Case Study: Racial Disparities in Probation

• In Event: Reforming Community Corrections: Effectiveness, Equity, and Innovation

Abstract

This study contributes to the understudied topic of racial disparities among Latinos/as and extends to incorporate whether neighborhoods or individual characteristics better explain racial disparities in probation. Rodriguez and Tublitz (2023) argue that the Latino/a experience in the criminal legal system is poorly understood given the way in which Latino/as are categorized and tracked in administrative data. And while scholars have examined racial disparities in probation, most have focused on disparities between Black probationers and their white counterparts. Probation studies on racial disparities that include Latinos/as find mixed outcomes for Latinos/as compared to Black and white probationers (Lamb, 2014; Morgan, 1994; Roundtree, Edwards, & Parker, 1984). This study uses administrative data from 2020-2023 from a California county probation department and merges American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The study employs a multivariate decomposition approach to study individual and neighborhood characteristics (Gelbach, 2016; Owens et al., 2021). The study finds that Latinos/as on probation are predominantly from certain neighborhoods.

Author

• Amalia Mejia, University of California, Irvine