An Immigrant Paradox in the Black Box? Evaluating Prison Misconducts Among Foreign- and Native-Born Persons

• In Event: New Directions in Correctional Research: Violence, Victimization, and Discipline in Prison

Abstract

A growing body of work cites evidence of an “immigrant paradox,” in which foreign-born persons fare better than native-born citizens on a broad array of adjustment indices. Indeed, even as immigrant individuals are exposed to amounting hardship and ongoing anti-immigrant sentiment in an American context, they appear better able to cope with adversity than their non-immigrant counterparts. Nevertheless, the immigrant paradox has not yet been evaluated using a justice-involved sample, and it is not yet known whether the experience of confinement ultimately levels the playing field across citizenship statuses. If the immigrant paradox holds in a prison context, it may be that foreign-born persons are less likely to engage in prison misconduct. However, immigrant individuals are simultaneously confronted with the threat of deportation and an increasingly punitive criminal justice system that systematically harms persons of color and may threaten their adaptability, which may also increase misconduct. Using person-level data drawn from a western prison system, regression models are specified to examine whether foreign- and native-born persons vary in the frequency, variety, and types of misconducts they commit. Results and their implications for research and policy will be discussed.

Authors

• Julie L. Kuper, Florida State University

• Jillian Turanovic, Florida State University

• Nancy Rodriguez, University of California, Irvine