Shades of Risk: investigating the relationship between skin-tone, physical characteristics and security classifications among prisoners

• In Event: Colorism in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Each of the more than 30,000 individuals incarcerated in Michigan state prisons are assigned a security classification, deciding the type of facilities they are held in, their access to program and treatment opportunities, and how far away from home they are incarcerated. Research suggests that skin tone and other physical characteristics can affect pre-incarceration decisions, but our knowledge of how these factors influence outcomes during and after incarceration is limited.
Leveraging administrative data on all prisoners incarcerated in the state of Michigan, I examine two main questions: How do skin-tone and other physical features, net other factors, impact the security classifications incarcerated individuals are assigned?; and do patterns on these dimensions differ for individuals who are incarcerated for violent compared to non-violent crimes? I hypothesize that skin-tone will be correlated with security classifications, and that the association between skin-tone and attractiveness and security classifications will be stronger for individuals who are incarcerated for non-violent crimes, likely because security classifications for non-violent offenders involve considerably more discretion.

Author

• Hannah Craig, Harvard University