Parole Revocations and Racial Disproportionality in Prison Admissions (1990-2009)

• In Event: 033 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Procedures and Justice

Abstract

Scholars have sought to understand the problem of racial disproportionality in U.S. imprisonment rates for over four decades, but little research examines the effect of parole
revocations on imprisonment disparity (Huebner and Bynum, 2008).  The rate of parole revocations increased markedly in the 1990s and 2000s, contributing to the growth in imprisonment in the US.Some research also finds that the likelihood of parole revocation varies
by race; thus the increase in revocation rates may have also increased racial disproportionality in imprisonment. This study examines data from the National Corrections Reporting Program, over a twenty year period, to test the hypothesis that parole revocation decisions contribute to disparity in imprisonment rates by race. Specifically, this study assesses the extent to which parole revocations account for race differences in total prisons admissions, when controlling for population demographics and violent crime rates.

Authors

• Caitlin Curry, University of Arkansas

• Rodney L. Engen, University of Arkansas