Parole Revocations and Racial Disproportionality in Imprisonment: A Multilevel Analysis of State Prison Admissions (1990-2009)

• In Event: Mass Incarceration: Practices, Pre-Trial Detention, and Parole

Abstract

Scholars have sought to understand the problem of racial disproportionality in U.S. imprisonment rates for over four decades but current research has yet to identify the specific correctional mechanisms that exacerbate racial differences in incarceration (Garland, 2013). The rate of parole revocations increased markedly in the 1990s and 2000s, contributing to the growth in imprisonment in the US. Likewise, some research also finds that the likelihood of parole revocation varies by race, but we know little about the effect of parole revocations on imprisonment disparity (Huebner and Bynum, 2008). This study uses a sample of 24 states over a twenty year period (1990-2009) to test the hypothesis that parole revocation admissions contribute to disparity in imprisonment by race. Specifically, this study employs Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to assess the extent to which parole revocations account for race differences in prisons admissions, when controlling for individual characteristics as well as state structural factors and policies.

Authors

• Caitlin Rose Curry, University of Arkansas

• Rodney Engen, University of Arkansas