Separate but
Racial Income Inequality, Perceptions of Competition, and Negative Interracial Outcomes
Jonathan Gordils et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
There exists a racial income gap in America: Blacks earn ∼38% less than Whites, but little is known about its relation to interracial psychological outcomes. Toward this end, the present research examined associations between the Black–White income gap and perceptions of interracial competition and, subsequently, negative intergroup outcomes. Study 1 extracted data from a large, preexisting data set (N = 2,543) and provided initial support for the hypothesis that higher levels of racial income inequality are associated with increased perceptions of competition. Study 2 then recruited approximately equal numbers of White and Black participants (N = 1,731) and demonstrated that increases in racial income inequality predict increased perceptions of competition, discrimination, behavioral avoidance, and intergroup anxiety. Implications for theory development and public policy are discussed.
Waves of Diversity: Depictions of Marginalized Groups and Their Rights in Social Science Textbooks, 1900–2013
Jeremy Jiménez & Julia Lerch
Comparative Education Review, May 2019, Pages 166-188
Abstract:
In the latter half of the twentieth century, school textbooks globally embraced growing emphases on the experiences and rights of diverse marginalized groups. Textbook discussions of diversity earlier in the century, however, have seldom been studied. We use descriptive statistics and regression to examine diversity foci in 978 textbooks from 93 countries published between 1900 and 2013. Unlike previous research, which emphasizes linear growth in diversity-oriented curricula since World War II, our findings reveal a wavelike pattern. We document an early expansionist wave beginning in the 1920s, which was followed by stagnation and decline midcentury before rising again in recent decades. We situate the early expansion within global activities dedicated to diversity in the interwar years and the midcentury contraction within the aftermath of World War II and the geopolitical climate of the Cold War. We contribute to the literature by illuminating the historical ebb and flow of inclusionary educational orientations.
The Bias Is Built In: How Administrative Records Mask Racially Biased Policing
Dean Knox, Will Lowe & Jonathan Mummolo
Princeton Working Paper, April 2019
Abstract:
Researchers often lack the necessary data to credibly estimate racial bias in policing. In particular, police administrative records lack information on civilians police observe but do not investigate. In this paper, we show that if police racially discriminate when choosing whom to investigate, analyses using administrative records to estimate racial discrimination in police behavior suffer from sample selection bias, rendering many quantities of interest unidentified -- even among investigated individuals -- absent strong and untestable assumptions. Policing data has features that preclude established remedies for this statistical bias, the exact form of which we derive through principal stratification in a causal mediation framework. We develop a bias-correction procedure and nonparametric sharp bounds for race effects, replicate published findings, and show traditional estimation techniques can severely underestimate levels of racially biased policing or mask discrimination entirely. We conclude by outlining a general and feasible design for future studies that is robust to this inferential snare.
Police-Related Deaths and Neighborhood Economic and Racial/Ethnic Polarization, United States, 2015–2016
Justin Feldman et al.
American Journal of Public Health, March 2019, Pages 458-464
Methods: We identified police-related deaths that occurred in the United States (2015–2016) using a data set from the Guardian newspaper. We used census data to estimate expected police-related death counts for all US census tracts and to calculate the Index of Concentration at the Extremes as a segregation measure. We used multilevel negative binomial models for the analyses.
Results: Overall, police-related death rates were highest in neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of low-income residents (vs high-income residents) and residents of color (vs non-Hispanic White residents). For non-Hispanic Blacks, however, the risk was greater in the quintile of neighborhoods with the highest concentration of non-Hispanic White residents than in certain neighborhoods with relatively higher concentrations of residents of color (the third and fourth quintiles).
Race, Representation, and Revenue: Reliance on Fines and Forfeitures in City Governments
Akheil Singla, Charlotte Kirschner & Samuel Stone
Urban Affairs Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
Historically, revenue associated with things like traffic citations — termed fines and forfeitures — has made up an insignificant portion of city revenue. In recent years, however, cities are increasingly reliant on these revenues. This changed without fanfare, meaning there is little understanding of how or why it occurred. One potential explanation is budgetary, meaning cities rely more on fines due to increased fiscal stress or demand for public safety services. Alternatively, existing research demonstrates that race and representation are significant predictors of crime and punishment outcomes, including traffic citations. Using a stratified random sample of California cities, this study investigates which of these factors explain city reliance on revenue from fines and forfeitures. It finds that cities’ reliance on fines and forfeitures is not associated with budgetary need or public safety service provision, but is associated with the race of the population and the racial composition of law enforcement.
