Fifty Years of Drug Arrests: Crime Control or Oppression in the Hampton Roads Area?

• In Event: Fifty Years of Drug Arrests: Crime Control or Oppression? (Session 2)

Abstract

The war on drugs is now widely recognized as a major contributor to the tremendous growth in prison populations seen across the US since the late 1980’s. Research has also indicated that the mass incarceration that resulted from punitive attitudes and changes in sentencing to “get tough” on crime differentially impacted African Americans, both males and females. The current study uses arrest data spanning the period 1960-2010 to examine trends in arrest by race and gender. The findings are placed in the historical context of area, as well as the changing structural characteristics of the region as a whole.

Authors

• Scott R. Maggard, Old Dominion University

• Ruth Triplett, Old Dominion University

• Allison T. Chappell, Old Dominion University