Crime, Policing and Corrections Across Time
Prision Admissions Per 100000
National & Wisconsin Imprisonment Rates
1000
800
600
400
200
0
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
year in 1900s
BlackWisc
WhiteWisc
WhiteUS
BlackUS
Figure 1 Black and white imprisonment 1925-1996 for US and Wisconsin.
homicide
robbery
sexual assault
arson
drug
burglary, theft
fraud, stolen property
assault
public order
other/unknown
derived
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Prison admits per 100,000 Wisconsin 1996
White
Black
Figure 2 Wisconsin 1996 prison admissions per 100,000 by race, offense group. White arson
imprisonments are non-zero but too few to show on the scale of this graph.
Pamela Oliver, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 7/24/16
homicide
robbery
sexual assault
arson
drug
burglary, theft
fraud, stolen property
assault
public order
other/unknown
derived
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Arrests per 100,000 Wisconsin 1996
White
Black
Figure 3 Wisconsin 1996 arrests per 100,000 by race, offense group. White arrests for serious
crimes are non-zero but too small to show on the scale of this chart.
homicide
robbery
sexual assault
arson
drug
burglary, theft
fraud, stolen property
assault
public order
other/unknown
derived
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
Proportion of total black-white difference
Due to arrest differences
due to prison/arrest ratio
Figure 4 Wisconsin 1996, decomposition of total black-white difference in per capita imprisonment rates, by
offense. Overall, 40% is attributable to arrest differences and 60% to prison/arrest ratios.
Pamela Oliver, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 7/24/16
White NH Men
Black Men
Hispanic Men
l
ot
a
W
is
c.
T
th
er
O
os
ha
#
#
Ke
n
R
oc
k
#
ac
in
R
W
au
M
e
#
ke
s
ha
an
D
ilw
au
ke
e
e
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
AmerInd Men
l
W
is
c.
To
ta
th
er
O
Ke
n
os
ha
#
#
R
oc
k
#
e
ac
in
R
ke
sh
a
#
e
D
an
W
au
M
ilw
au
ke
e
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White NH Women
Black Women
Hispanic Women
AmerInd Women
Figure 5 In prison in April 2000 per 100,000 population, by race and sex, for counties with
more than 1000 non-prisoner blacks
# These counties have too few American Indians for stable estimates; rates are shown for general comparison
purpose
Pamela Oliver, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 7/24/16
1996 New Prison Admissions per 100,000 by race and county of sentencing, for Dane and
Milwaukee Counties. Rates per 100,000 population within race, and black/white ratios. “White”
is white non-Hispanic.
White
White
Black
Black
B/W
B/W
Milwaukee
Dane
Milwaukee
Dane
Milwaukee
Dane
58
41
943
2059
16.4
49.7
Homicide
2
1
36
14
15.1
26.2
Assault
6
6
88
373
14.0
67.3
Robbery
7
3
144
256
19.9
96.8
Sex Assault
9
5
67
166
7.8
34.9
28.6
Total
Theft, burglary, etc.
15
12
215
332
14.1
Arson
0
0
6
0
18.9
Drugs
10
3
300
560
30.7
193.0
Public Order
1
2
10
41
10.6
22.4
Derived
3
3
29
145
11.4
45.9
Stolen Prop., fraud etc
3
6
37
145
14.0
22.9
Other
2
2
11
28
6.7
13.1
Parental
Unemployment,
Economic &
Educational
Disadvantage
School Failure
Father
Absence/
Family
Disruption
Peer &
Normative
Context
Parental
Involvement in
Crime
Juvenile
Crime
Labeling
and/or
Intervention
Processes
Juvenile
Unemployment
Adult
Unemployment/
UnderEmployment
Policing
Practices
Adult
Crime
Intergenerational Effects
Imprisonment
Figure 6 A life cycle model of crime, showing the intra- and inter-generational effects of imprisonment and
aggressive policing
Pamela Oliver, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 7/24/16
Labeling
Etc.
Processes
reduces ?
Family
Disruption
+
Imprisonment
Rates
+
+
+
Crime
+
reduces ?
+
Unemployment
Middle
Class Flight
+
+
+
+
Economic
Distress
Aggressive
Policing
Deviant Culture
(Gangs, Drug
Trade, Criminality
as a way of life)
+
+
Spatial
Isolation of
Poor Blacks
+ due to Political Powerlessness
Figure 7 Imprisonment as a cause of crime?
Feedback from Imprisonment to Social Conditions
Crime
Social &
Demographic
Conditions
Social Control, Deterrence
Arrests
Judicial
Processes
Corrections
Outcomes
Police
Enforcement
Political
Processes
Laws,
Penalties
Prison
Interests
Figure 8 A theoretical model for the interrelation among social conditions, political processes, crime, and
corrections policies
Pamela Oliver, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 7/24/16