NSCC Library: Anti-Racism Resources : Policing and Incarceration

Introduction

Explore articles, books and video about the relationship between police violence, racism in the criminal justice system, and the incarceration crisis in America.

Policing the Police
The new FRONTLINE documentary, Policing the Police, is a provocative journey inside one police force that's been ordered to reform by the Department of Justice: the Newark Police Department in New Jersey. Take a nuanced glimpse into how topics in the national discussion about race and policing are playing out every day on the streets of Newark, in community members' homes, and in the city's police precincts.

Police and Race

Policing, Race and Racism by Mike Rowe
This work shows why race has become a significant issue facing the British police. The author argues that the police response to race has led to a consideration of fundamental issues about the relation of the police to society as a whole and not just minority groups who might be most directly affected.
Deadly Injustice by Lawrence D. Bobo (Foreword by); Devon Johnson (Editor); Amy Farrell (Editor); Patricia Y. Warren (Editor)
Publication Date: 2015
The murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his assailant sparked a passionate national debate about race and criminal justice in America. The Trayvon Martin case brought the racialized nature of the American justice system to the forefront of our national consciousness. Useing the Martin/Zimmerman case as a springboard to examine race, crime, and justice in our current criminal justice system. Contributors explore how race and racism informs how Americans think about criminality, how crimes are investigated and prosecuted, and how the media interprets and reports on crime. This important volume demonstrates how highly publicized criminal cases go on to shape public views about offenders, the criminal process, and justice more generally, perpetuating the same unjust cycle for future generations.

Blue-on-black violence: a provisional model of some of the causes. (Article)
By Devon W. Carbado (2016) - This Article offers a theoretical model that explains the persistence of what the author calls "blue-on-black violence. " This is an essay useful for students taking composition classes.

Critical perspectives on police, policing, and mass incarceration. (Article)
By Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic (2015) - This article covers police and the mass incarceration of minorities.

I once passed a counterfeit note, just like George Floyd, but no one tried to squeeze the life out of me; Every time that race riots erupt in the States, the reason is always the same: police brutality. (News Article)
By Malachi O'Doherty (2020) - An interview highlighting the different in treatment of people accused of committing the same crime.

LA's History Of Racial Tensions And Police Brutality, Revisited (Audio)
By Ailsa Change (2020) - Broadcaster Ailsa Change interviews protesters at a rally for George Floyd.

Mapping fatal police violence across U.S. metropolitan areas: Overall rates and racial/ethnic inequities, 2013-2017 (Article)
By Gabriel Schwartz and Jaquelyn Jahn (2020) - This study uses inverse-variance-weighted multilevel models to estimate overall and race-stratified rates of fatal police violence for all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S. (2013–2017), as well as racial inequities in these rates.

Police Brutality in America Is About Class, Not Race (Essay)
By Joseph Kishmore (2016) - This is an essay where the author poses the question if police brutality is due to class vs. race . This article is useful for students taking compos.tition classes.

Police Violence and the African American Procedural Habitus (Article)
By Trevor George Gardner (2020) - An essay on how an African American should respond to a race-based police stop and what approach, disposition, or tactic will minimize his risk within the context of the police stop of being subject to police violence.

The Trayvon Generation (Article)
By Elizabeth Alexander (2020) - The author explores the systemic racism and violence being experienced by the African American community in the U.S. Topics discussed include the May 2020 killing of African American man George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in Minnesota, the exposure of young African Americans to stories of violence and discrimination, and the need to educate these children about racist violence in the country.

Race and Incarceration

The Demographic Divide: Population Dynamics, Race and the Rise of Mass Incarceration in the United States (Article)
By Michael C. Campbell and Matt Vogel (2019) - This manuscript examines whether certain fundamental demographic changes in age structures across racial groups might help explain incarceration rates in the United States. It argues that a “demographic divide”—a growing divergence in the age structures of blacks and whites—was an important factor that contributed to the nation’s rising incarceration rates.

Ideology, Diversity, and Imprisonment: Considering the Influence of Local Politics on Racial and Ethnic Minority Incarceration Rates. (Article)
By Garrick L. Percival (2010) - This studies the influence of local (county) politics on minority incarceration rates. Counties' ideological orientations and racial and ethnic contextual characteristics significantly impact minority incarceration rates.

The Joint Effects of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Age on the Incarceration and Sentence Length Decisions (Article)
By Tina L. Freiburger and Alyssa M. Sheeran (2020) - This article examines the effects of race, ethnicity, gender, and age on sentencing decisions. The results indicate that Black and male defendants were more likely to be incarcerated in jail as opposed to receiving a probation sentence than White and female defendants.

Racial Disproportionality in U.S. State Prisons: Accounting for the Effects of Racial and Ethnic Differences in Criminal Involvement, Arrests, Sentencing, and Time Served. (Article)
By Allen J. Beck (2018) An important indicator of discrimination in the criminal justice system is the degree to which race differences in arrest account for racial disproportionality in prisons (“accountability”). A recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study raised concerns by reporting low and declining estimates of accountability.

White privilege, juvenile justice, and criminal identities: a qualitative analysis of the perceptions and self-identification of incarcerated youth. (Article)
By Rachel A. Feinstein (2015) - This study examines in-depth interview data from thirty male juveniles incarcerated in a private correctional facility in the Midwest. Youth of color were more likely than white youth to report the feeling that other community members viewed them as criminal before and after being arrested.

Criminal Justice and Race

Understanding Race and Crime by Colin Webster
Publication Date: 2007
The book provides a conceptual framework in which racism, race and crime might be better understood. It traces the historical origins of how thinking about crime came to be associated with racism and how fears and anxieties about race and crime become rooted in places destabilized by rapid social change.
A Perilous Path by Anthony C. Thomson
Publication Date: 2018
A discussion of race in America today with some of the leading names in the field. Covering topics as varied as 'the commonality of pain,''when lawyers are heroes,'and the concept of an 'equality dividend' that is due to people of color for helping America brand itself internationally as a country of diversity and acceptance, among others.

It's Not Just About Race, It's About Power. (Article)
By Matt Welch (2015) - The article presents the author's perspectives on the role of race on the criminal justice system in the U.S.

Race, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Fifty Years Since The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. (Article)
By April D. Fernandes and Robert D. Crutchfield (2018) - A historical view of race and criminal justice in 1967

Poverty and Crime

Unequal Crime Decline by Karen F. Parker
Publication Date: 2008
This book examines the correlation between changing urban labor markets and the equal rise and decline of criminal violence by those most affected. The author points out that crimes rates have been steadily dropping since the 1970s, however crime rates in areas adversely affected by the loss of industrial jobs dropped at a slower rate, and the community most affected by these job losses were the African American and Hispanic Communities.

Breaking poverty: Crime, poverty often linked. (News Article)
By John N. Mitchell (2018) - The author connects childhood poverty and trauma and the never ending cycle it creates.

Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008–2012. (Report - PDF)
By the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2014) - A Study conducted by the US department of Study connecting household poverty to non violent victimization. Uses data collected from 2008-2012.

Murder at Freedom's Gate: Poverty, Race, & Education in Americas. (Article)
By Ericka Aiken (2013) - Article detailing the relationship of race, poverty, education, and violence with related statistics.