Racial Inequality, Social Policy and Prisons: 1980-2000

Glenn C. Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences

Brown University

A Radical Transformation of Policy

States’ Prison Spending Grows faster than Higher Ed

According to a 2002 report of the Justice Policy Institute (Washington, DC):

• “During the 1980s and 1990s, state spending on corrections grew at 6 times the rate of state spending on higher education, and by the close of the 1990’s, there were nearly a third more African American men in prison and jail than in universities or colleges.”

Coloring the Terms of Membership:

Reinventing the Divided Citizenry in an Era of Neoliberal Paternalism

Joe Soss

&

Sanford F. Schram

Public Policy and Racial/Ethnic Disparities

Distributive Disparities: who gets more or less, and why

Civic Disparities: how groups are positioned in relation to one another and vis-à-vis major societal institutions

The Social Question: How can solidarity (or inclusive and equal membership) be achieved in a society divided by ethnic identities as well as material inequalities?

How do public policies organize governance and define

terms of membership for different social groups?

Civic Incorporation as a Goal of Poverty Policy

Europe • Unemployment and welfare dependence as problems of

“social exclusion”• Labor activation as a strategy for incorporation into the

societal “mainstream”

United States (The New Paternalism)• Social dysfunction, behavioral pathology, and personal

disorganization as sources of societal marginality

• “Telling the Poor What to Do” (Help and Hassle) – Directive, supervisory, and punitive policies– Supports to enable preferred behavior

Race and Civic Disparities in the History of Public Aid

Mothers’ Pensions• White Republican Motherhood, Assimilation of

Immigrants, Exclusion of Blacks and Latinas

Social Security Act of 1935 (ADC)• White male breadwinner: full citizen incorporated into

national social insurance• State and local public aid: regulating labor markets,

gender roles, and racial caste

War on Poverty (1960s)• Meaningful legal citizenship for racial minorities• Racial conflict promoted and undermined poverty efforts

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The New Poverty Governance: Change in Numbers Incarcerated and Receiving Cash Aid:1990-2000

Result Is Disparate Positioning in the TANF Program: Exposure to Program Features by Race of Family, 2001

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Effects are Cumulative:Stringency of Policy Regime by Race of Family, 2001

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Not Just Rule Exposure, Also Local Implementation

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1. Racial Disparities in Sanctioning across Length of Spell2. Race-Specific Mediation by Local Political Environment

Mid-1960s: a policy long racialized in practice becomes racialized in media coverage and in the public mind

Correlation: r = .03 (1950-65) r = .68 (1966-96)

Race Matters: The Effect of Black Caseload Percentage on Welfare Policy Choices in an “Average State”

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Family Cap Time LimitFull-Family Sanction Second-Order Devolution

A Huge Racial Disparity of Policy Impact

Size/Racial Composition of Overall Correctional System

Growing Extent of Correctional Supervision

Racial Disparity in Incarceration: 1982-2001

Incarceration and HIV Transmission

What if no racial disparity in incarceration? (Men)

What if Black Incarc. fixed at 1980 Level? (Men)

What if no racial disparity in incarceration? (Women)

What if Black Incarc. fixed at 1980 Level? (Women)

Impact of W.O.D. on Imprisonment

Drug Arrests in Chicago

How Effective Has the W.O.D. Been?

Drug Prices, Emergency Treatment and Incarceration Rates: 1980-2000

The Social Integration GapFigure 1: Isolation of Blacks and New Immigrant Groups

Average weighted by group population for a constant set of cities.

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Ward Data Tract Data