Intimate Partner Violence and Disproportionate Arrest, Conviction, and Incarceration among Blacks and Hispanics

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Abstract
Large racial and ethnic disparities in arrests, conviction, and incarceration for the general crime have been long documented, which reflects systematic racial and policy discrimination in the criminal justice system. Similar patterns have also been observed when it comes to the domestic violence related crimes. The question is, do large racial/ethnic disparities in criminal justice intervention processes reflect systematic racial and policy discrimination in the criminal justice system, or do they reflect disproportionate involvement of racial/ethnic minorities in “serious” or more “frequent” intimate partner violence (IPV)? Or what if they are both true? This study specifically focuses on the Blacks, and Hispanics in comparison with Whites, provides some evidence which helps us better understand these questions. Evidence supports the fact that Blacks and Hispanics are in the disadvantaged position when it comes to the criminal justice interventional responses. And it is equally true that the larger proportion of Black people in arrests, conviction, and incarceration is also due to their relatively higher prevalence of IPV.



Author: Zhi Zhang
Department of Sociology
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68503
[email protected]
402-613-6121

Author

• Zhi Zhang, University of Nebraska - Lincoln