A Successive Threat Theory of Police Expenditures
Jeffrey Snipes, Edward Maguire & Xia Wang
Crime & Delinquency, forthcoming
Abstract:
Ethnic succession theory is concerned with the process and consequences of racial and ethnic migration into and out of cities. Minority threat theory is a branch of conflict theory that is concerned with the extent to which racial and ethnic minorities are perceived as threatening to the powerful. In this article, we propose a blend of these theories called successive threat theory which posits that racial and ethnic groups are perceived as threatening when they first move into a city, but as they assimilate, the perceived threat dissipates. The primary contribution of this theory is the previously undeveloped and untested notion that different minority groups may serve as threats in different time periods. Using time series analysis of annual data on Chicago from 1893 to 1965, we find support for the theory.
The Effects of Child Protective Services and Juvenile Justice System Involvement on Academic Outcomes: Gender and Racial Differences
Susan Yoon et al.
Youth & Society, forthcoming
Abstract:
The primary aim of this study was to examine gender and racial differences in the association between system involvement types (i.e., child protective services [CPS] only, juvenile justice system only, and dual involvement) and academic outcomes (i.e., grade failure, chronic absenteeism). This study used records from a linked database of public youth-serving institutional records within a county’s youth court, law enforcement agencies, and CPS. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. The impact of systems involvement on academic outcomes was most salient among Black males, while none of the system involvement types were associated with chronic absenteeism or grade failure among White males. Findings highlight the need for the development of intervention strategies to address educational needs of youth involved in the CPS and juvenile justice systems, with a heightened attention to Black and male youth, to improve their attendance and academic performance.
Neighborhood Diversity, Neighborhood Affluence: An Analysis of the Neighborhood Destination Choices of Mixed-Race Couples With Children
Ryan Gabriel & Amy Spring
Demography, forthcoming
Abstract:
Past research has indicated that mixed-race couples with children appear to possess a heightened preference for neighborhoods that are racially and ethnically diverse and relatively affluent so as to reside in areas that are requisitely accepting of, and safe for, their children. However, neighborhoods with higher racial and ethnic diversity tend to be lower in socioeconomic status, implying that some residentially mobile mixed-race couples with children encounter trade-offs between neighborhood diversity and neighborhood affluence in their residential search processes. To investigate this, we apply discrete-choice models to longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics linked to neighborhood-level data from multiple population censuses to compare the neighborhood choices of mixed-race couples with children to those of monoracial couples with children, while assessing how these choices are simultaneously driven by neighborhood diversity and neighborhood affluence. We observe that mixed-race couples with children tend to be more likely to choose higher-diversity neighborhoods than white couples with children, even when neighborhood affluence is allowed to determine the residential choices for these couples. Some higher-income mixed-race couples with children seemingly translate their resources into neighborhoods that are both diverse and affluent.
Torture and Desecration in the American South, an Exclamation Point on White Supremacy, 1877–1950
E.M. Beck & Stewart Tolnay
Social Currents, forthcoming
Abstract:
Prior research has revealed a great deal about the frequency of southern lynchings and how and why they varied in intensity across space and over time. In this study, we consider two characteristics of lynching incidents about which there has been much speculation, but little actual evidence: (1) whether the victim was tortured before death and (2) whether the victim’s corpse was desecrated. We use data on 3,767 completed lynchings in 11 southern states between 1877 and 1950 to describe the frequency with which antemortem torture and postmortem desecration occurred and to determine what factors were most important in shaping the likelihood of both. We conclude that 7.7 percent of victims were physically tortured prior to death and that 8.2 percent had their bodies desecrated. Both torture and desecration were more likely to occur after 1910 and when lynchings were carried out by larger mobs. Victims accused of gender-related crimes were more likely than others to be tortured or desecrated.