Racial Stigma, Mass Incarceration and American Values Glenn C. Loury Merton P. Stoltz Professor Brown University February 2007

State Prisons Grow Faster than Higher Ed According to a 2002 report of the Justice Policy Institute (Washington, DC): “During the 1980s and 1990s, state spending on corrections grew at 6 times the rate of state spending on higher education, and by the close of the 1990’s, there were nearly a third more African American men in prison and jail than in universities or colleges.”

Yet Crime Fell Sharply in 90’s

Crime/Prison Trends since 1970

Imprisonment in the United States,

There is A Large and Growing Racial Disparity in Imprisonment

Proportion Ever in Prison by Age, Race and Birth Cohort

Least Educated Are Hardest Hit

Race Difference in Drug Use

Race Difference in Drug Arrests

Winning the War? Drug Prices, Emergency Treatment and Incarceration Rates:

New AIDS Cases (Males )

What if no racial disparity in incarceration? (Men)

Two Paths to Civic Incorporation Europe (Welfare State Remedies for Social Marginality) Unemployment/welfare are seen as problems of “social exclusion” Social-democratic activism incorporate marginal into “mainstream” versus United States (A Quasi-Paternalism Governs the Poor) Social dysfunction, behavioral pathology, and personal disorganization as the sources of marginality “Telling the Poor What to Do” (Help and Hassle) –Directive, supervisory, and punitive policies –Supports to enable preferred behavior (faith-based)

The American Path Chosen: Change in Numbers Incarcerated and Receiving Cash Aid:

Mid-1960s: welfare policy becomes “raced” in media coverage and the American public mind Correlation: r =.03 ( ) r =.68 ( )