons
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public Policy
Punishment - psychology
Race
Racial differences
Racial inequality
Racism - psychology
Research Report
Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency
Social psychology
Stereotyping
Three strikes laws
U.S.A
United States
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Summary:During the past few decades, punitive crime policies have led to explosive growth in the United States prison population. Such policies have contributed to unprecedented incarceration rates for Blacks in particular. In this article, we consider an unexamined relationship between racial disparities and policy reform. Rather than treating racial disparities as an outcome to be measured, we exposed people to real and extreme racial disparities and observed how this drove their support for harsh criminal-justice policies. In two experiments, we manipulated the racial composition of prisons: When the penal institution was represented as "more Black," people were more concerned about crime and expressed greater acceptance of punitive policies than when the penal institution was represented as "less Black." Exposure to extreme racial disparities, then, can lead people to support the very policies that produce those disparities, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797614540307