Doctoral Dissertation Research: Causes and Effects of the Incarceration of Minority Individuals

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In this project, the causes and consequences of disproportionate incarceration are examined for a group for which these are not well known or understood. The first component of this study is to identify the causes of overrepresentation in the criminal justice system as compared to the general population by examining offending patterns and arrest disparities. The second component is to identify and document trajectories of the group through the criminal justice system, from initial contact via arrest or detainment, through incarceration, ending with re-entry to society. Members of this group are likely to face challenges at each step of the process that can cause negative consequences such as poorer health, difficulties finding employment, and housing instability. Further, they may be more likely to re-offend following re-entry to society, posing a potentially increased risk to themselves and their broader communities. Findings of this project are relevant to decision making that may lead to decreased risk of offending among this population and more successful rehabilitation and reentry processes. They also provide information that may contribute to the improvement of law enforcement practices.In the project, three aims are addressed: 1) identifying the impact of state-level policies and state-level social climates on substance abuse and criminality in the group; (2) documenting common experiences during interactions with law enforcement; and (3) identifying unique challenges faced by reentering members of the group. Several methods are used. For the quantitative portion, a comprehensive dataset of state-level policies and social climates is constructed and merged with an existing, nationally representative dataset to test the effects of these policies and climates on substance abuse variables. A second nationally representative dataset expands the analyses. The qualitative portion consists of 50 interviews with group members who have faced law enforcement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.