Local Incarceration as Social Control: A National Analysis of Social, Economic, and Political Determinants of Jail Use in the United States

Local jails occupy a central position in the criminal justice system, and admission and population levels reflect the policies and decisions of multiple system actors. Drawing from a social threat perspective and political framework, this study examines to what extent county-level variation in local...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Ouellette, Heather M. (Autor)
Otros Autores: Applegate, Brandon K.
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2023
En: American journal of criminal justice
Año: 2023, Volumen: 48, Número: 3, Páginas: 547-571
Acceso en línea: Presumably Free Access
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Palabras clave:
Incarceration
Jails
Social Control
Social threat
Descripción
Sumario:Local jails occupy a central position in the criminal justice system, and admission and population levels reflect the policies and decisions of multiple system actors. Drawing from a social threat perspective and political framework, this study examines to what extent county-level variation in local incarceration is influenced by racial and ethnic heterogeneity, economic inequality, and political conservatism using a nationally representative sample of U.S. jails. This study finds that county-level Black presence and Hispanic presence differentially impact jail use. Specifically, racial threat has a U-shaped curvilinear relationship with local incarceration, and ethnic threat has an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship with jail use. This study reveals the importance of examining the impact of minority threat by assessing the racial make-up of local areas separately from ethnic composition, as well as testing for nonlinear effects. Further, inclusion of counties’ economic conditions and political ideology are critical in more fully accounting for how variations in the local community impact jail use.
ISSN:1936-1351
DOI:10.1007/s12103-022-09682-9