Socioeconomic status influences prison admission rates

According to recent research, the imprisonment rate of Black individuals has dramatically decreased in the 21st century; however, this decline has been counterbalanced by an increase in the incarceration of white individuals without a college degree.

“The positive aspect is that there has been a noticeable drop in the imprisonment rates of Black individuals, irrespective of their educational attainment,” mentioned Christopher Muller, co-author of the study that appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and a sociology professor at Harvard. “It appears probable, based on the data we are observing, that part of this trend correlates with the reduction in the drug war.

“On the contrary, the adverse aspect is that some of the improvements in racial equality have stemmed from the heightened admission rates of white individuals lacking a college degree, which is occurring across all categories of offenses.”

Statistics indicated that from 1984 to 2019, the amount of white individuals without a college education imprisoned increased more than twofold from roughly 60,000 in 1984 to approximately 160,000 in 2019.

Muller, along with Alexander Roehrkasse, an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at Butler University, examined decades of administrative and survey data from the National Corrections Reporting Program, National Prisoner Statistics Program, and Current Population Survey. Their findings revealed that educational inequality now surpasses racial inequality in incarceration rates for all significant crimes.

“While we cannot definitively assign causes, it is noteworthy that our results align with patterns in life expectancy and intergenerational mobility. For instance, recent findings from Harvard’s Opportunity Insights suggest that the economic circumstances of impoverished Black Americans have improved, while the financial prospects for impoverished white Americans have declined,” Muller stated.

Investigations by Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have yielded comparable findings regarding life expectancy. While the life expectancy for Black individuals has been increasing, the opposite is true for white individuals lacking a college degree.

“Case and Deaton observe that the extensive job losses among low-educated workers that first impacted Black Americans in the mid-20th century began to affect low-educated white individuals in the 21st century,” noted Muller. Concurrently, Muller and Roehrkasse’s recent research indicated that the growth in imprisonment rates of white individuals without a college degree encompassed increases across all categories of crime.

Muller and Roehrkasse assert that their fresh research elucidates why racial inequality and drug offense incarceration have been the focal points of prior studies. For instance, in 1971, President Richard Nixon initiated the war on drugs, a governmental initiative that severely punished individuals selling or using drugs. Subsequent federal laws, including the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the Crime Bill of 1994, implemented stricter drug sentences that disproportionately impacted Black Americans, Muller stated.

The incarceration rate for Black individuals without a college education for drug-related offenses has been “astronomically elevated,” according to Muller. In 1992, Black individuals with no college education were 14 times more likely to be imprisoned for drug offenses compared to their white peers in the same education category.

“Considering these figures, it is clear why there has been substantial attention on racial disparities in drug offense imprisonment,” Muller explained. By 2019, however, the Black-white ratio of prison admissions for individuals without a college education had dropped to 1.5. “Although that remains a considerable disparity, it has significantly decreased,” he stated.

Based on their analysis, the imprisonment rate of Black Americans without a college degree for drug offenses increased from 100 per 100,000 in 1984 to 1,405 per 100,000 in 1999. That statistic eventually declined to 494 per 100,000 in 2019. Data from 2019 onwards, including the COVID pandemic period, was not incorporated.

Roehrkasse added: “Individuals should not misinterpret our research as suggesting that the prosecution and imprisonment for drug offenses no longer matter. Drug offenses continue to represent a significant portion of prison admissions today and contribute meaningfully to the disparities in admissions.”

Muller emphasized that Black Americans continue to shoulder an unequal share of the indirect consequences of incarceration due to long-standing historical impacts.

“Middle-class Black Americans are more susceptible than their middle-class white counterparts to reside in impoverished neighborhoods, and owing to historically low wealth levels among Black families, middle-class Black individuals are also more prone than similarly situated white individuals to have relatives who are imprisoned,” he remarked. “Consequently, Black Americans with high educational qualifications and income are more likely than white individuals with low educational attainment and income to have a family member in prison or inhabit a neighborhood characterized by high imprisonment rates.”

Muller and Roehrkasse are already focusing on their next research pursuits. “The pressing next step is to explore the underlying causes of the trends we have outlined,” Muller mentioned. “For instance, to what extent did the decrease in prison admissions among Black Americans lacking a college education contribute to or result from their enhancing economic prospects?”