Acceptance Of Harsh Prison Policies Grows As Perceptions Of Racial Inequality Do
That, generally, in the penitentiary institutions members of the most disadvantaged racial minorities are often imprisoned is a well-known sad reality. However, simply knowing this information may help legitimize and perpetuate this type of inequality.
At least, this is what some indications seem to indicate. Weeks ago we echoed a chilling study that revealed that African American children in the US have racist prejudices against black people. Today, along the same lines, we deal with the issue of the North American penal and correctional system.
Two street-level studies conducted by Stanford University show a tendency for the white American population to recognize the need to maintain tough policies with these minorities when confronted with evidence of this inequality. In other words: The more extreme this racial inequality is presented to them in the face of the punitive system, the greater the acceptance generated by the policies that maintain this disparity
How was this conclusion reached?
First, 62 white people of both sexes were stopped on the street to talk to them about the three strikes law of California, a controversial judicial policy that is especially harsh on people who occasionally commit minor and non-violent crimes. Then, they were shown a video showing 80 “mugshot” photographs in which arrested people were portrayed individually.
However, not all people saw exactly the same video. In one case, 25% of the arrested people shown were apparently African American, while in another case the percentage of dark-skinned people was 45%. Finally, each of these 62 white people was offered the possibility of signing a petition in favor of making the three strikes law less strict. The results: just under 55% of those who had seen the video signed, while in the second group only 28% signed
In a similar study that used pedestrians in New York as a sample, results along the same lines were found, this time referring to the policy of unjustified searches by the police. Of that part of the sample that had perceived more extreme prison inequality, 12% signed the petition to end this policy, while almost 35% of the other group signed.
From these results it can be interpreted that the white American population supports more hardline punitive policies when they perceive that the people who are arrested are largely African American A hypothetical greater fear of African-American criminals than of any other type of criminal could be at the root of this trend. Furthermore, this fear would in turn be fueled by this perception that “the African-American population is the one that fills the prisons,” a situation that this same prejudice would be fueling.
We would then be facing a vicious circle that is maintained at least in part by a cognitive bias. Prison inequality would perpetuate itself by justifying itself to others through its own existence.
