Race/Ethnicity and the Social and Organizational Contexts of Probation Outcomes in a Midwestern State

• In Event: Impacts of Race and Ethnicity on the Administration of Justice

Abstract

Contemporary research on unwarranted punishment disparities has focused on the association between defendants’ race/ethnicity and probation outcomes. Considerably less attention, however, has been devoted to the effects of social and organizational contexts on probation success. Drawing from a racial/ethnic minority threat perspective, this study uses probation data from a Midwestern state (N = 14,365), combined with district-level organizational and census data, to examine interdistrict variation in a series of probation outcomes across court jurisdictions, from 2010 to 2013. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for theory and policy.

Authors

• Mario Cano, Kansas State University

• April Terry, Kansas State University

• Kevin F. Steinmetz, Kansas State University