51 pages • 1 hour read
Devah PagerMarked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Morality, the War on Drugs, and the Mass Incarceration of Young Black Men
The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. More than two million people are currently behind bars, a disproportionate number of whom are young Black men. Researchers have traced the origins of the US prison boom to the 1970s, a period that marked a dramatic shift in attitudes towards crime and punishment. Reacting to the perceived immorality and social upheaval of the civil rights era, conservative policy makers and commentators identified moral corruption and social disorder as the driving forces behind crime, displacing other explanatory factors such as poverty, urban decay, and other social ills. Policies favoring rehabilitation and reform gave way to containment and retribution, leading to a dramatic swell in the prison population.
Nowhere is this emphasis on morality and social order more apparent than in the war on drugs. Launched by President Reagan’s administration in the 1980s, the policy on focused national attention and vast public resources on the entwined problems of drug use and drug distribution. The number of people imprisoned for drug crimes skyrocketed:
Between 1980 and 1990, the annual number of drug offenders admitted to state prisons increased tenfold. In 1980, roughly one out of every fifteen offenders admitted to prison had been convicted of a drug crime; one decade later, this figure had jumped to one out of every three […] By the late 1990s, a higher proportion of state prison admissions were for drug crimes than for violent crimes. In federal prisons […] the rise in drug offenders was even more dramatic, increasing from 16% of inmates in 1970 to more than 60% by 1993 (18-19)
The war on drugs has disproportionately impacted Black communities. By 2001, there were more than twice as many Black people in state prisons for drug offenses than white people, even though most drug users are white (20). The war on drugs has not only reinforced racial disparities in incarceration, but also turned prisons into warehouses for social problems, rather than places reserved for dangerous offenders.
Racial disparities in prison rates and the corresponding media coverage of the phenomenon reinforce negative racial stereotypes, impacting Black people irrespective of their offender status. Studies show that exposure to news coverage of Black, violent criminals fuels negative attitudes about Black people generally, in addition to increasing punitive attitudes about crime (4). Indeed, media distortions about the frequency and severity of Black crime has skewed public perceptions of Black people, leading to powerful associations between Blackness, aggression, and criminality.
The results of Pager’s research indicate that racial bias is not a thing of the past despite antidiscrimination laws and mainstream mores. Along with affecting employment practices, racial bias and the presumption of the criminality and immorality of Black people impacts their everyday lives, safety, and opportunities.
The Intersection of Race and Criminality in the Milwaukee Labor Market
A central question in Pager’s book takes the macro concern of racial bias and narrows her target to a specific place and demographic, asking how the increasing criminalization of young Black men affects labor market outcomes in Milwaukee. The city makes a good testcase because its profile is similar to many American cities in terms of size, racial demographics, and unemployment rate (64). In addition, fair employment laws in Wisconsin offer ex-offenders legal protections from discrimination; employers there are explicitly forbidden from considering a job applicant’s criminal record unless the crime relates closely to the specific duties of the job (64). The effects of race and criminality on employment outcomes in Milwaukee are therefore not only compelling in their own right, but also a good barometer of cities nationwide. Indeed, the impact of race and criminality on labor market outcomes is likely greater in states that lack Wisconsin’s antidiscrimination protections.
Pager’s audits reveal that young Black men fare badly on the job market relative to their white counterparts, and that Black men with criminal backgrounds fare worst of all. Racial biases driven by mass incarceration and skewed media accounts of the phenomenon profoundly impact labor market outcomes. Pager’s Black auditors without criminal records received callbacks from 14% of employers. By contrast, white nonoffenders were called backed 34% of the time (90). These statistics imply that Black job candidates must work more than twice as hard, applying to twice as many jobs, to receive the same opportunities as white applicants with the same qualifications. Pager found that white applicants with criminal backgrounds were as likely to receive callbacks as Black nonoffenders (91).
Race and criminality intersect to produce markedly poor outcomes for young Black offenders looking for jobs in Milwaukee. In the city center, employers called back only 6% of Black applicants with a criminal record (111). The callback rate was even more dismal in the suburbs at just 3%. In restaurant contexts, where the demand for workers is high, the callback rate for Black offenders was close to zero, compared to 23% for white offenders (115). These results concur with the findings of social psychologists, which suggests that negative responses to criminal offenders increase when the criminal is Black or when a crime is associated with Blackness (70). Blackness and criminality combine to intensify stigma, creating barriers to employment that are virtually impossible to overcome.
Criminal Justice Reform in the Age of Mass Incarceration
Reforming the criminal justice system has become a national imperative considering the steep social and economic costs of mass incarceration. Incarceration rates have grown exponentially since the 1970s, largely due to “tough on crime” policies and the war on drugs. From 1925 to the early 1970s, the incarceration rate held steady at approximately 100 inmates per 100,000 residents. However, the incarceration rate doubled between 1972 and 1984, and then again between 1984 and 1994. By 2004, the incarceration rate reached 486 per 100,000, making the US the world’s leading prison nation (11). Statistics show staggering disproportionalities among the incarceration rates of Black people relative to white people: Black people comprise roughly 40% of the prison population, while making up only 12% of the total population (3). The problem of mass incarceration is inextricably linked to racial discrimination. Addressing the root causes of racial inequality, such as the education gap and the lack of employment opportunities, is therefore central to criminal justice reform.
Reforming the criminal justice system has become a political and public priority. The ballooning costs of imprisonment alongside high recidivism rates have led policy makers to question the efficacy of incarceration, and many districts are experimenting with alternative sanctions for offenders. Some states have moved away from strong punitive approaches for non-violent, first-time offenders, instead emphasizing restorative justice, treatment, community service, and community supervision outside the parole system. One alternative is the drug court, which runs parallel to, but independent of, criminal court proceedings. Drug courts provide treatment, mental health services, and supervision to first-time drug offenders, allowing them to avoid incarceration and the mark of a criminal record. Decriminalizing drug use is critical to lowering incarceration rates in the long term. The emphasis on treatment may also lower recidivism rates by removing an important barrier to employability, namely, the criminal record.
Supporting ex-offender reentry is central to criminal justice reform. This support may include increasing supervision and assistance for those transitioning out of prison. New York, Illinois, and Texas have experimented with intermediaries, who facilitate interaction between ex-offenders and employers. Intermediaries are staffing agents for companies that lack the resources to maintain HR departments. They make first contact with employers to discuss staffing needs and screen ex-offenders to evaluate their fitness for specific jobs. Intermediaries ease concerns employers may have about hiring ex-offenders. They also help prepare job seekers reentering the job market, assisting with a range of issues, such as interview skills and attire.
Supporting ex-offenders during their initial job search is not just crucial to their economic stability, but also a strong deterrent to crime. Successful reentry, however, requires more than support and guidance. Governments must rethink counterproductive laws that limit the employment and housing opportunities of ex-offenders. Destigmatizing ex-offenders by limiting public access to criminal records is equally important, though changes to this policy must be weighed against public safety. Criminal justice reform is an ongoing effort, with no quick fixes or easy answers, but Pager outlines some basic reforms that can help both with reducing the incarceration rate and helping ex-offenders successfully reintegrate into society.
