Crime, Social Structure and Criminal Punishment: White and Nonwhite Rates of Imprisonment

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Abstract
Durkheimian, Marxist, and Weberian theories provide contrasting views of the influences of the social structure of areas and communities on law and the legal process. In light of these theories, we examine how various aspects of community social structure differentially affect criminal punishments administered to whites and nonwhites. Using county-level data from the state of Washington, we regress white and nonwhite rates of imprisonment on measures of crime and arrest rates, county social structure, and court workload. This analysis indicates that nonwhites—but not whites—are particularly likely to be sentenced to prison in urbanized counties and in counties with relatively large minority populations. We conclude by presenting material from interviews with justice officials which sheds light on the perceptual and political processes that link structural conditions to patterns of criminal punishment.