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Social Sciences
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Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System
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Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Stratification and Inequality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2021) | Viewed by 29074

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tina Freiburger

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Criminal Justice & Criminology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
Interests: sentencing; judicial decision making; juvenile justice
Dr. Kareem Jordan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Interests: juvenile justice; race and crime

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Social Sciences is currently soliciting manuscripts for a Special Issue on “Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System”. The guest editors of this issue are Tina L. Freiburger (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Kareem L. Jordan (American University). While the topic area is largely open to the author’s discretion, manuscripts considered for publication in this Special Issue can focus on a variety of topics related to: 1) racial and ethnic disparities in police decision-making; 2) racial and ethnic disparities in criminal sentencing decisions; 3) racial disparities in mass incarceration; 3) disparities in criminal charging and offending; and 4) the disproportionate impact of criminal justice policies on racial and ethnic minorities. The manuscripts may focus on small region, state, national, or international responses and experiences. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches are welcome.

To be considered for this Special Issue, please submit a one-half to one-page description of the study by September 30, 2020 that includes the following: 

  • the rationale for the proposed study;
  • tentative research questions and/or hypotheses; and
  • a description of the data to be used.

The guest editors will notify you on whether your proposal has been accepted by October 15, 2020. Proposals should be emailed directly to freiburg@uwm.edu.

The deadline for the completed manuscript is April 30, 2021. The manuscript will undergo a blind peer-review process and authors will be provided with feedback on their manuscripts. The final version of the manuscript is due by September 15, 2021.

