Invisible Men:
Mass Incarceration and the Myth of
Black Progress
Becky Pettit
Department of Sociology
University of Washington
bpettit@u.washington.edu
October 2012
“I am invisible, understand, simply
because people refuse to see me.”
-Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
United States Prison and Jail
Population, 1925-2008
Civilian Incarceration Rates,
Men 20-34, by Education and Race
LTHS
HS/GED
Some College
All
1980
2.4
0.8
0.2
0.6
White Men
1990
2000
3.8
7.7
1.4
2.3
0.4
0.3
1.1
1.6
2008
12.0
2.0
0.3
1.8
Civilian Incarceration Rates,
Men 20-34, by Education and Race
LTHS
HS/GED
Some College
All
1980
2.4
0.8
0.2
0.6
LTHS
HS/GED
Some College
All
1980
10.6
4.7
1.9
5.2
White Men
1990
2000
3.8
7.7
1.4
2.3
0.4
0.3
1.1
1.6
Black Men
1990
2000
19.6
30.2
7.1
11.7
2.9
2.1
8.3
11.2
2008
12.0
2.0
0.3
1.8
2008
37.2
9.1
2.1
11.4
Educational Attainment of Male
Inmates, 20-34
LTHS
1980
White
Black
40.7
52.7
HS/GED
54.2
34.3
Some College
16.1
13.1
Educational Attainment of Male
Inmates, 20-34
LTHS
1980
White
Black
40.7
52.7
2008
White
Black
52.7
61.8
HS/GED
54.2
34.3
35.5
30.6
Some College
16.1
13.1
11.8
7.7
Data
Non-institutionalized population
• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)
Data
Non-institutionalized population
• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)
Inmate population
• Aggregate inmate counts (1980-2008)
Data
Non-institutionalized population
• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)
Inmate population
• Aggregate inmate counts (1980-2008)
• Survey of Inmates of Local Jails (1978, 1983, 1989,
1996, 2002)
• Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities
(1979, 1986, 1991, 1997, 2004)
• Survey of Inmates of Federal Correctional Facilities
(1991, 1997, 2004)
Method
• Construct estimates of indicators for
household(HH) and inmate (I ) populations
Method
• Construct estimates of indicators for
household(HH) and inmate (I ) populations
• Calculate weighted average of indicators
including both groups using weights derived
from CPS estimates of the civilian population
Percent of Men Not Completing High
School/GED, 2008.
Observed
N-H White
7.2
N-H Black
13.5
Percent of Men Not Completing High
School/GED, 2008.
Observed
Adjusted
N-H White
7.2
8.0
N-H Black
13.5
19.0
Percent of Men Not Completing High
School/GED, 2008.
Observed
Adjusted
% Difference
N-H White
7.2
8.0
11%
N-H Black
13.5
19.0
41%
Racial Inequality in High School
Dropout Rates, Men 20-34, 1980-2008
“Selection Effect” due to Incarceration
Conclusions
• Prison or jail is normative among some social and
demographic groups
• Excluding inmates from surveys obscures
portraits of inequality
• Including inmates, we find:
– No improvement in high school dropout rate among
young, black men
– Young, black, male dropouts are more likely to be in
prison or jail than be employed
– The same fraction of young, black male dropouts
voted in 2008 as in 1980
Why is Invisible Men Challenging?
• Out of the mainstream of American sociology,
which now focuses on formulating and testing
scientific hypotheses
• Contradicts the notion of black progress in the
post-civil rights era
• Implicates much social science (and social
scientists) as complicit