Prof. Dr. Tina Freiburger
Dr. Kareem Jordan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 599 KiB  
Article
Racial Disparities in Police Crime Victimization
by Philip Matthew Stinson, Chloe Ann Wentzlof, John Liederbach and Steven L. Brewer
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(8), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10080287 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4090
Abstract
Policing has become a topic of intense public scrutiny and protest in the aftermath of several recent highly questionable and violent police–citizen encounters including the acts of police violence against George Floyd in Minneapolis (MN), Breonna Taylor in Louisville (KY), and Jacob Blake [...] Read more.
Policing has become a topic of intense public scrutiny and protest in the aftermath of several recent highly questionable and violent police–citizen encounters including the acts of police violence against George Floyd in Minneapolis (MN), Breonna Taylor in Louisville (KY), and Jacob Blake in Kenosha (WI). These encounters have led to large-scale street protests, the legitimization of the Black Lives Matter movement, and what many commentators perceive as a “national reckoning” on the issue of racial justice. The focus of our research is on police crime—a particular form of police misconduct that involves the criminal arrest of police officers. Our work is designed to identify cases in which law enforcement officers have been arrested for any type of criminal offense(s). One area of police scholarship that has thus far been neglected is the relationship between citizen race and the perpetration of police crime. We are aware of no existing empirical studies on whether, and if so, to what degree, citizen race is associated with crimes committed by police officers. The public has been forced to re-examine and question the role and legitimacy of police against the backdrop of protests and concerns about how police may contribute to racial injustice and discrimination. The broadest research issue involved an examination of the association between police crime and the race of the victim. Our goal was to identify and examine any racial disparities of police crime overall and within specific types of police crime. The analyses compared police crimes committed against Black victims to all other police crimes identified within the dataset. More specifically, we examined the degree to which police crimes perpetrated against Black victims tend to be more violent than those perpetrated against non-Black victims. CHAID regression models were utilized to explore any multivariate relationships between race and police crime. Data were derived from published news articles using the Google News search engine and its Google Alerts email update service. Our database currently includes information on more than 18,700 cases of police crime from years 2005–2021. The study utilized data derived from this larger project. The study examined those cases of police crime in which we have identified a victim and recorded information on the race of the victim. The dataset for this study includes information on 865 criminal arrest cases of sworn nonfederal law enforcement officers within the United States from 2005 through 2014. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
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18 pages, 334 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Admission, Graduation, and Recidivism in the Milwaukee County Adult Drug Treatment Court
by Alyssa M. Sheeran and Amanda J. Heideman
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(7), 261; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10070261 - 08 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3576
Abstract
Drug courts play a key role in the criminal justice system by diverting individuals from incarceration and providing them with resources to address substance use issues and reduce criminal recidivism. However, it is unclear whether drug courts reflect—or even exacerbate—preexisting racial/ethnic disparities in [...] Read more.
Drug courts play a key role in the criminal justice system by diverting individuals from incarceration and providing them with resources to address substance use issues and reduce criminal recidivism. However, it is unclear whether drug courts reflect—or even exacerbate—preexisting racial/ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. While prior literature has offered some insight into the influence of race and ethnicity on drug court success, much of the focus has been on outcomes (i.e., program completion and recidivism) rather than disparities at earlier stages (i.e., referral to admittance). The current study adds to this body of research by evaluating the Milwaukee County Adult Drug Treatment Court to examine whether racial/ethnic disparities exist at several stages of the drug court process: (1) referral to admittance, (2) likelihood of graduation, and (3) likelihood of recidivism. Results of the analyses determined racial/ethnic disparities in the likelihood of admission to the drug court, as well as the likelihood of graduation. There were no racial/ethnic disparities found in the likelihood of recidivism. The analyses also identified several additional variables that were influential in the likelihood of admission (risk score, prior record), likelihood of graduation (age, prior record, custody sanctions), and recidivism (drug court outcome). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
23 pages, 360 KiB  
Article
“You Know Baseball? 3 Strikes”: Understanding Racial Disparity with Mixed Methods for Probation Review Hearings
by Danielle M. Romain Dagenhardt
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(6), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060235 - 20 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2749
Abstract
Prior literature on judicial decision-making post-sentencing is relatively scarce, yet with the growth of problem-solving courts and offenders placed on probation, judges are responsible for overseeing compliance of offenders beyond traditional decision-making points. More recently, scholars have called for more nuanced methods of [...] Read more.
Prior literature on judicial decision-making post-sentencing is relatively scarce, yet with the growth of problem-solving courts and offenders placed on probation, judges are responsible for overseeing compliance of offenders beyond traditional decision-making points. More recently, scholars have called for more nuanced methods of examining judicial decision-making, disparity, and attribution than traditional quantitative methods. This study examines the factors that influence judicial sanctioning of probationers for non-compliance in a domestic violence court. The following research questions are examined: Which factors predict whether a probationer is sanctioned for non-compliance? What are the discourses utilized to frame these violations? Are there differences in discourses utilized based upon a probationer’s race? This study combines participant observation of probation review hearings with agency records for a mixed-methods examination of which factors influence the decision to sanction non-compliant probationers, and whether differences emerge based on race. The sample included 350 cases of probation review hearings with 100 cases selected for critical discourse analysis. Results demonstrated that drug use, missed treatment sessions, gender, race, and family status influenced sanctioning decisions. Qualitative results demonstrated that judges evaluate probationers based upon contextual information, which at times relies on racial discourses of drug use and responsibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
13 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Police Stop and Frisk and the Impact of Race: A Focal Concerns Theory Approach
by Anthony Vito, George Higgins and Gennaro Vito
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(6), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060230 - 16 Jun 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7145
Abstract
The findings of this study outline the racial differences in stop and frisk decisions by Illinois officers in consent searches and those based upon reasonable suspicion within the context of the elements of focal concerns theory. The analysis for this study was performed [...] Read more.
The findings of this study outline the racial differences in stop and frisk decisions by Illinois officers in consent searches and those based upon reasonable suspicion within the context of the elements of focal concerns theory. The analysis for this study was performed using propensity score matching (PSM) and allowed the researchers to create a quasi-experimental design to examine the race of the citizen and police decision making. According to our analysis of official Illinois law enforcement data, Black citizens, particularly males, were less likely to give their consent to a stop and frisk search. Black male citizens were also more likely to be stopped and searched due to an assessment of reasonable suspicion by the officer. Elements of focal concerns theory were also factors in pedestrian stops under conditions of consent and reasonable suspicion. Citizens judged as blameworthy were more likely to be stopped and frisked under conditions of consent and reasonable suspicion. The effect of a verbal threat and the officer’s prior knowledge about the citizen had even more significant impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
17 pages, 352 KiB  
Article
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future
by Durrell M. Washington, Toyan Harper, Alizé B. Hill and Lester J. Kern
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(6), 211; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060211 - 05 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6571
Abstract
The first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were [...] Read more.
The first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were created to rehabilitate youth who exhibited delinquent and deviant behavior. Over one hundred years later, we have a system that disproportionately arrests, confines, and displaces Black youth. This paper critiques social work’s role in helping develop the first juvenile courts, while highlighting the failures of the current juvenile legal system. We then use P.I.C. abolition as a theoretical framework to offer guidance on how social work can once again assist in the transformation of the juvenile legal system as a means toward achieving true justice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
24 pages, 386 KiB  
Article
Economic Competition and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing: A Test of Economic Threat Perspective
by Christopher D’Amato, Bryan Holmes and Ben Feldmeyer
Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(6), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060206 - 01 Jun 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3709
Abstract
Economic threat arguments within the broader racial/ethnic threat theory suggest that economic competition between minorities and Whites encourages the majority group to apply formal social controls on minorities to maintain their advantaged positions. Prior sentencing research has given limited attention to economic threat [...] Read more.
Economic threat arguments within the broader racial/ethnic threat theory suggest that economic competition between minorities and Whites encourages the majority group to apply formal social controls on minorities to maintain their advantaged positions. Prior sentencing research has given limited attention to economic threat and has only done so using cross-sectional measures, which does not capture changing economic circumstances (a key element of racial/ethnic threat). The goal of this study is to provide a test of economic threat—and racial/ethnic threat more broadly—utilizing time variant measures. To achieve this goal, we use case-level data from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission (N = 122,666) and county-level data from the United States Census Bureau. Multilevel regression models reveal partial but limited support for economic threat. Specifically, counties with a growing portion of minorities living above the poverty line between 2000 and 2010 had larger minority disadvantages (in comparison to Whites) at incarceration. However, economic threat measures do not significantly contextualize minority–White sentence length differences, while the broader racial/ethnic threat measures do not significantly influence minority–White outcomes at the incarceration or sentencing length decision. The results suggest that economic threat may explain a small but limited portion of the racial disparities identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Criminal Justice System)
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